In this work by seasoned scholar Lawrence Rosen, we follow the fascinating intellectual developments of four ordinary Moroccans over the span of 40 years.
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Walking and talking with Haj Hamed Britel, Yaghnik Driss, Hussein Qadir, and Shimon Benizri - in a country that, in a little over a century, has gone from an underdeveloped colonial outpost to a modern Arab country in the throes of economic growth and religious fervour - Rosen details a fascinating plurality of viewpoints on culture, history, and the ways both can be dramatically transformed. Through the intellectual lives of these four men, this book explores a number of interpretative and theoretical issues that have made Arab culture distinct, especially in relationship to the West: how nothing is ever hard and fast, how everything is relational and always a product of negotiation
Prologue: a world of difference -- Committed to memory: Haj Hamed Britel 235 qla'a -- A midmost nation: Yaghnik Driss -- Courier of the horizons: Hussein Ou Muhammad Qadir -- A nation among nations: Shimon Benizri -- Epilogue: making a difference