Who Is EgyptÆs "Hero of War and Peace"?: The Contest over Representation
2003; Indiana University Press; Volume: 15; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/ham.2003.0004
ISSN1527-1994
Autores Tópico(s)Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts
ResumoThe representation of Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat (1918-1981) as the "Hero of War and Peace" (Batal al-Harb wa-'l-Salam) combines the two most crucial decisions he made: the 1973 October War, and peace with Israel—which opened with Sadat's visit to Jerusalem in November 1977 and culminated in the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in March 1979. As a result of the dominant role of the Egyptian state and its agencies over the public sphere during the last three decades, the official narrative has overwhelmingly influenced the historical memory of prominent political and national figures. In addition, mainly as a result of political needs, both Sadat and his successor, Hosni Mubarak, sought to differentiate their own image from that of their predecessor. As elsewhere, historical representation in Egyptian official discourse and practices is not totally separate from the one prevailing in different sectors within Egyptian society. In fact, the various memories are mutually constitutive. However, it is all too easy for observers of contemporary Egypt to confine their investigation to official historical representations as expressed in official events and ceremonies, overlooking nonofficial and oppositional sources, statements and sites of memory, and thus failing to gain insight into the complexities of Egyptian representations of the past. Only the study of a wide variety of sources can enrich our understanding of the constitution of historical representations, as well as of the complexity of reception of these representations by different groups. Accordingly, this article examines [End Page 150]
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