Saddam's word
Subtitle: political discourse in Iraq
By: Ofra Bengio.
Series: Studies in Middle Eastern history; Studies in Middle Eastern history (New York, N.Y.)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 266
Subjects: Hussein, Saddam, 1937-; Discourse analysis -- Political aspects -- Iraq; Government and the press -- Iraq; Mass media policy -- Iraq; Iraq -- Politics and government -- 1991-
Description: This is the first serious attempt to understand modern Iraq through a close examination of the political discourse used by the Bath regime and its leader, Saddam Hussein. Drawing from newspaper articles and official publications, as well as Hussein's public statements, speeches, and writing, Saddam's Word demonstrates how the regime's propaganda defines the range of acceptable public discussion and manipulates history in an attempt to unify diverse and competing ethnic and religious groups.

The revival and rewriting of Iraqi and Islamic myth, along with the construction of viable contemporary myths in today's language, are key instruments in the regime's credibility. Its 29-year hold on Iraqi power - unbroken through war, economic disaster, and ethnic strife - can be largely attributed to the subjugation of the media and public discourse to its own ends.

Saddam's Word will be of much interest to students and scholars of the contemporary Middle East, to observers of Saddam Hussein and his regime, and to those interested in how a regime maintains power by controlling public discourse.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p.249-258) and index.