The Jew, the Arab

A History of the Enemy

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by Gil Anidjar

Stanford University Press

Due/Published July 2003, 296 pages, paper

ISBN 0804748241

Is there a concept of the enemy? To what discursive sphere would it belong? Or, if there is no concept of the enemy, what are the factors that could have prevented its articulation? Following the reflections of Carl Schmitt and Jacques Derrida on the theologico-political, and reading canonical texts from the Western philosophical, political, and religious traditions, the author seeks to account for the absence of a history of the enemy.

The question of the enemy emerges in this book as contingent on the way Europe has related to both Jew and Arab as concrete enemies. Moreover, the author argues that the Jew and the Arab constitute the condition of religion and politics. Among the many strengths of the book is the timeliness of its profound study of contemporary actuality: the volume provides a basis for a philosophical understanding of the forces at work that produced and kindled current conflicts in Europe, the U.S., and the Middle East.

Series: Cultural Memory in the Present

"In this unique, original, and breathtakingly new work, Anidjar follows the figure of the enemy, as it informs arguments in many discursive areas: literature and philosophy to be sure, but also politics, theology, the constructions of race and ethnicity, history, etc. By showing in what ways the figure of the enemy is intertwined with construction of the Jew, the Arab, the Moslem, the Christian, the European, Anidjar continually challenges the reader to rethink concepts of and habitus related to the concept of enemy. Each chapter consists of cogent analyses, an illustration of relations among works and fields, and insightful remarks."--Lawrence R. Schehr, University of Illinois