Shades of Sulh: The Rhetorics of Arab-Islamic Reconciliation (Composition, Literacy, and Culture)

Winner, 2018 CCCC Outstanding Book Award Sulh is a centuries-old Arab-Islamic peacemaking process. In Shades of Sulh, Rasha Diab explores the possibilities of the rhetoric of sulh, as it is used to resolve intrapersonal, interpersonal, communal, national, and international conflicts, and provides cases that illustrate each of these domains. Diab demonstrates the adaptability and range of sulh as a ritual and practice that travels across spheres of activity (juridical, extra-juridical, political, diplomatic), through time (medieval, modern, contemporary), and over geopolitical borders (Cairo, Galilee, and Medina). Together, the cases prove the flexibility of sulh in the discourse of peacemaking—and that sulh has remarkable rhetorical longevity, versatility, and richness. Shades of Sulh sheds new light on rhetorics of reconciliation, human rights discourse, and Arab-Islamic rhetorics. Sulh Is A Centuries-old Arab-islamic Peacemaking Practice. Rasha Diab Explores The Possibilities And Limits Of The Rhetoric Of Sulh As It Is Used To Resolve Interpersonal, Communal, And (inter)national Conflicts--with A Case Illustrating Each Of These Domains. The Cases Range From Medieval To Contemporary Times And Are Analyzed Using Both Rhetorical And Critical Discourse Analyses-- Introduction: Discursive Spaces For Peace -- Peacemaking Topoi: Cultural Iterations Of Relational And Moral Needs -- The Power Of Sweet Persuasion: Cultural Inflections Of Interpersonal ṣulḥ Rhetorics -- We The Reconciled: The Convergence Of ṣulḥ And Human Rights -- From The Egyptian People's Assembly To The Israeli Knesset: Al-sādāt's Knesset Address, ṣulḥ, And Diplomacy -- To Gather At Court: ṣulḥ As Rhetorical Method -- Conclusion: The Gift Of Possibility. Rasha Diab. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

Sulh is a centuries-old Arab-Islamic peacemaking process. In Shades of Sulh, Rasha Diab explores the possibilities of the rhetoric of sulh, as it is used to resolve intrapersonal, interpersonal, communal, national, and international conflicts, and provides cases that illustrate each of these domains. Diab demonstrates the adaptability and range of sulhas a ritual and practice that travels across spheres of activity (juridical, extra-juridical, political, diplomatic), through time (medieval, modern, contemporary), and over geopolitical borders (Cairo, Galilee, and Medina). Together, the cases prove the flexibility of sulh in the discourse of peacemaking—and that sulh has remarkable rhetorical longevity, versatility, and richness. Shades of Sulh sheds new light on rhetorics of reconciliation, human rights discourse, and Arab-Islamic rhetorics.

Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Discursive Spaces for Peace -- 1. Peacemaking Topoi: Cultural Iterations of Relational and Moral Needs -- 2. The Power of Sweet Persuasion: Cultural Inflections of Interpersonal Ṣulḥ Rhetorics -- 3. We the Reconciled: The Convergence of Ṣulḥ and Human Rights -- 4. From the Egyptian People's Assembly to the Israeli Knesset: al-Sādāt's Knesset Address, Ṣulḥ, and Diplomacy -- 5. To Gather at Court: Ṣulḥ as Rhetorical Method -- Conclusion: The Gift of Possibility -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index "Sulh is a centuries-old Arab-Islamic peacemaking practice. Rasha Diab explores the possibilities and limits of the rhetoric of sulh as it is used to resolve interpersonal, communal, and (inter)national conflicts--with a case illustrating each of these domains. The cases range from medieval to contemporary times and are analyzed using both rhetorical and critical discourse analyses"-- Provided by publisher