The View from the Edge. - book reviews

Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), Fall, 1997 by Andrej Kreutz

Cultures in Conflict is an elegantly written essay based on the author's numerous previous lectures focusing on the multiple anniversaries of 1492. However, in addition to its penetrating historical analyses and thoughtful comparisons, it also contains some updated political comments which, although by no means baseless, nevertheless seem rather exaggerated and one-sided.

From an historical point of view, the author calls the reader's attention to the close relationship among the three major events of 1492: Columbus' discovery of America, the Christian conquest of Granada, the last outpost of Muslim power in the Iberian Peninsula, and the expulsion of the Jews a few months later from all of Spain. Particularly strong connections existed between the already long and multiple-level European struggle with Islam and the geographical discoveries of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries which would be extremely important and which in some way might be seen as its outcomes and continuities.

As the author reminds us, as early as the late Thirteenth Century, when the re-conquest of the Iberian peninsula, although already in progress, was still far from completed, Ramon Lhill, one of the leading Christian authorities on Islam at the time, argued that when the recovery of Spain was completed, it would be necessary to carry the war beyond the Straits of Gibraltar to the other side (p. 58). Spanish, Portuguese and, on the other side of Europe, Muscovite rulers, by driving the Muslims out of Iberia and Russia had won a great battle, but they had not yet won the war. The long drawn-out "holy" struggle between Christianity and Islam now simply continued on a much vaster scale. At least originally, the explorers and conquistadors searched not only for gold and spices, but perhaps even more for other Christians and allies in the ongoing confrontation between these two monotheistic religions. As Professor Lewis points out: "Columbus, too, was looking for Christians and spices and also for Priest John ... symbolically, he found them all and much more" (p. 73).

It was the discovery of America which, far more than the simultaneous conquest of Granada, in the long run ensured the triumph of Europe over its enemies, providing it with the riches of gold, silver, all sorts of natural resources and enormous immigration outlets, the role of which would soon grow immensely. What was probably no less important, it contributed decisively to the "breaking of intellectual molds and the fleeing of the human mind and spirit" out of the inherited frameworks of narrow traditions (ibid.).

However, all those and numerous other splendid achievements did not come without an enormous price which was largely paid by the peoples and continents that were undergoing the process of subjugation. Professor Lewis does not deny that, but his compassion and the moral indignation in which he describes the fate of Jewish refugees from Spain is here apparently in rather short supply. In fact he is much more concerned about the symptoms of Western repentance and feelings of guilt, which he considers as "corrosive and destructive and ... the deepest and most characteristic flaw of our Western civilization" (p. 75). He also attacks some forms of multiculturalism as a way of presenting "an idealized and sometimes invented version of other cultures and contrasting them with a demonized parody of the West" (pp. 76-77). He seems to be deeply concerned about the future of present-day American world hegemony, the enemies of which "cannot kill, but ... might lend a hand in an assisted suicide if certain trends discernible in American society reach that point" (p. 77). In an apparently pessimistic mood, he even suggests that: "It may be that Western culture will indeed go. The lack of conviction of many of those who should be its defenders and the passionate intensity of its accusers may well join to complete its destruction" (p. 79). Particularly in light of the events of the last decade, including the collapse of the Soviet challenge and the emergence of a truly global economy, which is staunchly controlled by the great capitalist centers, his misgivings seem quite exaggerated and show his political sympathy rather than scholarly research and insight. As Professor Lewis admits himself, despite all its problems, U.S. domination "still faces no serious competitor, no viable alternative" (p. 77).

One of the most valuable aspects of this essay is its stress on both the unique historical contribution of Western civilization and its shared inheritance with Islam. In marked contrast to the exponents of the civilizations of India or China, both Islam and Christendom essentially "drew on common sources: the science and philosophy of Greece, the law and governments of Rome, the ethical monotheism of Judea, and, beyond all of them, the deeply rooted cultures of the ancient Middle East" (p. 14). Also in the medieval period "Christians and Muslims around the Mediterranean could find a common language in both the figurative and the literal senses .... They could argue, if only to disagree" (Ibid.). The full implementation of the positive values of modern Western and Westernized cultures which the author especially appreciates: "the special combination of unconstrained curiosity concerning the Other and unforced respect for his otherness" (p. 78) might help to build on those common premises and aid in introducing us not to the clash of civilizations anticipated by Samuel Huntington, but to their better understanding and fruitful cooperation. In spite of his apparent political bias, Professor Lewis' work, with its fascinating historical horizon and abundance of information, is an important contribution in this direction and should be indispensable reading for any thoughtful student of contemporary cultural and political confrontations and dilemmas.