Saturday, October 29, 2005
andalusian agony
Andalusian Agony by Ameer U. Shaikh is a good explanation of the role Spain has in the collective Muslim psyche. Personally, I'm still articulating for myself how I relate to it. Obviously it is going to be different due to my background, but I'm basically taking a whole blog to explain how...lol. Spain is mine and not mine, but in ways which are different from other Latinos and other Muslims.
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I hope, if you feel so inclined, you will describe more, your views on your own identification.
hmmm... i think these days i've been in a less navel-gazing mood and have been more into just putting out news links with little commentary... but i guess i could speak more about how i personally feel about some of this stuff.
I think alot of my thoughts have probably already been put out there in other blog entries. But it is probably good for me to try to sum up the "big picture" at different times.
in terms of Spain/Andalusia I guess I would say it is "mine" partly because I was conceived there... (my mom even pointed out the hotel once... which was kind of weird when I think about it). And because I was raised in a Spanish-speaking household by Hispanic parents that just serves to maintain and strengthen that connection.
And then as a Muslim, that connection with Spain gets extended in a certain way.
I mean... I would theorize that a big part of "Spanish" identity defined itself AGAINST a Muslim identity. The Moors are a foreign other. In the Reconquista, the "Spainiards" took back Spain from "those people"
But as a Muslim I would say, that the Muslim rulers were "my people" too.
So the Reconquista wasn't some psychologically important victory. And the fall of Andalusia, for me, isn't some psychologically significant loss.
I mean, it's a tragedy, in the sense that the Golden Age was over but I don't see myself suffering from "andalusian agony".
I almost want to say more but it is really gettting late and I need to get some sleep. Maybe in another entry.
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