The Modern Middle East

The Modern Middle East: People, Culture, and Everyday Life introduces readers to the history and cultures of the peoples of the contemporary Middle East. It deals with common misconceptions and stereotypes and provides in-depth perspectives of everyday life in the region. After addressing the history and geography of the region, the book supplies ethnographic accounts of social groups, family, gender and sexuality, religion, politics, and popular culture. This reader provides an opportunity to engage with topics that are new to most students such as family courts in Iran, the story of a woman traveling in her hijab, and the life of a transgendered Muslim woman.

Rather than rendering dry information or relying on outdated examples, this reader offers contemporary, relevant, and ethnographic account of the Middle East and contributes to larger debates about modernity, globalization, power, and knowledge. The reader can be used in courses on the history of the region, Middle Eastern anthropology, and introductory ethnic studies.

Ozan Say earned his Ph.D. in folklore and ethnomusicology at Indiana University, and is now an international student adviser in the Office of International Students and Scholars at Yale University. Dr. Say’s numerous research interests include Middle Eastern culture and politics, folklore, ritual and festival, vernacular religion, and migration and transnationalism.