Daniel Snowman
Conflicting Dreams: Jew and Arab Through History
Summary
In this lecture, Daniel Snowman explores the mutual dreams and images of Jews and Arabs since ancient times. He suggests that what has been regarded as ‘history’ is, in fact, a reassuring simplification of the true and complex past. Snowman asks, what defines an ‘Arab’ or a ‘Jew’ today and how has it evolved?
Daniel Snowman
Daniel Snowman is a social and cultural historian. Born in London to a Jewish family in 1938 and educated at Cambridge and Cornell, Daniel became a lecturer at the University of Sussex and went on to work for many years at the BBC as senior producer of radio features and documentaries. A senior research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research (University of London), his many books include a social history of opera and a study of the cultural impact of the ‘Hitler Emigrés’ and, most recently, his memoir “Just Passing Through: Interactions with the World 1938-2021”.
You know, when I was young-er, we used to use words like with a race and racial or sex and sexuality. Now we have to be very careful what words we use. We have to say ethnicity or gender, or cross-gender, but not what somebody’s sex or sexuality is. So many words. And I used one about 10 minutes ago that you simply can’t use today, even as a historian. I was looking through some of my early books on American history. Quite often I would write something like if someone wants to do something he or she have to do so. Well, nowadays, it would probably get corrected as she or he and I understand the reasons for this.