Aldoughli, Rahaf (2019) The symbolic construction of national identity and belonging in Syrian nationalist songs (from 1970 to 2007). Contemporary Levant, 4 (2). pp. 141-154. ISSN 2058-184X
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Abstract
This article investigates the relationship between the construction of masculinist national identity and the perpetuation of nationalist songs after the ascendance of the Syrian Bàth regime. Popular in schools and Bàth-affiliated organisations, and performed on national holidays and festivals, nationalist songs are an important component of Syrian oral culture. They are premeditated to construct a particular perception of national belonging and identity. Covering two different periods (the 1973 war to1990 and 1990–2007), the article examines the ways these songs construct the nation around the normalisation of sacrificial death and argues that, through the perpetuation of masculinist values as key characteristics of national belonging and identity, these songs obscure women’s status in Syrian political culture and contribute to their subordination.