The Egyptian nation was constructed by institutions, not pre-existing.

Evidence

This book challenges this powerful, monolithic discourse of Egyptian nationalism. It argues that the Pasha’s army did indeed turn the population of Egypt into loyal and devoted citizens of Egypt. This it managed to do, however, not by “opening their eyes” to their true identities, or helping them to discover their hidden sentiments, but by subjecting them to a rigorous and tight disciplining regime whereby their bodies and minds were minutely controlled so that the Pasha and his elite could accomplish their own ambitions. In that sense the Pasha’s army was crucial for “educating” the population of Egypt to believe that fighting for Mehmed Ali and his family was tantamount to giving one’s life for the sake of the “nation,” a nation that was now thought to have always already existed and which, moreover, demanded the sacrifices of its own citizens. In other words, this book tries to critique that powerful discourse of nationalism by challenging the assumptions on which it is based and specifically by arguing that the “Egyptian nation” was not a primordial, pre-existing entity waiting to be realized as argued in the nationalist discourse which claims to be only describing it, but that it was a product of that very same discourse which attempted to write it into being. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 93

Categorization

Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims

• XREF: Connects to Benedict Anderson’s invented communities thesis and to Black Marxism’s discussion of how identity categories are constructed.

Related

• The Egyptian nation was constructed by nationalist discourse rather than pre-existing. (similarity 0.92)
• The Egyptian nation is a construction of nationalist historiography, not a primordial given (similarity 0.87)
• The collapse of Ottoman rule and rise of nationalism created a new Egyptian self. (similarity 0.86)
• Egypt’s identity as a distinct nation emerged only in the nineteenth century (similarity 0.86)
• Egypt’s national identity was constituted in the nineteenth century by Mehmed Ali’s policies (similarity 0.85)
• Egyptian nationalism was written into existence by nationalist historians, not discovered (similarity 0.84)
• Historical narratives retroactively reframed the Ottoman Egyptian conquest as Egyptian nationalism. (similarity 0.84)
• Egyptian national identity was forged by army discipline, not pre-existing sentiment. (similarity 0.84)
• Egyptian nationalism grew from Ottoman elite domination, not patriotic awakening (similarity 0.84)
• Shared resentment against Turkish officers, not foreign wars, forged Egyptian national identity. (similarity 0.84)
• Shared grievance against Turkish military elites forged Egyptian national consciousness (similarity 0.83)
• Mehmed Ali’s army founded Egyptian nationalism through control practices, not enlightenment. (similarity 0.83)
• Modern Egyptian nationhood emerged from administrative practices, not nationalism or conquest. (similarity 0.82)
• The Egyptian nation emerged through violence, silence and exclusion. (similarity 0.82)
• Egyptian nationalist historiography casts Mehmed Ali as awakening a pre-existing national identity. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Egypt’s own colonizing of Sudan shaped its sense of nationhood #expands (0.70)
• Egypt conquered Sudan before Egypt itself existed as a nation-state, as Ottoman province #qualifies (0.60) — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 179
• Egyptian nationalism was born in an ambiguous middle colonial status #complicates (0.50)