It is frequently remarked that, for instance, the French language is the French nation, or the Arabic language is the Arab nation. Whatever the nature of the link between language and nation is, language is perceived as an important component in defining social groups. As Dorian writes:

According to Dorian's description, the link between language and people is straightforward. However, the majority of studies (e.g., the 1999 collection Handbook of language and ethnic identity, edited by Joshua A. Fishman, 1999) show that the relationship between language and social identity is far from being direct and straightforward. The essence of the link between language and identity depends on the social context pertinent to the language groups in question. Language is not the only significant criterion, nor is it necessarily the most significant one for all social groups (Liebkind 1999).

As Edwards explains, “questions of language and identity are extremely complex. The essence of the terms themselves is open to discussion and, consequently, consideration of the relationship is fraught with difficulties” (1988: 1). Yasir Suleiman, in the work under review here, undertakes a challenging task, shedding light on his subject from different perspectives in a context where language is an essential component in identity formation. The role of Arabic as a symbol of group identity is reflected in various domains and intellectual statements of Arabs in both premodern and modern times.

The major aim of the book is to reveal the dominance of Arabic in the ideological articulations of national identity in the Arab Middle East. More specifically, Suleiman aims at studying nationalism in relation to language in the Middle East from a cross-disciplinary perspective. He declares that the main approach in his work is sociolinguistics, encouraging Arab sociolinguists to study language and national identity qualitatively, and drawing attention to the significance of the symbolic meaning of Arabic in the study of nationalism.

The book comprises seven chapters. The first deals with the aims and theoretical and empirical scope of the study, and gives a brief definition of nationalism. Chap. 2 elaborates on some of the main concepts raised in chap. 1. Chap. 3 deals with aspects of the past relevant to Arabic and nationalism in the modern world. Chap. 4 looks at the Arabic language in the Ottoman Empire and its relation to Arab identity. Chap. 5 deals with major statements of prominent Arab thinkers and intellectuals, such as Sati' al-Husari and Zaki al-Arsuzi, regarding Arab nationalism in its cultural mode. Arabic here is perceived as a paradigmatic factor in defining Arab national identity. Chap. 6 moves to the discussion of territorial nationalism in the Arab Middle East. As Suleiman explains, “In some cases, it [Arabic] is only one marker among other equally important markers. In other cases, the language is subjugated to more important markers, for example the environment” (13). Chap. 7 is the conclusion, and important issues for future study are suggested.

Suleiman admits from the beginning the limitations of his study. First, he deals mainly with Standard Arabic. Second, the study is restricted to the Levant and Egypt. Another limitation, mentioned only at the end of the book, is that Islam and Arabism are two main components of Arab national identity, and he has not dealt with these as part Arab nationalism. Though this is a demanding task and possibly requires a separate work, some space devoted to Islam would enrich the book, since it is almost impossible to separate Arabism from Islam. As Litvak explains, “Collective identities in the Arab world contain multiple components. Religion, Arab nationalism and territory are the most prominent. These elements are not mutually exclusive and often complement each other” (1996:4).

The importance of the book is its scope, description, theory, and rich examples. To the best of my knowledge, this is the most comprehensive study of the Arabic language and national identity. Relatively few studies have touched on some aspects of this subject (including the author's significant contributions in earlier works, e.g. Suleiman 1994, 1996, 1999).

Suleiman states that “the closest approach to a linguistics-related field of study which can investigate the question of language and national identity is sociolinguistics” (p. 4), though he believes the field is handicapped in its treatment of Arabic. (On the current status of Arabic sociolinguistics, see the finely detailed and critical study by Owens 2001.) His major criticisms are that Arabic sociolinguistics is mainly interested in the communicative dimensions of the language (the pragmatic) rather than in its symbolic power, and the analysis is mainly quantitative. Another limitation is that “Arabic sociolinguistics in its quantitative mode is handicapped by the invisibility of national identity as a prominent factor in the theoretical impulses which historically informed this field” (4).

Though there is some truth in Suleiman's claims, it is obvious that he adopts mainly a sociolinguistic framework in his study. He is aware of the many studies and theories in the field of sociolinguistics dealing with language and identity, but many seminal concepts, frameworks, and theories are missing from his work. For instance, he does not mention, either in the theoretical section on language and national identity (27–33) or in the rest of the book, some of the basic models and theories in sociolinguistics. Among these are the acculturation model (e.g. Berry 1990), social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner 1979), ethnolinguistic identity theory (Giles & Johnson 1987), perceived ethnolinguistic vitality (e.g. Bourhis et al. 1981, Allard & Landry 1994). These works have contributed greatly to the study of language and social identity, and Suleiman's work could have benefited considerably from some of their ideas.

This interesting book is a contribution not only to Arabic sociolinguistics but also to other disciplines. The background of the author, with the perspective and tools to undertake the challenging task of the topic, enables him to combine masterfully various fields of study – sociolinguistics, Arabic literature, and nationalist ideology – making the book valuable to all who are interested in the Arab world, nationalism, sociolinguistics in general, and Arabic sociolinguistics in particular. The book also sheds interesting light on issues of language education policy in the Arab world, though this does not receive as much attention from the author as do his other themes.