ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a background on Arab nationalism, and analyzes it as a political and language ideology. It focuses on the topics of diglossia and standard language ideology as well as nationalism and linguistic purism and discusses directions for future research. An understanding of the role of the Arabic language in the construction of nationalisms, including Arab nationalism, across the Arab world stands at the intersection of several disciplines. The chapter draws primarily on two, history and linguistic anthropology, each of which conceptualizes ideology in complementary ways. R. S. Humphreys claims that Arab nationalism has no equal among the ideologies that "have played on the Middle Eastern stage". The chapter examines diglossia in light of the notion of standard language ideology before turning to a discussion of nationalism and linguistic purism in an effort to understand the consequences of iconizing the fushaa as the prime focus of Arab nationalism.
