Nationalism and the genealogical imagination

In Nationalism and the Genealogical Imagination, Andrew Shryock examines how Bedouin are making the transition from oral to written history. As Bedouin historians lead him through a world of hidden documents, contested photographs, meticulously reconstructed pedigrees, and jealously guarded talk, Shryock tells of his growing involvement in historical debates ranging from the local to the national.

The world the Bedouin inhabit is rich in oral tradition and historical argument, in subtle reflections on the nature of truth and its relationship to poetics, textuality, and power. Skillfully blending anthropology and history, Shryock explores the substance of tribal history through the eyes of its creators. His focus throughout is the emergence of "genealogical nationalism" and the role it plays in the transformation of popular conceptions of tribe and state.