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Reviews 223
ticipation, and authority. Particularly when tribal politics have such a direct influence
on both identity and status, as they do in the Gulf, it strikes me that the
absence of this critical engagement in Honour is in Contentment is somewhat of a
missed opportunity.
The Lancasters describe an incredibly complex social and physical landscape
in Honour is in Contentment. In the end, it is impossible to get the information
irreproachably exact. On page 3, they write that Wad\ Sha^am is the territory
of the Shutayr Shi1u1 and yet, according to one of my former students at
Zayed University in Dubai, 0al\ma al-Sha11\, who resides in Sha^am, there are
clusters of Banu Hadiyya and Dhahuriyy\n in the wad\ as well. The latter is even
cited by the Lancasters themselves in one of the quotes above. While this may
seem like a small and easily over-looked detail and maybe down to the final editing,
it is significant in the over-all social jigsaw the Lancasters have taken such
strides to describe. While each wad\, each cluster of gardens along the alluvial fan
and each port vividly and emphatically emerges in the Lancasters descriptions
as individually distinct, the complex economic network that ties the region together
is woven through the location, movement and inter-actions of each social
group in relation to one another. The Lancasters have laid a solid foundation for
others to build on here in exploring the nuances of these connections.
The presence of English-medium universities in the region has grown exponentially
since the fieldwork was initiated. There is an emerging class of young
scholars fluent in both Arabic and English with an unprecedented cultural understanding
given their own social position, sense of trust within the communities,
and ability with English, Modern Standard Arabic, and the various vernacular
languages and dialects spoken throughout the Gulf. It will be interesting to see
their response to the Lancasters’ text. If anything, Honour is in Contentment provides
the first salvo in what should become a vibrant exchange within the larger
discourse of Arabian studies where more of these details can be explored and explained
from a number of different perspectives, including those of the people
who have until recently served primarily only as the object of study.
Ronald Hawker: Calgary, rnhwkr@gmail.com