Confronting a Christian Neighbor
Sudanese Representations of Ethiopia in the Early Mahdist Period, 1885–89
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8965941 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Iris Seri-Hersch, Iris Seri‐hersch (0000-0003-3197-4863, Aix-Marseille Université, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 267b-267b |
| Publication date | 2009-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal Middle East Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0020-7438 • E-ISSN: 1471-6380 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0020743809090990 |
| OpenAlex | W4241691960 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 17 |
This article deals with the Sudanese–Ethiopian conflict (1885–89) from a Mahdist perspective, in the wider context of the European scramble for Africa. Focusing on Sudanese representations of Ethiopia as well as on the causes underlying the conflict, I confront a Mahdist chronicle of particular historiographical significance with a range of historical sources. Departing from a purely jihadist framework of analysis, I highlight various Mahdist conceptualizations of Christian Ethiopia as well as historical, political, military, and economic processes conducive to the outbreak of an armed confrontation between the two independent African states. I argue that the Sudanese ruling elite resorted to jihadist discourse as a legitimizing device rather than as an inflexible policy and examine more specific rhetoric instruments meant to justify Mahdist attitudes toward the Christian kingdom. Whereas prophetic visions were used to make the khalifa's Ethiopian policy acceptable to Mahdist eyes, the ambivalent legacy of early Muslim–Aksumite contacts was reactivated in the framework of a dialogue with the Ethiopian enemy
Adversary · Aesthetics · Ambivalence · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology · Elite · Emperor · Geography · Historiography · Islam · Nile delta · Period (music · Perspective (graphical · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Rhetoric · Sociology · Theology · Vision · African history and culture analysis · Anthropology · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Gender Studies · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · History · Law · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions
Islam in Ethiopia.
A history of modern Ethiopia, 1855-1991
The History Of The Sudan
Memory, History, Forgetting
Muslim Societies in African History
History Of Islam In Africa
Egypt and the Sudan
The Origins of the Ethiopian–Egyptian Border Problem in the Nineteenth Century
Yohannes IV of Ethiopia
The Mahdist State in the Sudan 1881-1898. A Study of Its Origins, Development and Overthrow
Ideology Versus Pragmatism - the Case of the Mahdist Public Treasury In the Sudan (1881-1898)
Yohannes IV of Ethiopia
The Mahdist State in the Sudan, 1881-1898
Mahdist Faith and Sudanic Tradition
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |