In the face of rapid industrial development, how are the Arabian Gulf States reinstating the symbol of the date palm to affirm national identity? In this talk, we conduct a regional case study by examining the material culture of the United Arab Emirates. We will make the claim that the symbol of the date serves as a postmodern romanticization of a preindustrial Arabia. We cite the discovery of oil in the 20th century as a catalyst to the economic development of the region, yet also a motive in the reestablished cultural symbolism of the date. Today, the domestic date production represents less than 1% of the United Arab Emirates’ GDP. Thus we postulate that the fruit continues to serve as a cultural figurehead, which brings to light an inherent contradiction: the date, while seemingly indicative of national values, is invariably excluded from national production. We argue that this underscores the country’s emphasis on cultural capital as opposed to economic imperatives.
The date palm has served the Arabian Peninsula since its domestication approximately 5,000 years ago, acting as an integral component of agrarian civilization. The cultivation of the palm thus signifying the historic shift from nomadic to sedentary lifestyles. Predicated upon these socio-historical underpinnings, the date is commonly represented in cultural, religious, and literary traditions of the region. We investigate the rhetorical symbolism of the date as framed in both religious and secular, contemporary literature.
As a comparandum to how the date is figured in the Emirati cultural imaginary, we will consider a correlative example in the American southwest. With the date as central to cultural orientalization, we argue that in both the minds of the American public and Emirati citizens, the fruit symbolizes a cultural other and seemingly unattainable past, of which is called upon in contemporary constructs of national identity. Historically tethered and culturally restorative, the date unearths a dimension rendering the central values of the nation. We conclude the date unlocks insights into the entire culture and region; the history of the region is inscribed in the date.