Davis 417sphere in Iraq (and elsewhere) is synthetic, in the sense that it combines
discourses drawn from politics, literature and the arts, points to the ben-
efits of incorporating it into the analysis of modern Iraqi politics and
society. Rather than limiting our analysis to the realm of political elites
and the exercise of political power, a focus on the public sphere draws us
into an arena where a Gramscian war of position is constantly underway
as counterhegemonic discourses are formed and contested. Much of the
tension surrounding the idea of the public sphere as an imported con-
cept dissolves when one realizes the length of time and extent to which
processes associated with the functioning of the concept in the West have
historically been operative in Iraq.