Abstract: In the late XX – early XXI century, the Arab discourse on the issue of Palestine remains saturated with references to the Crusades (1099-1291), and likening the current tribulation of the history of Palestine to the medieval events. Modern historiography traces the growth in popularity of such reminiscences beginning from 1948, while modern literature practically has no mentions of the used of the “anti-Crusades rhetoric” by the Arab cultural figures prior to this data. The object of this research is the mobilization of historical memory in Arab culture of the first half of the XX century; the subject is reference to the topic of the Crusades in the Arab literary texts of 1917-1948 dedicated to the Palestinian issue. Analysis of literary works of the Arab cultural figures of the early XX century demonstrated that way before Arab-Israeli War of 1948-1949, such events as Balfour Declaration (1917) and Arab revolt (1936-1938) were being actively compared by the Arab poets and dramaturgists to the era of the Crusades. In the period from 1917 to 1948, the author highlights the following types of references of the Arab cultural figured to the era of the Crusades in relation to the Palestine issue: blaming of Europe for conducting a new Crusade, manifestations of which were declared the activity of the mandate administrations and arrival of the Jewish settlers; reminding of failure of the Crusades, which should have served as the warning for the modern Europeans; revival of heroic memory of the Palestinians in confrontation of the European crusaders in the Middle Ages, which should have inspire the contemporaries to fight for their land.

Abstract: The subject of this research is the terminological polemics in Arab historiography of the late XX – early XXI centuries unfolded around the terms referring to Crusades and crusaders. Proceeding from the fact that the era of Crusades has been and remains one of the most traumatizing periods within the Arab historical memory, it seems relevant to explore the terminology used by the modern Arab historians for describing the evens and personalities of that time. Terminological polemics around designating crusaders in the modern Arab historiography has not previously become an independent subject of research in Western or Russian historical science. Examination of terminological question was conducted within the framework of the methodology of discourse analysis by juxtaposing the opinions of Arab historians, analysis of their structure, and correlation with the historical context. Analysis of the narrative of modern Arab historiography demonstrates that the Arab author do not have a uniform opinion on legitimacy of the use of the Arab term “Crusades” – al-hurub as-selibiyah. At the same time, in modern Arab historiography, “secular” historians along the authors considering these historical events first and foremost as a part of history of the Muslim world, either advocate or dispute the use of the term salibi that stands for the crusader. The examination of this aspect is a step towards understanding the processes of formation of image of the other within modern Arab historiography.