Gibran, Rihani & Naimy: East-West Interactions in Early Twentieth-Century Arab Literature - Softcover

Imangulieva, Aida

Softcover

ISBN 10: 190593727X ISBN 13: 9781905937271

Verlag: Anqa Publishing, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

Originally published in Russian during the final years of the Soviet Union, this volume examines the influences of foreign literary movements, specifically Romanticism and Realism, on the three authors examined within. By viewing Gibran and Rihani’s works in the light of English poets such as Wordsworth, Byron, and Shelley and American writers such as Emerson and Whitman—and by exploring Naimy through the lens of the Russian Realist tradition, drawing parallels specifically with the work of Belinsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev, and the Chekhovian tradition—this work provides an unusual window into the Arab world’s cultural interaction with Europe, America, and Russia in the early 20th century. At the same time, it reaches beyond its academic scope and reveals universal elements that speak to all people and go beyond cultural frameworks altogether.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Aida Imangulieva held a doctorate in philological sciences and was a highly regarded Azeri specialist on Arab emigre literature and a member of the All-Union Orientalist Community Presidium and All-Union Coordination Council on East Literature Research.

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Gibrain, Rihani & Naimy

East-West Interactions in Early Twentieth-Century Arab Literature

By Aida Imangulieva, Robin Thomson

Anqa Publishing

Copyright © 2009 Afaq Khanum
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-905937-27-1

Contents

Foreword by Dr Afag Asadova, 
Introduction, 
1 Arab émigré literature in the USA: origins and influences, 
2 Kahlil Gibran: the development of the Romantic method, 
3 Ameen Rihani and his role in the formation of Arab Romanticism, 
4 Mikhail Naimy and nineteenth-century Russian literature, 
Conclusion, 
Endnotes, 
Bibliography, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Arab émigré literature in the USA: origins and influences

Social and political life in Lebanon in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the origins of Arab émigré literature

Lebanon's early contact with European countries played an important part in its cultural ascent, and this can be explained by the country's history. The geographical location of this small country put it at the centre of constant interactions among various civilisations: the East of antiquity, the classical world, Arab Islamic culture and Christianity. The establishment of Byzantine supremacy in Lebanon (and in Syria) in the fourth century ad founded a root of Orthodox Christianity, in which the Church was governed entirely from Greece. From the Middle Ages Beirut was important as a convenient seaport on the trade route from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. For many centuries, therefore, Lebanon was drawn into direct contact with the countries of the Mediterranean and Christian Europe.

Contact between Lebanon and European countries began to strengthen after the sixteenth century, when interest in the lands of the East began to grow in the West. In 1584 a special school for Lebanese Maronites was opened in Rome. During the rule of King Louis XIV Maronites studied in French educational institutions, and in 1608 the Emir of Lebanon, Fakhr ad-Din II (1585–1635), concluded a trade agreement with the Duke of Tuscany. European scholars were invited to Lebanon, and Western countries, particularly England and France, embarked on active economic development there. Raw materials – silk, wool, tobacco, olive oil and citrus fruits – were exported westwards, while various textile and manufactured goods were imported from Europe. Pursuing their own interests, the Western trading companies applied no little effort in turning Beirut into a modern city. A new port and seafronts were built, a gasworks was set up for street lighting, water pipes were laid, a number of large public and administrative buildings were constructed and a highway was laid between Beirut and Damascus.

From the beginning of the nineteenth century the history of Lebanon had been closely linked to the activities of Western missionaries. Lebanon was one of the first Eastern countries to become an arena for their work. Missionaries were quick to establish themselves there: Catholics from France, Protestants from England, Presbyterians from America and Orthodox from Russia. In part this was to do with the geographical location of the country, but also with the availability of good ports and natural resources. A further important element was that a large portion of the Lebanese population were historically Christian. Naturally, the missionaries pursued political interests in addition to religious ones, but "while directing the influence of the colonial powers in the East, the missionaries nevertheless brought literacy to the local Christians and spread European

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Anqa Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 190593727X
• ISBN 13: 9781905937271
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 256
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar