Lebanese-Phoenician Nationalist Movement

Literature, Language and Identity

Inbunden, Engelska, 2016

2 179 kr

Beställningsvara. Skickas inom 10-15 vardagar. Fri frakt för medlemmar vid köp för minst 249 kr.

The question of belonging has formed the basis of the political, religious and cultural tensions in Lebanon, to the point that sectarian conflict on the country's future contributed significantly to the outbreak of civil war in 1975. This book focuses on the development of the Phoenician-Lebanese movement that struggled against the hegemonic status of Arabic language and culture. The Phoenician-Lebanese were a predominantly Maronite Christian group who attempted to remove themselves from the Muslim and Arab world throughout the twentieth century. Their demands for self-definition as a nation and their desire to establish their own culture were rooted in the concept of their ancient Phoenician past. Basilius Bawardi examines four prominent authors who formed the basis on which all engaged so-called Phoenician literature was built: Sharl Qurm, Sa'id 'Aql, Mayy Murr and Muris 'Awwad. The literary corpus of these writers was a critical component of the political activity that strove to distinguish the native Lebanese inhabitants from their Arab-Muslim neighbours.Studying these authors' works in both a literary and historical way, Bawardi shows how language was used to promote a specific political agenda and identifies the strong connections between language, literature and nation building.As well as revealing the nationalist struggle as it emerges in prose and poetry, the book discusses the history and formation of modern day Lebanon and why language and literature are so crucial for members of a national minority.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2016-08-08
Mått138 x 220 x 18 mm
Vikt780 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieBloomsbury 3PL
Antal sidor208
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN9781784532376

Tillhör följande kategorier

Nationalism inom Samhälle och politik

Basilius Bawardi is Senior Lecturer at Bar Ilan University and Oranim College, Israel. He holds a PhD in Arabic Literature and Language from the University of Haifa. He has published in the journals Middle Eastern Literature and Al-Karmil and in the books Ottoman Reform and Muslim Regeneration; The Lebanese Anthology of Muris 'Awwad and Monotheism & Ethics: Historical and Contemporary Intersections Among Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Content Note on Transliteration viiiAcknowledgements ixIntroduction 11. Historical Background: The Birth of the Phoenician-Lebanese National Thought 2. Phoenician-Lebanese Literature: Founding Generation 3. The Second Generation: Mayy Murr and Mu¯ r?¯s ?Awwa4. Summary – or is it the End of the Phoenician Movement? AppendixI 136Appendix II 141Appendix III 143Appendix IV 147Notes 153Bibliography 176Index

'Bawardi presents an innovative combination of thorough textual research and theoretical arguments. The volume highlights the complex links between ideologies and language that have contributed to forming the Phoenician-Lebanese identity.' - Fruma Zachs, Professor and Head of Middle Eastern History, The Department of Middle Eastern History, University of Haifa, 'In his book, Basilius Bawardi presents three Lebanese poets: Sa'id 'Aql (1912-2014), May(y) Murr (1929-2008), and Maurice 'Awwad (born in 1934). Their literary work reflects two contemporary anti-Arab, and anti-Sunni, partly overlapping movements in Lebanon: Phoenicianism, proclaiming the Phoenician origins of the Lebanese people, and linguistic nationalism, which aims to introduce Lebanese Arabic as the official national language in the country, and to replace Arabic script by the new Latin alphabet created by Sa'id 'Aql. Although these ideological trends have been studied in recent years by several scholars, Bawardi takes an original methodological perspective, based firstly on literary criticism and studies on the history of ideas. As he has previously translated into Hebrew sections of M. 'Awwad's work, he is also sensitive to its linguistic form.' - Arkadiusz Plonka, Assistant Professor, Institute of Oriental Studies, Jagiellonian University