In the hall of mirrors: the Arab Nahda, nationalism, and the question of language

Thesis

The dissertation examines the foundations of modern Arab national thought in nineteenth-century works of Buṭrus al Busta̅ni̅ (1819-1883) and Aḥmad Fa̅ris al Shidya̅q (1804-1887) in which occurred an intersection of language-making practices and a national pedagogic project. It interrogates the centrality of language for Arab identity formation by deconstructing the metaphor "language is the mirror of the nation," an overarching slogan of the nineteenth century, as well as engaging with twentieth-century discussions of the Arab nation and its Nahḍa. The study seeks to challenge the conventional historiography of Arab thought by proposing a re-theorisation of the Arab Nahḍa as an Enlightenment-Modernity construct that constitutes the problematic of the Arab nation.

The study investigates through literature and literary tropes the makings and interstices of the historical Arab Nation: the topography of its making. It covers a series of primary understudied sources: Busta̅ni̅'s enunciative Nafi̅r Su̅riyya pamphlets that he wrote in the wake of the 1860 civil wars of Mount Lebanon and Damascus: his translation of Robinson Crusoe, dictionary, and encyclopaedia. As well as Shidya̅q’s fictional autobiography, linguistic essays and treatise, and travel writings on Europe. The dissertation engages with these works to show how the 'Nahḍa' is a constituted by inherently contradictory and supplementary projects. It forms a moment of fracture in history and temporality – as does the Enlightenment in Europe – from which emerges a seemingly coherent national narrative.

Authors: Bou Ali, N

• Publication date: 2012
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: liberalism; language and nationalism; Middle East studies; intellectual history; sectarianism; critical theory
• Subjects: Arabic; History of other areas; History of Asia & Far East; Literatures of other languages; Intellectual History