Toward a Proto-Nationalist Concept of Syria? Revisiting the American Presbyterian Missionaries in the Nineteenth-Century Levant

Zachs, Fruma

doi:10.1163/1570060011201268

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…This thinking has been extended to the Middle Eastern context, relating Arab, Assyrian, and Armenian nationalist movements to Protestant missionaries' activities (Kieser 2002;Tejirian and Simon 2014;Fildiş 2012;Zachs 2001;Smith and Kemeny 2019;Rostam-Kolayi 2008). Scholars have long debated the impact of the educational program of the Syrian missions-specifically, the American University of Beirut (AUB)-on the creation of the Arab Awakening in the Levant (Antonius 1969;Abu-Ghazaleh 1990;Tibawi 1966).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Missionary Influence and Nationalist Reactions: The Case of Armenian Ottomans

Amasyalı

2020

Nationalities Papers

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A significant body of literature argues that American evangelical missionaries working in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century directly contributed to the rise of Armenian nationalism. While acknowledging that missionaries had an effect on Armenian nationalism, this article finds that the impact of missionaries was much more unintended than is commonly assumed and resulted primarily from Armenian reactions to growing missionary influence. Employing new data on the biographies of Armenian nationalist leaders as well as comparative-historical methods, the article offers evidence that missionary influence spurred a backlash among the Armenian community that intensified preexisting local initiatives, increased investment in mass education in the provinces, and modernized its schooling system, all of which popularized and strengthened Armenian nationalism.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Missionary Influence and Nationalist Reactions: The Case of Armenian Ottomans

Amasyalı

2020

Nationalities Papers

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“…Zachs titles this syncretism a “cultural‐semiotic construct, successful almost by default” (Zachs, 2005b), thus placing the missionaries within the scope of promoting a viable, localized nationalism, although not great contributors to the larger Arab National Movement. The argument that the members of this society “took up and further developed the American missionaries' concept of Syria, … [and] turned it into the linchpin for the construct of Syrian wataniyya ” (Zachs, ) is the crux of Zachs's own analysis. From this point, she rebuilds the reputation of the missionaries as a foreign presence that developed a local conscience, and ultimately contributed to the Syrian communities in which they lived.…”

Section: Deconstructing the Narrativementioning

confidence: 99%

“…From this comparison, it is seen that while no two tales are alike, their purposes and methodology can in fact be the same. This chapter seeks to deconstruct the works of Sylvia G. Haim (1953Haim ( , 1976, C. Ernest Dawn (1961Dawn ( , 1962Dawn ( , 1991, Rashid Khalidi (1991aKhalidi ( , 1991bKhalidi ( , 1997, and Fruma Zachs (2001Zachs ( , 2005aZachs ( , 2005b concerning the origins of Arab nationalism and analyze the implications of their conclusions via White's (1973White's ( , 1987 theory of historical narrativity and construction. It will focus specifically on the issues of who is credited with igniting the flames of nationalism.…”

Section: Deconstructing the Narrativementioning

confidence: 99%

“…. [and] turned it into the linchpin for the construct of Syrian wataniyya" (Zachs, 2001) is the crux of Zachs's own analysis. From this point, she rebuilds the reputation of the missionaries as a foreign presence that developed a local conscience, and ultimately contributed to the Syrian communities in which they lived.…”

Section: Digest Of Middle East Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As the most contemporary contributor, Israeli historian Fruma Zachs arguably has the most syncretic view of the Protestant missionaries and illustrates them as misrepresented (Zachs, , , ). Although they may not fulfill the glowing portrait Antonius painted for them, they served a different yet profound purpose.…”

Section: Deconstructing the Narrativementioning

confidence: 99%

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Proselytizing Nationalism: Protestant Missionaries and theArab Awakening Debate

Borders

2014

Digest Mid East Studies

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This article examines the historiographical debate concerning the origins of Arab nationalism as postulated by George Antonius in his book, The Arab Awakening: The Story of the Arab National Movement and the theory of historical construction. After establishing the theoretical framework of the study with an overview of Hayden White's views on how history is written, it progresses into a study of the historiography of Arab nationalism. Here, the scholars Sylvia G. Haim, C. Ernest Dawn, Rashid Khalidi, and Fruma Zachs and their writings are chronologically dissected, with each academic analyzed via White's theories of historical construction. Through studying their respective positions, it is shown that these texts are culturally relative according to the era in which they were written.It is argued that no work of scholarship can be fully removed from outside influences. Specifically, politicization of academics and the consequences of such endeavors are shown as inextricable from the created narrative. Because of the need for culturally relative knowledge so that it can be applicable to audiences outside of academia, scholars who write for an express purpose (such as answering a question for

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Burdening the Political Aspects of Freedom: The Formative Period, 1820–1860

Abu-ʿUksa¹

2016

Freedom in the Arab World

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Toward a Proto-Nationalist Concept of Syria? Revisiting the American Presbyterian Missionaries in the Nineteenth-Century Levant

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Missionary Influence and Nationalist Reactions: The Case of Armenian Ottomans

Missionary Influence and Nationalist Reactions: The Case of Armenian Ottomans

Proselytizing Nationalism: Protestant Missionaries and theArab Awakening Debate

Burdening the Political Aspects of Freedom: The Formative Period, 1820–1860

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