Synopses & Reviews
Although there is a plethora of Westerners' accounts of their travels in the Arab world, it is often forgotten that there exists a substantial body of accounts of journeys to the West by Arab travellers. Nazik Yared's study, while acknowledging the importance of major figures in classical Arabic travel literature such as al-Mas'udi (d. 957), Ibn Jubair (d. 1217) and Ibn Battuta (d. 1377), focuses on Arab travellers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
In this period, travel was perhaps the most important means of introducing an Arab to aspects of European civilization. This contact and interaction with the West often proved disturbing and even shocking: it provoked a conflict on the political, economic, intellectual and cultural levels that remains a fundamental problem for Arab identity to this day. On the one hand, the Arabs admired the West's progress and asked to what extent their own backwardness and stagnation could be blamed on their traditional outlook. On the other, they felt threatened and wanted to preserve their identity in the face of the onslaught of new values.
This dilemma is mirrored in the works of the writers analysed in Yared's book. They also reveal the way in which the dilemma changed over time: from the Egyptian al-Tahtawi's impressions of Paris to al-Rihani and Husayn's later views of the West. Since these changes also reflected the political scene very clearly, the book is divided into three parts: the first (1826-1882) begins with al-Tahtawi's trip to France in 1826 and ends with the colonization of Tunisia by the French in 1882 and of Egypt by the British in the same year; the second (1882-1918) goes from the Western occupation until the end ofthe First World War; and the third (1919-1938) covers the period between the two World Wars.
Of the many Arab travellers who left their accounts, the author has selected those who either represented a train of thought shared by the intelligentsia of the time or who stood
Synopsis
This covers political, economic, intellectual and cultural conflicts that remain a major problem for Arab identity by focusing on Arab traveller's writings of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A highly readable reference work for students of modern Arab civilisation.
About the Author
Nazik Saba Yared is a Lebanese academic and writer who teaches at Beirut University College. She is the author of several works on classical Arabic literature and four novels (all in Arabic). Impact of the West, which was published in Arabic to critical acclaim, is the first of Yared's books to be translated into English.
Table of Contents
Introduction
PART ONE: Prelude to European Colonization (1826-1882) Introduction: Historical and Intellectual Relations with. the West
1. Aspects of the Conflict in the Travellers' Works First Encounters with the Principles of the French Revolution Western Influences
2. Political Thought
Nation, Homeland and Nationalism
State, Ruler and System of Government
Law and the Shari'a
3. Economic Thought
Economic Progress
Work and Capital
Social Justice
4. Social and Ethical Thought The Individual in a Changing Society
The Position of Women
5. Attitudes to Western Culture
The Fine Arts
Theatre
Language and Literature
Journalism
6. Scientific Thought
Science in the West
The East's Need for Western Science
The Backwardness of Science in the East
7. Science and Religion
PART TWO: From the Western Occupation to the End of the First World War (1882-1918) Introduction: Historical and Intellectual Relations with the West
1. Aspects of the Conflict in the Travellers' Works
The Response to the Concept of Freedom and Equality in the West
2. Political Thought
State, Ruler and System of Government Law and the Shari'a
3. Economic Thought
Social Classes and the Means of Achieving
Economic Prosperity
4. Social and Ethical Thought
The Position of Women
5. Attitudes to Western Culture
s20The Fine Arts
Theatre
Language and Literature
Journalism
6.Scientific Thought
Science in the West
The East's Need for Western Science
The Backwardness of Science in the East
7. Science and Religion
PART THREE: The Inter-War Period (1919-1938)
Introduction: Historical and Intellectual Relations with the West
1. Aspects of the Conflict in the Travellers' Works
2. Political Thought
Colonialism and Nationalism
State, Ruler and System of Government
Law and the Shari'a
3. Economic Thought
4. Social and Ethical Thought
The Values of Western Civilization
The Position of Women
5. Attitudes to Western Culture
The Fine Arts
Theatre
Language and Literature
6. Scientific Thought
7. Science and Religion
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index