Orientalism and the Construction of American Identity in Abraham Mitrie Rihbany's A Far Journey

Abstract

Published in complete form in 1914, Far Journey traces Reverend Abraham Mitrie Rihbany's crossing into American society after immigration to United States at age of twenty-two. In summer of 1912, after listening to Rihbany's story, a family whom he was visiting deemed it worthy of publication, and they mentioned it to editor of Atlantic Monthly. As a result, a number of sections were published in magazine in 1913 and 1914 under title A Far Journey. Using these chapters and adding some new material, in 1914 Rihbany published full version of his journey into Americanization; he wished to trace the story, not of an individual, but of a type and testify to unparalleled opportunities of (viii). Rihbany was born in 1869 in town of El-Shweir in Mount Lebanon, which was under Ottoman rule. He started his education at school of his uncle, and then was sent to Angleez (English) school. In 1875, his parents moved to Betater, another town in Mount Lebanon, where he attended an American mission school. At age nine, in tradition of his family, he started his career as an apprentice stone-mason. However, at age of seventeen, he decided to go back to school; he attended American High School of Suk-al-Gharb and became a member of Protestant Church. To pay for his education, he taught for three years in two different schools. (1) When he was twenty-two, Rihbany decided to join friends immigrating to USA. After obtaining legal documents, he reached New York on October 6, 1891. He headed to Washington Street, where Syrian colony was located. In New York, he worked as an assistant storekeeper before making acquaintance of some educated Syrians with whom he founded Syrian Scientific and Ethical Society. In 1892, he worked as literary editor in first Arabic language newspaper published in United States, Kowkab America (Star of America). However, due to political disagreements paper folded, and Rihbany left New York to travel with a friend through different states and speak in churches and societies about Holy Land. Through these tours he hoped to secure funding for college. He spoke in several cities in Midwest before becoming regular pastor of Congregational Church in Morenci, Michigan. After publishing Far Journey, Rihbany contributed several articles to Atlantic Monthly, which were collected under title The Syrian Christ (1916). He followed this book with Militant America and Jesus Christ (1917) and America Save Near East (1918). In 1919, Rihbany was elected by American Syrian Association to be their representative at peace conference in Versailles. He reflects on his experience in Wise Men from East and from West (1922). Other works he penned before his death in 1944 include The Hidden Treasure of Rasmola (1920), The Christ Story for Boys and Girls (1916), Seven Days with God (1926), and The Five Interpretations of Jesus (1940). In Far Journey, Rihbany maps traditional quest of immigrant and different stages of his progression toward Americanization. Throughout this first-person narrative, he celebrates nobler qualities that real America inspires in select few or small minority of eager, aggressive idealists (245). Unlike some contemporary Arab American autobiographies which use transformative power of narration and storytelling to break confining construction of Arabness (Cherif 207), text relies heavily on Orientalist projections of Orient and on a strategic celebration of its Christian religious tradition. By referring to this tradition, Rihbany stresse[s] [his] Christian identity, [his] geographical origin in 'Holy Land,' and [his] 'spirituality,' employing biblical rhetoric and religious parallels. This technique shows Rihbany's attempt to engage American readers and familiarize 'exotic,' while at same time seeking to distance [himself] from Islam (Majaj, Arab-Americans 328). …