Abstract
Abstract This introduction to the special issue “The Past and its Possibilities in Nahḍa Scholarship” reflects on the role of the past in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century nahḍa discourse. It argues that historical reflection played a pivotal role in a number of scholarly disciplines besides the discipline of history, notably philosophy and logic, grammar and lexicography, linguistics, philology, and adab. Nahḍawīs reflected on continuities with the past, the genealogies of their present, and the role of history in determining their future. The introduction of print gave new impulses to the engagement with the historical heritage. We argue for a history of the nahḍa as a de-centred history of possibilities that recovers a wider circle of scholars and intellectuals and their multiple and overlapping local and global audiences. Such a history can also shed light on the many ways in which historical reflection, record-keeping practices, and confessional, sectarian, or communalist agendas are entwined.
Highlights
When the two hundredth anniversary of the death of the Maronite Bishop Jirmānūs Farḥāt (1670–1732) was celebrated in Aleppo in May 1934, during the French Mandate, several hundreds of the city’s inhabitants along with religious and political elites gathered for the unveiling of a statue of Farḥāt in the via free access
Nahḍawīs reflected on continuities with the past, the genealogies of their present, and the role of history in determining their future
We argue for a history of the nahḍa as a de-centred history of possibilities that recovers a wider circle of scholars and intellectuals and their multiple and overlapping local and global audiences
Summary
When the two hundredth anniversary of the death of the Maronite Bishop Jirmānūs Farḥāt (1670–1732) was celebrated in Aleppo in May 1934, during the French Mandate, several hundreds of the city’s inhabitants along with religious and political elites gathered for the unveiling of a statue of Farḥāt in the via free access.
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