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When
Nafir Suriyya—“The
Clarion of Syria”—was penned between September 1860 and
April 1861, its author Butrus al-Bustani, a major figure in
the modern Arabic Renaissance, had witnessed his homeland undergo
unprecedented violence in what many today consider Lebanon’s
first civil war. Written during Ottoman and European investigations
into the causes and culprits of the atrocities,
The Clarion of
Syria is both a commentary on the politics of state
intervention and social upheaval, and a set of visions for the
future of Syrian society in the wake of conflict.
This translation makes a key historical document accessible for the
first time to an English audience. An introduction by the
translators sketches the history that led up to the civil strife in
Mt. Lebanon, outlines a brief biography of Butrus al-Bustani,
and provides an authoritative overview of the literary style and
historiography of
Nafir Suriyya. Rereading these pamphlets
in the context of today’s political violence, in
war-torn Syria and elsewhere in the Arab world, helps us gain
a critical and historical perspective on sectarianism, foreign
invasions, conflict resolution, Western interventionism, and
nationalist tropes of reconciliation.