Literatura e imprensa árabe: experiência Sírio-Libanesa no Brasil

Abstract

The present article aims to present the relationship established between Brazil and the Middle East in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, regarding the literary production of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants in Brazil. It is known that Brazil received a considerable influx of immigrants from different countries and cultures since the arrival of the Portuguese in 1500. Among the cultures that found a second home here, we highlight the Arab immigrants that came to Brazil in the end of the 19th century, mostly Syrian and Lebanese immigrants. One of the manifestations of this culture in the country was the production of books, magazines and newspapers in Arabic, or in Arabic and Portuguese, a production marked by the double experience of the immigrant, who tried to preserve the culture of his country of origin in a different cultural environment while at the same time trying to adapt to the culture in which he was immersed. Taking the trip of Dom Pedro II to the East as a starting point, our goal is to characterize the Arab literary production in Brazil as the materialization of a cultural extension motivated by immigration.