The pen league in New York city as the precursor for the Andalusian league in the City of São Paulo: arabic literature in diaspora between innovation and preservation

• Grant number: 14/12160-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: August 26, 2014
• End date: December 25, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Comparative Literature
• Principal Investigator: Benjamin Abdala Junior
• Grantee: Khalid Basher Mikha Tailche
• Supervisor: Sinan Antoon
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: New York University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/00955-0 - Cultural memory and alterity in the Arab diaspora in the Americas: the Andalusian league in São Paulo and The Pen League in New York City, BP.PD

Abstract

The literary production of The Pen League in New York City (1920 to 1932) was an important event not only for Arab immigrants in diaspora both in North and South America, but also for transforming the concept of aesthetic merit in the Arabic literature. The Pen League also anticipated the most important Arab literary society in South America in the city of São Paulo known as The Andalusian League (1933 - 1954). These two movements had great influence on the Arabic literary renovation movement known as (Al-Nahda) which had started in the late 19th century and was brought into reality in the 20th century. In this research we go back to the very place where The Pen League was established in New York City to examine its structure through the writings of one of its most important members Mikhail Naimy (1889 - 1988). Our intention is to trace down the link between The Pen League and The Andalusian League through the writings and correspondences of their members. Some of these writings were published in the literary magazines of these two groups. This project also aims, as a secondary objective, at recovering many of the missing issues of Al-Usba magazine published by The Andalusian League as part of preserving Brazilian heritage and the Arabic cultural memory in Brazil in order to make it available for researchers in Brazil. (AU)