Salim M. alerted me to the first Arabic book ever published in the US: Mikha'il As`ad Rustum, Kitab Al-Gharib fi Al-Gharb (The Book of the Stranger in the West), published in New York City in 1895 (republished in a 2nd edition by Dar Al-Hamra' in Beirut in 1992). I unfortunately have not been able to locate the 1st edition but obtained the 2nd edition from the library of the University of Michigan, and just finished reading it.
The book is an interesting tale: half of is written in popular (unsophisticated) poetry-style while the rest is a book of observations about life in the US. The book is not a critique of the US although it does contain critical comments from the mind of a Christian from Lebanon (or Syria, as people identified accordingly at the time--I only mentioned his sect because people would read all that he said as stemming from Islamic fanaticism). He was able to share accurate observations about life and politics in the US, mixed with a conservative take on American society, tinged with some exaggeration. Unlike the speech by Farah Antun in Niagara Falls, this man is no progressive. He complains a lot about the status of women in the US (in the late 19th century, mind you) and insists that women's status are ahead those of men. He also is racist against blacks and says: "They have remained [after emancipation] a not rough, and farthest from politeness, and crime and misdeeds are rampant among them, and they mostly serve in homes as if they are firmly established in enslavement". (p. 142). He gives the most detailed account of the work that Syrian immigrants performed in the US, as roving vendors with a box strapped to their backs. It is an interesting read. I also noticed that while Lebanese were referred to as Syrians at the time, Palestine had a distinct identity as when he says in talking about general ignorance of Americans: "They don't mention that there is on earth a land called Syria or Palestine". (p. 122). But this is what is new about the book: it can be said that this book is probably the first real critique of Orientalism by an Arab: he is indignant at the racism and ignorance of AUB founder, Henry Jessup and responds to two of his books in devastating detail. He even mentions crimes against women in the US in response to the colonialist feminist book by Jessup about women in Syria (and the mouthpiece of AUB, MainGate still lionizes this Jessup). This book is worthy of translation into English.
The book is an interesting tale: half of is written in popular (unsophisticated) poetry-style while the rest is a book of observations about life in the US. The book is not a critique of the US although it does contain critical comments from the mind of a Christian from Lebanon (or Syria, as people identified accordingly at the time--I only mentioned his sect because people would read all that he said as stemming from Islamic fanaticism). He was able to share accurate observations about life and politics in the US, mixed with a conservative take on American society, tinged with some exaggeration. Unlike the speech by Farah Antun in Niagara Falls, this man is no progressive. He complains a lot about the status of women in the US (in the late 19th century, mind you) and insists that women's status are ahead those of men. He also is racist against blacks and says: "They have remained [after emancipation] a not rough, and farthest from politeness, and crime and misdeeds are rampant among them, and they mostly serve in homes as if they are firmly established in enslavement". (p. 142). He gives the most detailed account of the work that Syrian immigrants performed in the US, as roving vendors with a box strapped to their backs. It is an interesting read. I also noticed that while Lebanese were referred to as Syrians at the time, Palestine had a distinct identity as when he says in talking about general ignorance of Americans: "They don't mention that there is on earth a land called Syria or Palestine". (p. 122). But this is what is new about the book: it can be said that this book is probably the first real critique of Orientalism by an Arab: he is indignant at the racism and ignorance of AUB founder, Henry Jessup and responds to two of his books in devastating detail. He even mentions crimes against women in the US in response to the colonialist feminist book by Jessup about women in Syria (and the mouthpiece of AUB, MainGate still lionizes this Jessup). This book is worthy of translation into English.
