(Un)civilized Religion: Representations of Religious ‘Others’ in Early Arabic Periodicals in Ottoman Syria

Abstract

This article explores how early Arabic periodicals in Ottoman Syria represented local, “heretical” communities; namely, Druze, Ismailis, Alawites, and Yazidis. The article shows how these representations reflected the urban ideology of the Sunni-Christian nahḍa public that identified itself as part of the civilized world in opposition to the countryside, which was otherized as alien, morally deviant, and irrational. The article traces the sources of these representations in popular prejudice against rural communities, Ḫaldūnian theory of conflict, and European as well as Ottoman Orientalisms. These depictions are then contextualized within broader discussions in the nahḍa about civilization and religious tolerance.

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/22138617-12340362