Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria - (Alternative Histories) by Deanna Ferree Womack (Paperback)

About the Book

The Ottoman Syrians - residents of modern Syria and Lebanon - formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. This book offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915.

Book Synopsis

The Ottoman Syrians - residents of modern Syria and Lebanon - formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. This book offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915.

From the Back Cover

A comprehensive study of Arab Protestantism during the Nahda in Ottoman Syria The Ottoman Syrians - residents of modern Syria and Lebanon - formed the first Arabic-speaking Evangelical Church in the region. This book offers a fresh narrative of the encounters of this minority Protestant community with American missionaries, Eastern churches and Muslims at the height of the Nahda, from 1860 to 1915. Drawing on rare Arabic publications, it challenges historiography that focuses on Western male actors. Instead it shows that Syrian Protestant women and men were agents of their own history who sought the salvation of Syria while adapting and challenging missionary teachings. These pioneers established a critical link between evangelical religiosity and the socio-cultural currents of the Nahda, making possible the literary and educational achievements of the American Syria Mission and transforming Syrian society in ways that still endure today. Key Features ● Locates Syrian Protestant narratives within American, Ottoman and global histories ● Explores macro-questions of Arab-American relations and gender roles in the Islamic world ● Brings Middle Eastern studies into conversation with the field of World Christianity ● Makes rare and neglected writings by Syrian Protestants accessible to non-Arabic speakers ● Includes a bibliography of primary Arabic source materials by Syrian Protestant women ● Provides family trees of Syrian Protestants ● Includes rare photographs from nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Ottoman Syria Deanna Ferree Womack is Assistant Professor of History of Religions and Multifaith Relations at Emory University's Candler School of Theology.

Review Quotes

Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria makes an important contribution to the field. It provides an engaging, thoughtful examination of the nahda period. It offers a compelling analysis and an innovative take on the dynamics between the American missionaries and local population by identifying the agency and input of Protestant Syrians in general and Protestant Syrian women evangelists in particular to both the history of Ottoman Syria and the history of Protestant Christianity in the region.--Fruma Zachs, University of Haifa "The Journal of World Christianity Volume 10, Issue 1"

Deanna Womack presents a brilliant study of Syrian Protestants in the Nahda, the late nineteenth-century Arabic literary awakening, while examining how printed essays, books, and sermons shaped communal and devotional life. By featuring Syrian Protestant women, in particular, as prolific writers of the nahda, Womack blazes trails in the fields of Middle Eastern gender history and World Christianity alike.-- "Heather J. Sharkey, University of Pennsylvania"

In this stimulating book, Deanna Ferree Womack shines a bright light on the religious experience of Syrian Protestants in order to show how a relatively small church community participated in a large cultural moment that was sweeping through the Middle East.--Stanley H. Skreslet, Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, VA "Mission Studies 37 (2020)"

The book is a must-read, not only for those interested in the history of missions in the Ottoman Empire, but also for those examining self-identification through religion and socio-cultural commitment.--Uta Zeuge-Buberl, Independent Researcher, Vienna "Theological Review"

About the Author

Deanna Ferree Womack is Assistant Professor of History of Religions and Multifaith Relations at Emory University's Candler School of Theology and director of the Leadership and Multifaith Program (LAMP) in Atlanta. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Womack has lectured and published widely on the subjects of Arab Protestantism, mission history, world Christianity and Christian-Muslim relations. 'Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria' is her first book. Womack is co-editor, with Philip Forness, of the Edinburgh Studies in Middle Eastern Christianity series.