Reconstructing the Modern Intellectual History of Lebanon Like Never Before
This project aims at introducing the various intellectual leaders of Lebanon from the seventeenth century till the present day to the new generation in order to be familiar with our intellectual heritage. The idea is to introduce major figures in politics, literature, religion, philosophy, history, language and other areas of knowledge to draw a thorough image of Lebanese thought during the last four centuries as a major part of the Lebanese Arab Renaissance movement.
The Lebanese National Bibliography
This project consists of building a large and solid information bank on each of these selected figures, and presents each figure in eight major headings namely:
- A thorough, extensive, and clear biography clarifying the type of leading intellectual experience that the person understudy had gone through;
- A comprehensive bibliography on his/her works, published or unpublished, and or achievements, trying to include the larger possible, and necessary, related information. This bibliography tries to cover most of the aspects of intellectual life comprising: literature, history, religion, politics, applied and natural sciences, social sciences, philosophy, language, encyclopedias and launching newspapers and/or magazines;
- Translations of other works done by the author involved into other Asian or European languages;
- Translations of his works into other Asian or European languages with all the related necessary information;
- A wide bibliography on books, dissertations, and theses written about the person understudy;
- A large bibliography on articles written about the person concerned. This bibliography is likely to reach thousands of entries per person understudy;
- Samples of writings extracted from different works of the writer, in order to give a taste of his/her work and style;
- Samples of what was written about him by choosing quotations from other writers related to that particular figure.
This Lebanese National Bibliography Project is one of a kind that revives the substance of the Lebanese Arab Renaissance that started four hundred years ago and became the raison d’être of the Lebanon of today. Out of a bunch of about fifty figures we have started with sixteen, three or four of each century. We will continue by adding every year one or two figures in each century to complete the portrait of the intellectual life of Lebanon.
What the Lebanese National Bibliography of Lebanon Adds to Other Academic Contributions
- All what we know about most of our leaders in the Lebanese Arab Renaissance does not exceed the level of basic common knowledge. We have to dig deeper;
- Digging deeper in profundity means giving us the chance to increase our respect to ourselves, and to raise our admiration to Lebanon. This step would help us becoming a positive citizen, and a productive one;
- These figures are examples, not to copy from, but from whom to inspire;
- Admiration of Lebanon opens the door to contribute in moving to the modern Lebanon yet to appear. The Renaissance movement should continue and carry on in all aspects of the Lebanese knowledge, productivity, achievements and stories of success;
- We hope that this National Bibliography of Lebanon will become gradually an academic reference for Lebanese studies that, In turn, should help us revive and renew our vision to the active, dynamic, and prevailing Lebanon that we all want it to be.
We sincerely hope that this Lebanese National Bibliography will find its way to the minds and hearts of the readers in Lebanon and overseas.
Editorial Board
Antoine F. Moukarzel, MA, Philosophy
Tony P. Nasrallah, MA, Philosophy, Ph.D. candidate
Pauline E. Nohra, MA, Anthropology
Ameen A. Rihani, Ph.D., Comparative Literature
Zeina Khalil Meouchy, MA, Archeology