Lebanese Awakening :: history

Lebanese Awakening Under the Ottoman Empire, the Lebanese enjoyed a social & cultural development phase that was flourishing. The Lebanese Christians kept good ties with the Europeans that would occasionally visit and spread their influence. The Ottoman reform had an impact on every part of the Empire, including a major role in Lebanon. The Muslims recognized the strength and superiority of the western military; therefore they adopted some of the westerners’ methods. The Muslims feared the western domination, but were subject to change for scientific enhancements. However, the Lebanese were living through a â€Å"ray of freedom† in which they wanted to modernize and enhance their ways of life. The population density in Lebanon was crowded and that kept people in communities. The Lebanese are also open to foreign influence. They now have secure lives and own property. Some young Lebanese went to Italy to become priests. Of them, some went on to spread Orientalism in Paris and Rome while the rest came back to open schools to preach in. During the 18th century the influence from Roman graduates started to show. Through the church reforms, education was spreading through the opening of schools in Bqrqasha, Louwaze and Zougharta. In the 18th century, the best Maronite education was in Ayn Waraqa. These graduates carried on to become powerful figures through the 19th century. The Greek Catholics came from Syria to Lebanon to join the maronites and improve literacy. Main problem was that only well-off families could be educated while the rest stayed ignorant. The Muslims didn’t want the Arabic language to be used because they considered it sacred and holy. The only education Islamic people taught were religion and the Koran. In return the Druze and Greek Orthodox were the only ones left without superfluous educational levels. Besides the Druze protected their holy texts so much they had nothing to learn. The next problem rose with the lack of books. As schools opened, there were less and less books available because they were handwritten. The press could not use Arabic because of the Muslims so they used Syriac. First books written were about religion, and then eventually developed into culture. The cultural movement didn’t have a popular effect, because only a minority was getting educated. Niqula Turk was a pioneering Lebanese poet that awakened new ambitions among his younger contemporaries. Al-Turk represented a wide literary movement in which more poets were rising such as Butrus Karam.