{"id":309094,"date":"2022-03-25T07:00:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=309094"},"modified":"2022-03-28T16:09:11","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T19:09:11","slug":"get-to-know-the-memories-of-arab-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/get-to-know-the-memories-of-arab-immigration\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to know the memories of Arab immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 How did the first Arabs who migrated to Brazil live, how did they think, how did they feel in the country that welcomed them, and how did they miss the land they had left behind? Getting this information directly from these immigrants is now possible thanks to a project carried out by Lebanon\u2019s Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) that has partnered up with Brazil\u2019s Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong> (ABCC).<\/p>\n

\"\"
Al Fayha. Brazil\u2019s first newspaper in Arabic<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After three years of work, the Digitization <\/strong>Project of the Memory of Arab Immigration in Brazil<\/strong> has completed its first phase and makes available access to the first 100,000 digitized pieces. They are books pages, magazines, journals and pictures made by the Arab immigrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and are made available digitally. You can read the accounts and thoughts of the immigrants of the time.<\/p>\n

The electronic link to access the material collected by the project will be formally launched on Saturday (26) in an event at the Immigration Museum in S\u00e3o Paulo celebrating the\u00a0Day of the Arab Community in Brazil<\/strong>, whose official date is March 25. \u201cIt\u2019s a present we\u2019re giving to the Arab community,\u201d ABCC Cultural director Silvia Antibas told ANBA.<\/p>\n

The Digitization Project of the Memory of Arab Immigration in Brazil aims to preserve the memory of Arab immigration, not letting it get lost or depend on the conservation of physical documents. Many materials will be gathered in the digital environment, without the need to visit different libraries, institutions or cities to find them. The intention is that the pieces help the work of future researchers.<\/p>\n

The materials selected to be digitized include the 1893\u2019s newspaper Al Fayha<\/em>, which was called \u201cMundo Largo<\/em>\u201d [\u201cLarge world\u201d] in Portuguese,\u00a0 published in Campinas, S\u00e3o Paulo. \u201cIt\u2019s the first Arabic newspaper published in Brazil. And not just in Brazil but in Latin America as a whole,\u201d says Brazilian researcher and historian Roberto Khatlab, director of the Latin American Studies and Cultures Center (CECAL) at USEK.<\/p>\n

From Lebanon to Latin America<\/strong><\/p>\n

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State of S\u00e3o Paulo Public Archive team<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It all began at USEK. The Digitization Project of the Memory of Arab Immigration in Brazil was part of a larger project by the university to gather and digitize the memory of the Arab immigrants, particularly Syrian and Lebanese, in Latin America. First, they created a brick-and-mortar library in the region and then the digital library began to be developed. The Brazilian documents are part of the Latin America collection, with materials from other countries in the region gathered by USEK\u2019s Project for the Conservation of the Memory of Arab Immigration in Latin America. The Latin American materials are in the USEK\u2019s Special collection and available for consultation.<\/p>\n

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Dib: Research on immigrants<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An agreement between the ABCC and USEK made it possible to implement the idea in Brazil. In other Latin American countries, the university has partnered up with other institutions to take the initiative forward. In Brazil, a team from the Lebanese university provided training so that the research and digitization work was carried out by the ABCC. And so started the fieldwork by locating journals, documents and pictures from private and public institutions, at first in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo, then by selecting what should be digitized.<\/p>\n

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Nasser: Digitization<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As per Khatlab\u2019s directions, the project\u2019s coordinator in Brazil, Heloisa Dib, and then-ABCC Documentation Services assistant Mirna Adel Nasser went after the collections\u2019 owners. According to Dib, they worked on the archives of institutions like the ABCC itself, the Institute for Arab Culture (ICArabe), Syrian Sports Club, Clube Homs, M\u00e1rio de Andrade Library, and Syrian Home Pro Childhood. The team will also receive digitized material from the Public Archive of the State of S\u00e3o Paulo. The Arab-descendant Jafet family photos were made available, too.<\/p>\n

Many publications are in Arabic, while others are in Portuguese or both. The people involved in the project believe translations will arise from making the digital archive available. \u201cI\u2019m very excited for people to start translating the stories we\u2019ve only heard of,\u201d Dib says. The coordinator believes the exclusively oral transmission could lead the content to get lost over the years.<\/p>\n

A collection of memories<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Digitization Project of the Memory of Arab Immigration in Brazil includes the digitization of the pieces, not their analysis. But Lebanese-descendant and Arabic-speaking Mirna Adel Nasser, who worked on the project until recently, had the chance to read some of the materials. She mentions findings that indicate the materials that researchers and people interested in the topic will find.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\u2018A Vinha\u2019: Written by immigrants<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A journal that caught her eye was\u00a0A vinha<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Al Carmat<\/em>, published in the early twentieth century under the leadership of immigrant Salua Salame Atlas. \u201cShe was a heavily present, highly pioneering female figure here,\u201d she says. By reading the review, which ran for over 30 years, Nasser noticed the change in the topics covered. The first editions talked about family, but as the years went by, topics like society and politics gained ground.<\/p>\n

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Al Usba: Andalusian League<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cArab communication surged \u2014 you can notice that. Everyone was eager to share their thoughts,\u201d Nasser said, adding that they shared opinions about Brazilian and Arab politics. Dib says that many of these journals were founded by political groups that the Arabs had established in Brazil, which they used to make their ideas get across to their countries of origin.<\/p>\n

Also a part of the collection is\u00a0Revista da Liga da Andaluza de Letras \u00c1rabes<\/em>\u00a0(Al Usba<\/em>), published by immigrants in the late twentieth century. Khatlab says that the journal was part of the revival of the Arabic language. \u201cArab authors and intellectuals that couldn\u2019t publish in the Middle East because the Ottoman Empire had forbidden them to, sent papers to the Liga Andaluza<\/em>,\u201d he explains. According to him, Brazil was one of the bases where they could express knowledge and share the Arabic language.<\/p>\n

For further research<\/strong><\/p>\n

The project leaders already envision the fruits the archive can yield for future research on the topic. A historian herself, Antibas believes it\u2019s crucial to give access to original documents so that the history of immigration can be told correctly. \u201cBy accessing original documents, we\u2019ll have more information and the chance to have our own interpretation of the history of Arab immigration,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"Roberto
Khatlab: Research tool<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The work will continue, and the project has no end date, the organizers say. They are open to receiving new suggestions of materials to be digitized and ask those who have the abovementioned journals and others to get in touch to help complete the collections. The transferors will be credited in the documents and get a digital copy, besides retaining their originals.<\/p>\n

The electronic link won\u2019t provide direct access to the pieces but the collection catalog. To preserve credits and copyrights, interested parties will have to ask for the documents they want to access and receive them after completing registration. New research arising from the archive should be included in the digital library. \u201cWe\u2019re offering tools for the researcher to work with,\u201d Khatlab says.<\/p>\n

Much collaboration<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Antibas: Project establishes research source <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Antibas says that establishing the Arab House, the ABCC\u2019s institute for culture and immigration, was still another reason for the Chamber to be part of the initiative. In an interview with ANBA, the project\u2019s team pointed out that many people were essential for setting up the project, including USEK president Georges Hobeika, who has even visited Brazil to sign the agreement with the ABCC, and was followed up by the current president Talal Hachem and the library\u2019s director Joseph Moukarzel.<\/p>\n

The project of the memory of immigration started during the Rubens Hannun administration at the ABCC, and it continued under the current administration of president Osmar Chohfi. It featured contributions from director Abel Auada and Marketing vice president Riad Younes, the current board, and former presidents, including supporters and participants.<\/p>\n

Launch<\/strong><\/p>\n

The event where the project\u2019s link will be made launched on Saturday will feature several activities<\/a> in celebration of the Day of the Arab Community in Brazil. Starting at 2:30 pm (BRT), the in-person event will feature lectures and short-film screenings on Arab immigration in the Immigration Museum. On Sunday (27), the play Cartas libanesas\u00a0<\/em>[Lebanese letters] will\u00a0stream online<\/a>\u00a0on YouTube. The celebration is carried out in partnership with the ABCC.<\/p>\n

Quick facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Latin America Collection \u2013 Arab Immigration
\nHoly Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK)
\nAccess the collection catalog here<\/a>
\nConsultation: reference@usek.edu.lb<\/p>\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce\/Usek<\/div>\n
\u00a9Arquivo P\u00fablico do Estado<\/div>\n
Press release<\/div>\n
Press release<\/div>\n
Press release<\/div>\n
\u00a9Club Homs<\/div>\n
\u00a9Club Homs<\/div>\n
Press Release<\/div>\n
Press Release<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Digitization Project of the Memory of Arab Immigration in Brazil has completed its first phase and makes available 100,000 digitized pieces. They include pictures and content written by Arab immigrants in their early years in Brazil. The link will be launched officially in an event on Saturday (26) at the Immigration Museum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1455,"featured_media":309142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,3066],"tags":[19733,6074,29835,29929,29928,18257,29031,29836,29831,29804,29805,29832,29833,14118,12608],"class_list":{"0":"post-309094","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-society","9":"tag-arab-immigrants","10":"tag-arab-immigration","11":"tag-arabes-no-brasil-en","12":"tag-arabs-in-brazil","13":"tag-digitization-project-of-the-memory-of-arab-immigration-in-brazil","14":"tag-holy-spirit-university-of-kaslik","15":"tag-imigracao-arabe-en","16":"tag-imigrantes-arabes-en","17":"tag-memoria-da-imigracao-arabe-en","18":"tag-memory-of-arab-immigration","19":"tag-project-of-the-memory-of-arab-immigration-in-brazil","20":"tag-projeto-de-memoria-da-imigracao-arabe-no-brasil-en","21":"tag-universidade-saint-esprit-de-kaslik-2-en","22":"tag-universidade-saint-esprit-de-kaslik","23":"tag-usek-en"},"wps_subtitle":"The Digitization Project of the Memory of Arab Immigration in Brazil has completed its first phase and makes available 100,000 digitized pieces. They include pictures and content written by Arab immigrants in their early years in Brazil. The link will be launched officially in an event on Saturday (26) at the Immigration Museum.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1455"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}