The Dynamics of Afro-Arabic Cultural Resurgence in the Shadow of Civilization

Abstract

Perhaps and until the close of the 18th century, there was a general stagnation in the intellectual vitality of the Arabic culture. The beginning of the 19th century, signaled the rebirth of the Arabic culture felt first in the Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt, from where it spread gradually in varying degrees to the rest of the Arab world. This cultural resurgence with its full import on the Arab Muslim society particularly in Africa has given rise to Arab national consciousness (nationalism) as well as religious (Islamic) reawakenness, which has a spill over effect on the contemporary World Order. This paper sets to examine the dynamics of the Arabic cultural resurgence, which has found expression in the shifting paradigm of Arabic literary works of some literati and religious revivalism in Africa. It is observed that Arabism has been an integral part of Islam; the activities of the nationalist movement and that of Islamic reformers have political and cultural consequences in the modern world.