Buṭrus al-Bustānī and the Oration Committee of 1859

Abstract The prominent Christian intellectual and literary figure Buṭrus al-Bustānī (1819–83) was a complex figure. Although he disentangled himself from the American Protestant missionaries in Beirut, he readily collaborated with foreigners in town throughout his life. This article examines his intellectual and social network in 1859 when he founded ʿUmdat al-Khiṭābāt (the Oration Committee), alongside foreigners and locals, and delivered “ Khuṭba fī Ādāb al-ʿArab (An Oration on the Culture of the Arabs).” It offers a richer understanding of his lifeworld in the late 1850s, a transitional and emotional period of life, and revisits the historical role of “local foreigners” in the Arab Nahḍa (“Renaissance”).