Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria

Deanna Womack presents a brilliant study of Syrian Protestants in the Nahda, the late nineteenth-century Arabic literary awakening, while examining how printed essays, books, and sermons shaped communal and devotional life. By featuring Syrian Protestant women, in particular, as prolific writers of the nahda, Womack blazes trails in the fields of Middle Eastern gender history and World Christianity alike. * Heather J. Sharkey, University of Pennsylvania *
In this stimulating book, Deanna Ferree Womack shines a bright light on the religious experience of Syrian Protestants in order to show how a relatively small church community participated in a large cultural moment that was sweeping through the Middle East. -- Stanley H. Skreslet, Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, VA * Mission Studies 37 (2020) *
Protestants, Gender and the Arab Renaissance in Late Ottoman Syria makes an important contribution to the field. It provides an engaging, thoughtful examination of the nahda period. It offers a compelling analysis and an innovative take on the dynamics between the American missionaries and local population by identifying the agency and input of Protestant Syrians in general and Protestant Syrian women evangelists in particular to both the history of Ottoman Syria and the history of Protestant Christianity in the region. -- Fruma Zachs, University of Haifa * The Journal of World Christianity Volume 10, Issue 1 *
The book is a must-read, not only for those interested in the history of missions in the Ottoman Empire, but also for those examining self-identification through religion and socio-cultural commitment. -- Uta Zeuge-Buberl, Independent Researcher, Vienna * Theological Review *