“Coptic Intellectuals and the Case of the Arabic Language” in a Webinar at the BA

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The BA Center for Coptic Studies organizes the seventh webinar of its Coptic cultural season, entitled “Coptic Intellectuals and the Case of the Arabic Language: Late 19th and Early 20th Century” on Wednesday, 28 April 2021, at 12:00 pm. It will be delivered by Dr. Ramy Atta Seddiq, Assistant Professor at the Department of Journalism, El-Shorouk Academy.

The lecture will tackle the stance of some of the newspapers that were issued by Coptic citizens on the case of preserving the Arabic language, from the late 19th century to the first quarter of the 20th century, through various journalistic writings penned by Christians and Muslims. The preservation of the Arabic language was one of the most important social and cultural cases at that time, as Egypt was in the throes of the British occupation, which attempted to weaken the Arabic language in favor of the English language – an act that aimed to serve its own colonialist interests in the country.

The study relied on a collection of some of the most prominent public and cultural newspapers that were published during that period, including Al-Wattan, Misr, Al-Muftah, Al-Moheet, and Raamesis. It also drew upon a selection of religious newspapers, and others that were interested in Coptic culture, such as Al-Tawfiq, Ain Shams, Al-Fata Al-QebtyAl-Iman”, Al-Karma, and Al-Shams.

The journalistic writings were divided into three groups: the first group called for the preservation of the Arabic language, the second advocated the revival of the Coptic language, while the third – the most prevalent of all three – endorsed both endeavors.

The event will be broadcast live through the Center for Coptic Studies Facebook page:

https://m.facebook.com/Center-of-Coptic-Studies-CCS-261390920571752/


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