Christina Civantos Collection of Books 1911-2003

The publications in this collection are written predominantly in Spanish, with other materials in Arabic, French, and English.

Dr. Christina E. Civantos, Ph.D. is a Full Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Miami in Florida. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Berkeley and researches and teaches modern Hispanic and Arabic literary and cultural studies, with a focus on the Arab diaspora in the Americas, empire and postcolonial studies, nationalisms, and language ideologies. Her book Between Argentines and Arabs: Argentine Orientalism, Arab Immigrants, and the Writing of Identity published in 2006 was the first book-length study of the literary presence of Arabic-speaking immigrants and their descendants in Latin America.

Civantos began researching the topics of Argentine Orientalism and Arab immigrant writers in Argentina in order to prepare her doctoral dissertation. She carried out the bulk of the research in 1996 when she spent several months in Argentina as a Fulbright Fellow, locating texts and having them photocopied or, occasionally, photographing them. In the summer of 2000 Civantos returned to Argentina for a month of follow-up research. She was also able to acquire photocopies of materials from the personal libraries of Dalal Kabbas, Pedro Catella, Hanna Jaser, Delia Dagum, Juana Dib, Gladys Jozami, Jorge Bestene, Jorge Asís, and Nimr Barud, among others.

The materials in the Christina Civantos Collection of Books make up the bulk of the author’s research for her book Between Argentines and Arabs. The collection contains printed materials, photocopies and photos of printed materials, and photocopies of manuscripts, all of which were found in Argentina, Chile, Syria, and Lebanon in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The materials mainly consist of literary and historical texts and newspaper articles in both Arabic and Spanish, by and about Arabic-speaking immigrants in Argentina and Chile, produced from the early 1900s through the 1990s. This includes many volumes of poetry, various novels, several autobiographies, and a few plays in manuscript form, as well as histories and newspaper articles treating Arab culture and Arab immigration. These materials can be of use in understanding not only the cultural production of Arabic-speaking immigrants and their descendants in Argentina and Chile, but also the political engagements and religious, linguistic, and cultural practices of these migrants.

The donor retains full ownership of any copyright and rights currently controlled. Nonexclusive right to authorize uses of these materials for non-commercial research, scholarly, or other educational purposes are granted to Khayrallah Center pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. Usage of the materials for these purposes must be fully credited with the source. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials.

[Identification of item], Christina Civantos Collection of Books, GR 0010, Hoda Z. Nassour and Herbert R. Nassour Jr., MD, Archive of Lebanese Diaspora

Gift of Christina Civantos, 2018 May (Accession No. 2018.002).

Processed by Amanda Forbes and Jordan Smith, 2018. Finding aid content contributed by Christina Civantos, 2018 December. Finding aid written by Laura Lethers, 2023 June.