Conclusion

Abstract

Without a strong understanding of the role of the intellectual elite in the Nahḍah project, we might miss the significance of Ziyādah’s influential salon and its role in the Nahḍah. Her salon, with its epistolary networks, conversations, and discussions, appeared as a dynamic space that defied spatial limitations and evolved as a miniature model for the Nahḍah. Had Ziyādah been less involved in the press and less recognized as an effective salonnière, writer, essayist, critic, and public speaker, she might not have received the recognition that her contemporaries bestowed on her. The participation of the most renowned intellectuals of her time in her salon discussions and correspondence attests to their appreciation of the salon as an ideal model of reciprocity, communication, and enlightenment. While many of her salon clientele were not enthusiastic in their support of the modernization movement, others took part in it. However, Ziyādah was able to create the right model of reciprocity to overcome such differences and steer the group in a new direction. Her letters, as well as the responses from her fellow intellectuals, celebrities, and readers, testify to a society of great cultural vigor wholly involved in the most pertinent questions and concerns of the Arab Nahḍah. The image that emerges from the salon, its discussion, and epistolary exchange exemplified in Ziyādah’s style could very well be that of a new, envisioned order.