ON THE QUEST FOR AN ESOTERIC LINGUA FRANCA: THE SPIRITUAL ADVENTURES OF THREE YOUNG ARAB EMIGRATION WRITERS IN THE “NEW BABYLON”
ON THE QUEST FOR AN ESOTERIC LINGUA FRANCA: THE SPIRITUAL ADVENTURES OF THREE YOUNG ARAB EMIGRATION WRITERS IN THE “NEW BABYLON”

Summary/Abstract: Since the end of the 19th century, New York has been traditionally compared to the city of Babylon mentioned in the Book of Revelation to John, mainly because of its multiculturalism, power, riches, splendour, and loose morals. Just like the ancient metropolis, New York gathered people seeking truth, fortune, or both from all over the world. An environment, characteristic of the modern globalized world, gradually took its shape, and, as the result, hybrids of various cultures and religions emerged and thrived. Three Arab emigration writers, Kahlil Gibran, Mikhail Naimy, and Ameen Rihani, became actively involved in these turbulent hybridization processes and attempted to find a new, unified religion that would save the humankind. The results of their spiritual quest and their message to the world is expressed in three anglophone literary works that appear to be a synthesis not only of Christianity and Islam, but also of Baha’i Faith, Buddhism, Theosophy, and various esoteric beliefs. The present study explores the catalysing elements and stages of this synthesis.

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