Carta del líder nacionalsocialista sirio Anṭūn Sa‘āda al escritor sirochileno Benedicto Chuaqui

Abstract

Syrian-Chilean writer Benedicto Chuaqui (1895-1970) and Lebanese ideologue Anṭūn Sa‘āda (1904-1949), founder of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (1932), began an intense epistolary relationship in the early 1940s. At the time, Chuaqui was beginning to be recognized in the Chilean cultural scene and Sa‘āda was living in exile in Argentina, after serving a prison sentence in Lebanon for the clandestine activity of his political party. In this article, we translate and present one of the letters exchanged, dated August 12, 1942 and included in the tenth volume of The complete works of Anṭūn Sa‘āda (2001). The aim of the translation is to provide a sample of the transnational political activity in the South American Mahjar. In particular, the content of the letter represents two different views with which to understand Syrian nationalist activism from the diaspora. The article also includes a brief biography of both authors. The present revitalization of their respective works is underlined.