In the wake of the 2011 uprising in Syria, a number of Syrian intellectuals were forced into exile. Many of these intellectuals played a crucial role in mobilising people in the early days of the movement, but once in exile an irreconcilable tension emerged between their revolutionary narratives and the violent reality on the ground. Zeina Al Azmeh explores this tension, shedding light on whether and how exile influenced narratives, strategies, and political agency. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork and interviews in Paris and Berlin, Al Azmeh examines how writers and artists work to reconcile revolutionary ideals with the realities of war and displacement. Bringing together insights from cultural sociology, postcolonial thought, and migration studies, Syrian Intellectuals in Exile provides new analytical tools for understanding the intersection of intellectual work and social movements. This study blends empirical research with personal narratives, offering a timely reflection on exile, memory, and the limits of intellectual activism.

‘With the notions of the ‘right to meaning’ and the ‘cost of leaving,’ Zeina al Azmeh charts new ground in her meticulous study of the complex quest of Syrian intellectuals for meaning in exile during their revolution despite, or because of, loss, bereavement, defeat, disarray and also hope.’

Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab - author of Enlightenment on the Eve of Revolution: The Egyptian and Syrian Debates

‘This brilliant work puts intellectual life at the heart of the story of the Syrian revolution. Azmeh shows, with sharp, poignant insight, how Syria’s intellectuals found meaning in the 2011 uprising, and how they struggled to hold onto it amid war, devastation, and displacement. An important book.’

Andrew Arsan - University of Cambridge