Writer and researcher Roberto Khatlab (pictured below) pens an article on the newspapers, magazines, and books produced by the first Arab immigrants in Brazil. The works followed the trends of the Arab Renaissance and were digitized in a project by the Lebanese university USEK and the Arab Brazilian Chamber.
Men could read philosophy or poetry, or even demand Syrian independence from French imperialism, but just as often they came to learn about job opportunities or simply while away time in the leather armchairs, amid the dark wood paneling and thick tobacco smoke.