Cultural Expressions in Arab Literature and Thought

1. MØNA1000 Introduksjonsemne til studiet av Midtøsten Forelesning 11: Kulturelle uttrykk Litteratur og arabisk tenkning STEPHAN GUTH (IKOS) vår 2010 26. april

2. OverviewHalim Barakat, chs. 9-11 • Part III: The Dynamics of Arab Culture • National Character and Value Orientations • Creative Expression: Society and Literary Orientations • Arab Thought: Problems of Renewal, Modernity, and Transformation • Many functions of literature => many possible approaches • exploration into human behaviour < science, philosophy • social product/manifestation < changing social reality • subliminal & cathartic expression < common experiences, self-consciousness, self-fulfillment • system of communication influences < literature’s impact on reality ‣‣‣

3. OverviewApproaches to the study of literature (cont.) writers’ vision of social reality: harmony, conflict, alienation, class, ... justice, equality, freedom, love, ... [cf. <=> value orientations] artistic styles [cf. <=> value orientations] writers’ attitude vis-à-vis the actual condition reconciliation exposure: compliance / non-confrontation / individual rebellion revolutionary change [cf. <=> value orientations]

4. OverviewApproaches to the study of literature (cont.) All in all: H. Barakat = anthropological / sociological / cultural approach Basic questions: How... do Arabs (as human beings)... do Arab societies... does Arab culture... react (in general) to challenges? Which patterns („categories of behaviour“) are to be observed [and what can we learn from this about „Arab ways“ to deal with „the world“]? [close to essentialist position, but:] diversity! complexity! etc. • my approach = historical ‣‣‣

5. Outline for this lecture • 9. National Character and Value Orientations • ‣Part I: Prolegomena to a historical survey • Part II: Historical survey (1850 => today) • 10. Creative Expression: Society and Literary Orientations • Arab Thought: Problems of Renewal, Modernity, and Transformation ↕ ↕ ↕ ↕ ↕ ↕

6. Part IProlegomena to a historical survey • National Character... Value Orientations... • = ? ? ? • smells a bit like • ”How are they, these Arabs / Orientals / Muslims – in general, I mean...” • ”An Arab is...”, ”the Turks have...”, ”it is a custom in Iran that...” • H. Barakat (+ SG): these are (Orientalist, but also Middle Eastern nationalist) generalisations, essentialisations ! GRRRR !!!!   

7. Generalisations, essentialisations about the Middle East / the „Orient“... • ... have their origin in Orientalism which... • ... is a colonial(ist) discourse, justifies „civilisatory mission“ • cf. Edward Said, Orientalism  

8. Diversity of value orientationsaccording to Halim Barakat

9. Orientations in Arabic Literatureaccording to Halim Barakat • Reconciliation • Exposure • Revolutionary Change Formative Period || nation-building | post-WW II transition [..........???.........] < === === > < === === > < === === > < === === > Formative Period || nation-building | post-WW II transition [..........???.........] H. Barakat

10. History of the Arab WorldMain periods (according to Barakat) • 1850-1914Formative Period • 19th c. reforms (EG: Moh. Ali, OE: tanzimat) • WW I => end of great Empires => nation states • 1918-1945Struggle for National Independence • Interwar period – WW II • 1945-1992Independence and PostindependenceResearching the Roots of Disaster • cf. H. Barakat, The Arab World (1993), III, ch. 11

11. History of the Arab WorldMain periods (according to Guth) • Reform period (19th c.) • Nationalism (early 20th c.) • Disillusionment (± 1930) • Independence (early 1950s) • Beginning doubts (late 1950s / early 1960s) • Post-1967 (shock of June War) • Postmodern (1980s ff.) • ►►► (cont.) Halim Barakat Formative • Struggle • Indep. & after

12. EG: Muh. Ali (1805-48) & dynasty Militærvesen Administrasjon Utdanning Landbruk Industri Handel Det Osmanske Rik: tanẓīmāt („reformer“) Hærordning Administrasjon Utdanning Skatt Rettsvesen ... 1850-1914 Formative Period 19th c. reforms cf. forelesning 4 (BOU) Mahmut II 1808-1839

13. Reforms in the late Ottoman EmpireInstitutions of higher education • 1773 Naval Engineers School (‘Polytechnic’, mühendisḫāne) • 1793 Artillery College • 1796 Army mühendisḫāne • 1827 Medical Highschool (Ṭıbbīye) • 1834 Military Highschool (Ḥarbīye) • 1839 School of Law (Mekteb-i Maʿārif-i ʿAdlīye) • 1848Dārülmuʿallimīn:teachers’ training college (higher education) • 1850Dārülmaʿārif: ‘House of Know-how’(technical branches) • 1855ÉcoleOttomane (Paris) • 1859Mülkīye: -> state employees for civil administration • 1868Galatasaray: elite school (still in place today) • 1878 School of Finances • 1879 Academy of the Arts • 1892 School of Economics • 1900Dārülfünūn: ‘university’ (combines several ‘schools/colleges’)

14. 1850-1914 Formative Period Reformenes følger cf. forelesning 4 (BOU) Sentralisering, modernisering og de facto sekularisering (begynnende) Skapte en intervensjonsstat men under påtvungne frihandelsbetingelser Skapte to nye samfunnsklasser som kom til å prege 1900-tallet: privat jordeierklasse (knyttet til råvareøkonomien) (EG) ny sekulær utdanningselite:the „engineers“(vs. ʿulamāʾ/ulema ) while new system is introduced, most of the old institutions remain in place        dualistic system of parallel paths of education, religious vs. secular institutions, two elites (old and new)

15. Saʿd Zaghlūl (+1860-1927)leader of Egyptian nationalist movement „Wog“(Westernized Oriental Gentleman)(„efendi“)

16. Reforms in the late Ottoman EmpireAspects and consequences • The „engineers“ • steadily gaining self-esteem and claim to power • competition with traditional (religious) elite over influence in society and politics => anti-religious standpoints cf. „value orientations“

17. 19th c. Middle EastEmergence of a new educated elite • Institutions of traditional learning medrese • al-Azhar „university“

18. Reforms in the late Ottoman EmpireAspects and consequences The „engineers“(cont.) steadily gaining self-esteem and claim to power competition with traditional (religious) elite over influence in society and politics => anti-religious standpoints cf. „value orientations“ pro (Western-inspired) reforms, but not too radical => negotiation vehicles of positioning themselves: ideology: ideas of the French Revolution and... – nationalism! new values:social & political reform! (democracy, human rights, women, ...!) new facilities: the press (cf. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: role of „print capitalism“ in the spread of nationalism) genres (new aesthetics):literature (esp. prose)

19. 1800-tallet – en reformperiodeLitterære tendenser • “modern” literature (novel, short story, drama)  new (“modern”) elite – the “engineers” • “engineers” try to gain territory and position themselves a) between ruling classes and the masses

20. khawāṣṣ(‚elite‘) religion: Muslim language: Osmanlıca ================== ʿawāmm / râyâ (‚the masses, the flock‘) ‚coarse‘ Turkish Ottoman EmpireSocial Hierarchy (cf. ”vertical values”)                millets (religious & ethnical groups) + gilds (professional unions)

21. The „traditional“ (= pre-colonial) system of literary genres

22. 1800-tallet – en reformperiodeLitterære tendenser “modern” literature (novel, short story, drama)  new (“modern”) elite – the “engineers” “engineers” try to gain territory and position themselves a) between ruling classes and the masses b) in contrast to the traditional elites count on the masses rather than on court etc. => popularization ( de-elitarization, simplification, “democratization”) orientated towards “global standard/norms”

23. Weltanschauung and LiteratureModernism / Realism – Postmodernism H. Barakat Formative Period || nation-building | post-WW II transition [..........???.........] Foundation of Republic Putsch of 12sep80 Ottoman Empire | Türkiye Cumhuriyeti „Republic of T.“ (TC) 19th c. 1923 1980 time progressist ideologies, future-oriented ModernismPostmodernism reforms (tanzimat) Kemalist nation-state Postkemalism Realism Enlightenment Mimetic Realism Postrealism cf. EG: 1981 Sadat > Mubarak Iran: 1979 Shah > Khomeini US: 1981 Reagan > 90s: Bush, „New World Order“ SU: 1985 Gorbachev > 1991 collapse

24. 7 stages of – also literary – history = 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” E / W • Reform period (19th c.) • Nationalism (early 20th c.) • Disillusionment (± 1930) • Independence (early 1950s) • Beginning doubts (late 1950s / early 1960s) • Post-1967 (shock of June War) • Postmodern (1980s ff.) E / W

25. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (1)Reform period(19th c.) E / W • belief in necessity (and possibility) to „recover“ and catch up with global standards => reforms • early 19th c.: „West“ is not yet a concept, and no „enemy“; later: „West/East“ (< colonialism) • new elite: the European as chief authority, ”Bestätiger vom Dienst“ (R. Wielandt) • old elite (e.g., court administratives, ʿulamāʾ ): strictly conservative reactions • others: reform from within! • nahḍah (cultural „renaissance“) [secular] • Islamic fundamentalist reformism (iṣlāḥ: J. al-Afghānī, M. ʿAbduh, R. Riḍā, ʿA. al-Kawākibī) E / W E / W E / W E / W

26. Ideologisk forspill før 1914Reformislam osv. cf. forelesning 4 (BOU) Islamsk oppvåkning Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī 1839-1897 Muḥammad ʿAbduh 1849-1905 Arabisk (proto-)nasjonalisme ʿAbdal-Raḥmān al-Kawākibī 1849-1902 1900: krever et arabisk kalifat E / W E / W

27. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (1)Reform period(19th c.) (cont.) • literature at the service of reform: • edition of classical texts, lexica, dictionaries, revival of old genres => make heritage accessible & bear fruits; + neoclassicism • printing of „folk“ literature => „relaxed“ entertainment • presentation and discussion of reform models (pros and cons) • teaching innovations and „real“ morals => edification • exposure of social „evils“, e.g. • criticism of tafarnuj / alafranga züppelik (ignorant/ unreflected imitation of European lifestyles, „dandyism“) • historical novels teach Arab history => national consciousness and pride (Jurjī Zaydān) E / W E / W

28. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West”(1-2)pre–WW I • classicism, neo-maqāmahe.g. Muḥ. & Ibr. al-Muwayliḥī • contemplativity, ‘romantic’ idealism, sentimentalism e.g. Muṣṭafā L. al-Manfalūṭī, Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān • larmoyant rebellion, sentimental outcryal-Manfalūṭī, Jubrān • early national literature, rural life e.g. Muḥ. Ḥ. Haykal

29. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (2)Nationalism(early 20th c.) Middle Eastern nationalisms are... • the main ideology of the secular modernizers („engineers“) • a reaction to increased European dominance, colonialism, occupation etc. • Første verdenskrig – ny verdensordning, nye stater cf. forelesning 4 (BOU) • Sprikende britiske løfter: • Husayn – McMahon korrespondansen 1915-1916 • Sykes-Picot avtalen 1916 • Balfour-erklæringen 1917 • Mandatstiden etter Første verdenskrig

30. Hvem er en araber?Ulike typer nasjonal identitet cf. forelesning 10 (Linda Helgesen) • qawm (folk, etnisk gruppe) Den fruktbare halvmåne • waṭan(land, territorium) • Egypt, Algerie • ummah(fellesskap, særlig verdens muslimer) Egypt, Algerie

31. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (2)Nationalism(early 20th c.) • ‘National literature’: From idealistic hope to disillusioned sobriety (ca. 1910-WW II) • 0. Programs of “National Literature” • 1. Early, ‘naïve’, idealistic adab qawmī • e.g., Maḥmūd Taymūr • 2. National enthusiasm, belief in progress(≈ ”Yes, we can!”) • e.g., Ṭāhā Ḥusayn • 3. Doubts and desillusionment(≈ ”Can we really?”) • e.g., Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm • 4. Re-construction: other idealisms(≈ ”Since we can NOT, let’s try something else!”) • e.g., Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm, Y. Ḥaqqī

32. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (2.1) Early National Literature • local contents! • countryside (often ‚romantically‘ idealized, idyllic) • „typical“ characters, local colour (incl. dialect!) • portraits => help to „imagine the nation“ (B. Anderson) • cf. Turkey: „Ḫalḳa doğru!” (Towards the people!) literature • „modern“ form! • novel, short story, plays • less intrusion from the author‘s side E W

33. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (2.2) National enthusiasm, belief in progress ”Yes, we can!” E / W Ṭāhā Ḥusayn (1889-1973)

34. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (3.1)Doubts and desillusionment ”Can we really? We probably can’t...” • Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm: Return of the Spirit (ʿAwdat ar-rūḥ, 1927, publ. 1933) superiority of collective Egyptian suffering (!) • Maḥmūd Ṭāhir Lāshīn: Eve without Adam (Ḥawwā’ bi-lā Ādam, 1934) failure of education / emancipation project • Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm: The Maze of Justice: Diary of a Country Prosecutor (Yawmiyyāt nā’ib fī ’l-aryāf, 1937) incompatibility of “Code Napoléon” and the country-side, i.e. the “real” Egypt; heavy social criticism E / W E / W Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm (1898-1987)

35. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (3.2)Reconstruction after disillusionment ”We still can if only we...” • Ideologicalization • Socialism, Communism, Fashism, Muslim Brotherhood, ... • Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm: A Bird From the East (ʿUṣfūr min al-sharq, 1937) • “materialist West, spiritual East” (māddiyyat al-gharb, rūḥiyyatal-sharq) • Yaḥyā Ḥaqqī: The Oil Lamp of Umm Hashim(Qindīl Umm Hāshim, 1944) • “no science without belief ” (lā ʿilma bi-lā īmān) ............................................................................... • Arab Socialism / Nasserism ‣‣‣ E / W E / W Yaḥyā Ḥaqqī (1905-1992)

36. WW I – WW IIWhat had happened?Some landmarks of political history

37. 1940s – 1950s Main feature: critical realistic assessment • ‚true‘, realistic surveys of society and insight into milieus, incl. diversity of ‚philosophies‘/Weltanschauungen • aim: assessment, exposure of social, economic, political drawbacks • main topics: • poverty of the masses • their struggle for survival • carrierism, corruption • conflicts within society • moral ‘decay’ • young generation’s desperate search for a meaningful philosophy of life • ever-growing labour migration (deracinated peasants, migrant workers in urban slums, workers’ literature) & problems arising from industrialization (factory workers, urban proletariate) • increased “Westernization”

38. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (4)Independence(early 1950s) • clear about many difficulties => social criticism, critical realism • But also • belief that main obstacles – foreign domination & ancien régime (incl. feudal system) – have been removed => middle classes (the „engineers“, the military) seize power • commitment to „al-sha‘b!“, „people‘s rule“ • high spirits, new enthusiasm (highly rhethoricized) • belief in equality of „Third World“, own strength (Nasserism: Europe can be dealt with, faced, overcome, cf. Suez crisis) E / W

39. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (4)Independence(1950s) (cont.) Social criticism, critical / socialist Realism Arabic „key“ narratives (mentioned also by H. Barakat) • Yūsuf Idrīs (1927-1991) al-Ḥarām (The Sin, 1959) • ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sharqāwī (1920-1987) al-Arḍ (The Land/Soil, 1953) • Laylā Baʿalbakkī (*1936) Anā aḥyā (I live, 1958) • Nagīb Maḥfūẓ (1911-2006): the “Cairo novels” ►►►

40. 1940-50s: Social criticism, critical realismNagīb Maḥfūẓ (b. 1911): The Cairo novels • Khān al-Khalīlī(Khan al-Khalili, 1945) • al-Qāhira al-jadīda (The New Cairo, 1946?) • Zuqāq al-Midaqq (Midaq Alley, 1947) • Trilogy • Bayn al-Qaṣrayn (Between the Two Palaces, 1956) • Qaṣr al-shawq (Palace of Longing, 1957) • al-Sukkariyya (Sugar Lane, 1957) • history of urban middle class family over three generations • critical assessment of achievements and set-backs during the past half century (colonial, nationalist, independent Egypt)

41. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (5)Beginning doubts(late 1950s / early 1960s) Reasons • doubts in authoritarian political leadership [cf. „vertical values“] • first failures of Nasserism become apparent • UAR ended • economic drawbacks • discrepancy between rhetorics and reality: heralded improvements still not noticeable • increasingly repression, secret service, torture, executions • hitherto pro-government intellectuals become critical of the regime (anti-Nasser) • Arab world: „al-naksa“ (lost war, June 1967) => open dispair

42. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (5)Beginning doubts(late 1950s / early 1960s)Omslag mot slutten av 1950- / beg. av 1960-tallet • Nagīb Maḥfūẓ: The Children of Gebelawi (Awlād Ḥāratinā, 1959) • Nagīb Maḥfūẓ: The Thief and the Dogs (al-Liṣṣ wa’l-kilāb, 1962) • Ghassān Kanafānī: Menn under sola / Men in the Sun (Rijāl fī ’l-shams, 1963) • Ṣun‘allāh Ibrāhīm: The Smell of It (Tilka ’l-rā’iḥa ,1965/66) • al-Ṭayyib Ṣāliḥ: Trekket mot Nord / Season of Migration to the North (Mawsim al-hijra ilā ’l-shamāl, 1966)becoming conscious of colonial burden, own responsibility • ‘Abdalḥakīm Qāsim: The Seven Days of Man (Ayyām al-insān al-sab‘a, 1969) E / W

43. Arabic literature and the WestComing to terms with independence • الطيّب صالح • al-Ṭayyib Ṣāliḥ, 1929-2009 • (Tayeb Salih) • موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال • Mawsim al-hijra ilā ’l-shamāl (1966*/1969) • *first publication in Ḥiwār • Season of Migration to the North, London: Heinemann etc., 1969 (og senere) • Trekket mot Nord, Oslo: Gyldendal, 2003 • Le migrateur, Paris 1972 • "the most important Arabic novel of the 20th century" • Arab Literary Academy in Damascus, 2001

44. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (6)Post-1967 (shock of June War) • heavy self-criticism, esp. also language criticism (rhetoric „lies“) • Ṣādiq J. al-ʿAẓm: „Self-Criticism after the Defeat“ (al-Naqd al-dhātī baʿd al-hazīmah) • Nizār Qabbānī: „Notes on the margins of the Defeat Registers“ (Hawāmish ʿalā daftar al-naksah) • further insecurity, instability: political shift towards the West, opening of the markets, economic „liberalisation“, peace with Israel • mistrust in established / dominant discourses ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ • search for new fundaments: truth, authenticity, taʾṣīl, start from zero • epistemological turn: new, non-mimetic discourse on reality

45. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (6)Post-1967 (shock of June War) (cont.) => explore into new, hitherto neglected, silenced, tabooicized realities! • predominance of „sad“ themes: loneliness hopelessness frustration of the individual Lebensangst disgust disappointment disillusionment inability to establish reliability in inter-human relationships etc. => experimental, avantgardist mood of rebuilding from below: • (intentional) lack of structural coherence • associative narrating • absurdity, contradictions, antagonisms, incomprehensibility, irrationality of life • mixed realities: dreams, myth, surrealistic, phantastic elements

46. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (6)Post-1967 (shock of June War) (cont.) • shocking, scandal-provoking: [cf. HB: „exposure“, „revolutionary“] • Ṣun‘allāh Ibrāhīm (*1937): “The Smell of It” (Tilka ’l-rā’iḥa,1965/66) • Muḥammed Shukrī (Mohamed Choukri, *1935): For Bread Alone (al-Khubz al-ḥāfī, 1972/73 resp. 1982) • Gamāl al-Ghīṭānī (*1945): Zayni Barakat (al-Zaynī Barakāt, 1974) • search for authentically “Arabic” = non-Westernizing way of writing • experimenting with pre-colonial genres (maqâmah, risâlah, ...) E / W

47. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (7)Postmodern(1980s ff.) (cont.) Ṣun‘allāh Ibrāhīm (*1937): The Committee (al-Lajna, 1981) • fierce critique of economic globalization (anti-”McDonaldization”) • grotesque satire on the Egypt of Sadat’s “open door” politics • plot: detective story, discovery of the crimes of the regime and their global collaborators (West/US-based multinational enterprises: CocaCola etc.) E / W

48. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (7)Postmodern(1980s ff.) • dissolution of West/East in global reciprocity • Arabs in exile/diaspora (L. Aboulela, Translator ; Ḥanān al-Shaykh, Only in London ; Orhan Pamuk, White Castle ; Kader Abdollah) • East as “mirror” of the West, and vice versa – each is part of the other’s identity • play with stereotypes and “great narratives” (grands récits) such as the old West/East dichotomy E / W

49. 7 stages – 7 attitudes vis-à-vis ”the West” (7)Postmodern(1980s ff.) (cont.) Edward al-Kharrāṭ (*1926):City of Saffron(Turābuhā za‘farān, 1985) • growing up in cosmopolitan Alexandria in the 1930s • nostalgia-loaden • Coptic minority • cosmopolitan diversity • child’s perspective (authenticity) • identity question: Who am I? Am I this boy “Michael”?