an illiterate grandfather
To B.
ما أغفر أنا خطاك , حبك بالضمير انزاح
و الـسـبب جـرحٍ بقلـبي ما بـرى و انـزاح
أنسيـتني لـيش ؟ و نسيت اللـعب و مـزاح
قـلبك عـليَّ قـسـى شعملـت أنا مـن بـُد؟
مـا بــيـن الاحــبـاب تـحــچـي عـلـيَّ بــُد
و الضرس لي من رگل من شلعته لا بُد
و انظر إلى الغيم لي هب الشمال ... انزاح
I attended what I presumed to be an evening of storytelling. The author, though a teacher of Arabic literature in KU, is a terrible writer. She dragged all of her classes to the Writers' Union in 3dailiyya. She gave three of her students some time to read their Very Short Stories. The three girls wrote much better than her. In fact, they were very good to start writing professionally. Unlike her, with a style of a wannabe innovative writer.
The evening started with a live performance by bin 7sain band... which is a Kuwaiti maritime and folk songs band. It was pathetic in one sense... no one appreciated the art presented. She [the doctor] had a very idealist general view of these arts. What is the significance of each type? What do these lyrics mean? Why do they do this or that? no idea. Ignorance on this matter is not wrong; what is wrong is to relate yourself and being to it strongly yet know nothing of it. It is wrong to write short stories set in such a time with the use of images from this art yet knowing nothing but that it is "fan b7ri" what a 5 year-old would categorize it as. This general view is insulting really... as horrible as the orientalist look by the west to our culture. This very general look does not recognize people as people or arts as arts but project them as exotic objects that are looked upon with admiration not for their humanity but for their ultra-magnificent representation by the propagandist media. She is no different than a stupid American categorizing Moroccans, Indians and Iranians as "Arabs", killing a Sikh for wearing a turban for he is a "Muzlim". To them.. the Middle east extends from Morocco to India to include all dark-skinned peoples whether Arab or not.
Take a look at your own history and heritage, not as a glorified heritage of stereotypes and bedtime stories of heroes from the past. But rather as a true account of yourself and your history of who you are and how you can be better. The problem with people alike the abovementioned is that they only see the collective image of their heritage. A close observation would reveal the human side of this heritage... the fallible humans who created a history of which you are proud of... question your pride.. do you have the right to be proud? What are you proud of? I ask again.. what are you proud of?
What are you proud of?
The people who built the wall?
A different account says "I was a ten year old.. they dragged us all (porters in the market) to build the wall".
I'm a fan of Kuwaiti maritime and folk songs... I love it for it portrays the deepest of the human... the typical antihero.
To those who saw "Frontiers of Dreams and Fears" ... what did you like/dislike, love/hate about it?
I'm a fan of Kuwaiti maritime and folk songs... I love it for it portrays the deepest of the human... the typical antihero.
To those who saw "Frontiers of Dreams and Fears" ... what did you like/dislike, love/hate about it?
يا بو عبيدان يا وسفي ... بطيحتكم خدر چتفي
أظن أجيك مع لحفي ... هلي لمك يشيلوني
يا بو عبيدان عزوني ... مدام الحظ ملعون
ألف لعنة على طبعي ... ما أعاتب بالشره ربعي
أظل أفجر و أعض صبعي ... و هـم بقفـا يعضوني
posted by antihero at 7:32 PM
7 Comments:
Man, where do I start with ignorance? When any brown person is either an Arab or a Mexican? Or when fellow Kuwaitis neglect the fact that ba7ri and 3adani are indeed the transition to khaliji music. Ignorance is a bliss antihero, but not when you mean to be ignorant by choice. Now I'm not big on Arabic litrature but I do draw a line when someone misinterepret something as deep as ba7ri was.
hi there :)
well.. some r proud of the constructed image, an image drawn by outsiders to make us believe what they want us to believe, their own construction, working for their own benefit.. "Arabs r lazy, ignorant, passive, etc.. NATURALLY" untill sadly we beleived it.. leading to "they r better", ultimitly, we r inferior.. what a sad sad situation!! i say, ignorance is a freakin curse!! a spreding tumor that needs to be removed, immediately!! maybe i am taking a different turn here, but reading ur peice brought that up in me..
i saw the film.. i cried my f****** eyes out :( my favorite part was when the girl said that the land is calling her and asking her to stay.. veeeeeeeery touching. as Mushira said, using kids is a great tool really :) the boarder scene was amazing!! i loved the whole movie.. the theater was sooo small and i couldnt see through Mr. big head who was sitting infront of me!!
i cant think of anything that i hate abt the film itself now :)
great peice man!! keep it up :D
coolfreak
Though 3adani and ba7ri are very different but I see what you mean. The significance of any art lies in its context and how it was related to the people who made it and those who continued with it. This was all looked at collectively neglecting thus a great part if not all of the most important characteristics of this art, as an art; a production of the human creative mind.
reem
I totally agree. The idea of imported ideologies is sickening. People tend to turn to the new trend in hope of finding a better intellectual life that defines who they are. Something they can relate to.
The film.. bah
I didn't like it. I watched great documentaries but this was not anything near great. I might call it good enough to pass.. but not to be watched again and enjoyed. The spontaneity of the children was crushed by a stereotypical writing; as a close friend commented "a written documentary! The worst kind of documentary!"
It did not reach me and others on a personal level to feel the tragedy as our own, because it did personalize and nationalize the issue rather than make it a universal one that would discuss the human side of this crisis. Its a political discussion.. a fictionalized plot does not work because it will leave the audience watching a fictionalized story rather than a discussion of the real issue..
it would've been better had the director alienated the audience... but she did not. You'd think she did.. but she did not
:)
problem today, a lot of people take over their shoulders the preparation of activities and events without knowing much about the subject of celebration or event :)
some of our academics depend only on their degrees to give weight to what they say...they alienate their listeners like what happened with you I guess..
beautiful lyrics you mention here :)
مررت من هنا - صدفة - تجوّلت كثيرا، وأظنني تلمّست "شيئا" أعرفه جيدا ، حزن لايشبهه آخر
سأظل أطل علي "مملكتك الصغيرة" ، شكرا للصدف
white wings
How to challenge a title like "Dr." or a name that ends with a "PhD"?
I learnt to give little importance to these titles firstly because I came to know how easy it could be to get such a degree (and conversely how hard it COULD be), and secondly because i came to deal majorly with students who earned such degrees from God-knows-where universities, from lands you only heard about in fairy tales.
authoress
عذب حرفك اللميس (الصوفي - الدافئ) , ذكرني و ألمسني - كذلك - شيئاً أعرفه جيداً
و أخيراً .. وجدنا مملكتك
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