MODERN ARAB
LITERATURE:
A
CLASH OF CULTURES
© Farouk
Asvat
In the last thirty years the Arab people
have experienced a period of acute change; it has been a society in the throes
of a revolution. And Egyptian fiction,
in reflecting the varied emotions of such a period, gives an indication of a
people under the strains of sudden social, political and cultural change,
following centuries of established custom and order. Arab writers, like writers throughout the supposed
‘Third World’,
have had to transcend these traditions, and depart from techniques that have been
the accepted norm for centuries; they have had to provide a vision of their
own, to find a way through a labyrinth of contradictory cultural influences, so
that they could speak to the Arabs of today - torn between East and West,
socialism and capitalism, European values and Islamic values - about new things
in a new way.
It is not easy to transcend the traditions
of a language that had been the accepted custom for centuries to establish a
new norm consonant with the modern world. The struggle for a better life in the ‘Third World’ has to be more arduous and
continuous, better equipped to protect itself and ensure its growth, and more
scientifically planned - without losing its essential humanity - to achieve
success and ultimate victory. The engaged
writer is thus face to face with himself: he is either sincere or not; she is
either original or not, he is either a poet or not. Therefore to read modern literature- the geniuses
among them - is to feel the pulse of the modern world.
[§] MODERN ARAB POETRY
Arabs in the modern world are eagerly
groping for a place under the sun, anxiously trying to discover a national
identity amidst contradictory ideologies.
In their spiritual malaise they are torn between Arab values and Western
values, between exploitation and socialism, between populism and nationalism.
And nobody has succeeded better than poets
in reflecting the varied emotions of such a period. The contemporary Arab poets have confronted
the shattering experiences of wars, coups d'états and civil strife. The revolutionary poets have cast off the
outworn conventions of the classical tradition, and have rebelled against the
clichés (verbal and emotional) that have dogged Arabic writing.
Their poetry portrays a picture of a
people under the stress of sudden social, political and intellectual change;
and the poets have had to provide a vision of their own, find their way through
a maze of foreign cultural influences in order to speak to the Arabs of today
about new things in a new way.
The Second World War, the Arab-Israeli
conflicts, the invasion of Lebanon by Zionist forces all contributed to the
upheaval. But it was the Palestinian
wars, more than anything else, that laid bare the inefficiency of traditional
Arab social structures that has been existing by sheer inertia, - its
inadequacy in the face of modern technology and organization made abundantly
clear. All that was hopeful and honest
in the Arab world was crying out for change; and all that was mean and evil
tried to suppress this cry. And change
did not come easily, nor was it accepted without resistance; and more than once
the Arabs found themselves divided among themselves. The socialist revolution that some of them
had adopted was shown to be insufficient; they realized that it had to be more
radical and extensive; that their struggle for a better life, like that of
others in the ‘Third World’, had to be more arduous and continuous, better
equipped to protect itself and ensure its growth, and more scientifically
planned to achieve success and ultimate victory.
Incessantly pressing was their need for a
genuine entry into modernity, an authentic freedom from the crippling shackles
of traditional modes of thought, and a real grip on the power of science and
technology to enhance the quality of Arab life.
It was not easy for the poets to transcend
the traditions of a language and poetic technique that had been the accepted
norm for fifteen centuries, in order to establish a new norm consonant with
their new vision. They suffered from
excruciating agonies of the soul, as they honestly tried to formulate a vision
that would be authentically theirs, in the maze of foreign cultural
influences. Their poetic sensibilities
were put to a hard test, and only a few were able to resolve the tensions
creatively and meaningfully.
Since the 1940's, Arab poetry has been dominated by four
major developments: the Taf'ila Movement (1947-1957), the Majallat Shi'r
Movement (1957-1967), the June 1967 Experience (1967-1982) and the Beirut
Experience (1982 onwards).
The Taf'ila Movement started in 1947 with
the publication by Nazik al-Mala'ika and Badr Shakir al-Sayyab of two
experimental poems, whose compositions represented an act of defiance against
established poetic values. Others
followed, creating more flexible forms that freed poetry from the sentimental
indulgence of the earlier escapist poetry.
The association of some of these poets with the Iraqi Communist Party
helped to sharpen their awareness of the social problems of the country,
leading to persecution and exile, which in turn strengthened their resolve. Al-Sayyab's Rain Song exemplified this
period, describing the abuses of power in Iraq.
The Majallat Shi'r Movement originated
with Yusuf al-Khal's magazine Shi'r.
Using historical and mythological themes to interpret contemporary
situations, reflecting political and social realities and projecting a vision
of the future, they attempted to create their own idiom. They also evaluated their classical poetic
heritage, linking it with the positive elements of other cultures. Most of the Shi'r poets were Christian, thus
broadening the scope of Arab poetry and insight into other cultures. The Shi'r poets have been responsible for
radically changing people's views on classical and modern poetry, and their
ability to fuse classical techniques with Symbolist, Modernist, Futurist,
Imagist, Dada and Surrealist theories on poetry was one of their main
achievements, and represented a historic literary advance.
Israel's sweeping victory over the Arabs
in the Huzairan (June 1967) War stunned the Arab world. Nizar Qabbani's poem, Footnotes To The
Book Of The Setback, captured the mood of a nation shattered by defeat, and
was banned throughout the Arab world after its initial publication. But it was smuggled into every Arab country,
printed surreptitiously, and learnt by heart; and released a flood of political
frustration and anger that found expression in what became known as 'The June Literature'. And
the 'Resistance Poets,' Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim and Rashid
Hussein (the latter living in Israel), regarded poetry as the only way of
asserting their Arab identity within an alien culture.
In June 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon, and
the destruction of Beirut had a devastating effect on Arab culture. The street, the desert, and the sea became
recurring themes in the poetry of Beirut under siege. A note of desperation pervades these poems, exposing
Palestinian vulnerability, taking the Palestinian leaders to task for selling
false hopes to their people, showing the lack of ideological direction in the
Palestinian leadership. As Darwish cried
out:
We have a country of words. Speak, speak so we may know the end of this
travel.
Modern Arab poetry thus has a tragic
character consonant with its environment, stemming from a tragic conception of
life, from an understanding of being as a continuous conflict in which people
are eternally making choices, eternally carrying a burden, eternally making
sacrifices, sincerely preoccupied with an understanding of life. Not interested in a description of it from
the outside, the poets are bent on experiencing it within themselves.
The modern Arab poet thus has to confront
not only his society, but also himself; - and paying the price in spiritual
anguish, he has been ready to be a martyr.
But the strength of the modern Arab poet
lies in the fact that he writes about the misery and tragedy of individuals who
suffer the effects of politicians obsessed with the old illusions of
grandeur. The politician proclaims
nationalism while promoting sectional and personal interests. The poet proclaims the individual and
promotes dignity. One broadcasts
propaganda, the other writes the truth.
It naturally follows that Arab poetry is a high-risk business.
And this restless search for personal and
social happiness and salvation is at the root of the new Arabic poetry. It is tragic inasmuch as the existential
riddle of life finds no final solution in it.
A mystical dedication to truth, a resilience in struggle, a readiness
for crucifixion and a hope in resurrection continue to be its main themes. To read it is to feel the pulse of the modern
Arab world.
These themes are excellently explored in Modern
Arab Poets, translated and edited by Issa J Boullata; Modern
Poetry Of The Arab World, translated and edited by Abdullah al-Udhari; Selected
Poems by Adonis; and The Music Of Human Flesh by Mahmoud
Darwish.
[§] MODERN ARAB FICTION
"It is the Egyptians who have given form and structure to
story-telling as an Arab literary art."
• P J Vatikiotis (The Times Literary Supplement).
The short story is the most popular form
of written Arabic literature (as opposed to song and oral poetry); it is most
developed in Egypt, and it is the Egyptians who have consistently exhibited a
special talent among Arabic speakers for fiction.
"They have managed, particularly in the past twenty years,
to develop the short story, novel and drama to a fairly high artistic standard,
despite the suspicion by the religious establishment that fiction is corrupt
because it deals with love and man's desires and weaknesses, fears and torments,
all of them areas of life that are inappropriate for public revelation …; not
to mention antagonism to if for being of infidel-foreign-provenance …" (Vatikiotis).
The best writer in this genre is surely
Yusuf Idris, whose poignant short stories are collected as The Cheapest
Nights.
Another collection of
stories in this series is Sonallah Ibrahim's The Smell Of It.
Naguib Mehfouz is the best-known and most
successful Arabic novelist. He has
published about twenty volumes of novels and short stories. Midaq Alley (Zuqāq al Midaq), is a vivid description of a vibrant alley
in the back streets of Cairo, serving as a microcosm for the country; which also
has the best reasons for going on the hajj; and Miramar, which relates
the interaction of the residents of a small hotel in Alexandria - from the intricate
perspective of each of the residents in turn (which again serves as a miniature
version of the country). But Naguib
Mehfouz 's most interesting (and
controversial) novel is undoubtedly Children of Gabelawi, a fictionalized
account of the lives of the prophets: Adam and his (4th) Black wife, Moses,
Jesus and Muhammad, each living in the peripheral slums of Cairo in succeeding
generations, each being a revolutionary leader fighting against the corruption
and oppression in the slums of Cairo.
A writer newly available in the same
series is Fathy Ghanem with The Man Who Lost His Shadow.
The only collection of Arabic plays in the
series is Tewfik Al-Hakim's
Fate Of A Cockroach and other plays of freedom.
A valuable introduction to Egyptian poetry
is provided in Modern Arab Poets, edited by I Boullata, and Salah
'Abd al-Sabur's poignant and
intensely passionate poems.
Non-Egyptian writers in this series
include the Sudanese Tayeb Salih's
Season of Migration To The North (a novel) and The Wedding
of Zein (a collection of short stories); Tawfiq Yusuf Awad's Death In Beirut; and the Palestinian, Mahmoud Darwish's Selected Poems.
♦ EGYPTIAN SHORT STORIES
selected and translated by Denys
Johnson-Davies
This is an excellent introduction to
modern Egyptian writing, comprising stories by 17 authors, including Yusuf
Idris, the best in the genre, and whose collection of selected stories is
available in English as The Cheapest Nights. Furthermore, Johnson-Davies' translations are of such high quality that
they give English readers the impression the stories were originally written in
English.
Edward El-Kharrat's Within the Walls is the best
and most powerful and evocative story in the collection. It is the tale of Haniyya, a young widow who
challenges the môres of her
village, with tragic consequences. The language
is beautifully imaginative and gently handled, just as the story itself is
carefully developed to its climax.
Although El-Kharrat has produced only two
volumes of short stories, he is a major influence on the modern literary
movement in Egypt.
Lutfi Al-Khouli's The Man Who Saw The Sole Of His Left
Foot In A Cracked Mirror, is a surrealistic story unfolding on the
thought-experiences of a Cairo man whose more or less wife had been unfaithful
to him, and whose twin-brother does not return from an ill-fated trip into the
desert.
Al-Khouli, who observes that "the eye does not see everything in things," has been in and out of prison 12 times
because of his political activities. He
has published two volumes of short stories, and political works including Conversations
with Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre.
Nabil Gorgy's Yusuf Murad Morcos is a lovely
little piece, tongue-in-cheek, about Yusuf's life, love, career and marriage – it is a tragedy
handled as comedy in the most underhand manner.
The Conjurer Made Off With The Dish
by Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt's
best-known novelist, examines fate as it affects a young boy sent to buy beans.
Yusuf Idris' House of Flesh is the story of
a blind Qur'an reciter who
assumes further blindness to absolve his responsibilities; and his relationship
with the widow he marries, and her three ugly daughters. This story is not included in The Cheapest
Nights, but is a good example of Idris' concern with the struggling poor.
Mohamed El-Bisatie's Conversations From The Third Floor
is between the wife standing outside the prison yard and her imprisoned
husband.
Suleiman Fayyad's The Accusation is a pitiful,
but unfortunately long-winded story.
A Place Under The Dome by
Abdul Rahman Fahmy is the sad story of the eccentric, indefatigable Sheikh
Sabir.
In Yusuf Shaouni's The Crush of Life, the obese
bus conductor Fathi Abdoul Rasoul, born in the countryside, develops a phobia
for overcrowding - it deals with the tragic effects his obesity and
ocholophobia have on him.
The final story, by Gamal Atia Ibrahim, The
Child and the King, tells of an infant's upbringing during the reign of a King, and
during the Revolution, and the effects his father's attitudes have on him in later life.
An interesting aspect of this collection
worth considering is that most of these writers were politically active or imprisoned,
and yet, contrasting it to South African writing, their writing is not political
per se, but socially engagé nevertheless.
Though a few of the stories are mediocre,
the collection is a very good exposition of Egyptian writing today, covering a
wide field of talent; and explains why the short story is the most popular form
of Arabic fictional literature.
♦ THE MAN WHO LOST HIS SHADOW
by Fathy Ghanem
Fathy Ghanem was born in Egypt in 1924 and
became editor of Sabah Al-Khair.
His first novel satirised a well-meant attempt to resettle peasants; but
the Cairo press forms the background of much of his later writing.
The story of The Man Who Lost His
Shadow is so deceptively simple, the reading so rapid, one gets so
subtly involved with the main characters, one feels part of their lives - as if
first Mabruka, then Samia, then Muhammad Nagi, and then Yusif himself, are
confiding their selves to us.
The story revolves around Yusif Hamid, the
young and ambitious son of a teacher, as he enters into the jungle of Cairo
journalism. We see him through the minds
of Mabruka (a young peasant girl come to Cairo to work for the aristocratic
Rateb Bey, and then works for Yusuf's
father whom she marries); Samia (the beautiful girl having ambitions of becoming
a famous actress, who ends up loving Yusif); Muhammad Nagi (the foremost Cairo
editor eventually dethroned by Yusif); and then we see via himself Yusif's rise to power, and his control over so many
lives - except perhaps his own and that of a girl he desires.
There is much interweaving of the
characters' lives, but the
pivotal dilemma is that of Yusif, as he himself reflects: "How was it I grew up, acquired knowledge, fame
and fortune, yet lost myself."
Francis King has called Ghanem's style "A sober and lucid realism worthy of
Maupassant." Kingsley Amis, talking on BBC radio, remarked:
"...what I
admire is the sheer literary skill with which the material is shaped and handled
..."
The cover design (for this edition) by
Ahmed Mustapha is imaginative, and the novel itself is fast reading, with rapid
plot and character development, moving from scene to scene without the
laborious mental conflicts and scene descriptions characteristic of so much
Western literature. But the tale is not
one of cozy irony - it is filled with those moments of truth that are obvious
yet seldom mentioned but immediately recognised; statements that explain life
for one fleeting instant to be made ambiguous by the actions of the protagonists
themselves.
♦ THE
CHEAPEST NIGHTS
by Yusuf Idris
"Yusuf Idris … is the renovator and genius of the short
story."
• Tewfik al Hakim
Yusuf Idris' contact with the working class and the
struggling poor enables him to portray such vivid and unforgettable characters
as the perplexed peasant Abdul Kerim, the red-haired temptress Li-Li, the impotent
policeman Ramadan, the hard-up Abdou, and the long-suffering El Shabrawi.
Yusuf Idris is one of the leading figures
in modern Egyptian literature, and the best in the genre of the short story. This collection of 15 of his finest pieces
reveals his love and deep attachment to the rural surroundings, and his
compassion, understanding and ultimate faith in humanity. But his stories are also powerful and
immediate reflections of his own rebellious life.
Idris' stories are devoid of a central plot, and the
simplicity of his themes gives vigour to his writing: he simply introduces us
into a very real world making us share the experiences of his perfectly
sketched characters. He captures their
outward behaviour through a few masterly strokes, revealing their emotions and
reactions without resorting to psychological analysis. We see this against their destiny and against
the human condition - but Idris does not pass judgement on any of his
characters, although a moral is implicit in the narrative.
Yusuf Idris' most vivid character is the fellah (or
peasant) in his daily confrontation with the higher strata of society, and the
growing bureaucracy; and his day-to-day struggles to feed himself and his
everenlarging family, so that one type of character remains dominant: the
frustrated, ambitious, idealistic young, but poor man, unable to fulfill his
vision due to the harsh environment and the rigours of life.
In The Cheapest Nights
itself, Abdul Kerim, devoid of entertainment for lack of money, returns each
night to his poverty-ridden home and to his wife "with her brood of six" to indulge in the only pastime he can afford.
It is an excellent, descriptive story
seen through Kerim's mind, a man
whose perplexity is greater than he can deal with - so that his fatalistic
cynicism, his vituperation, is all that he possesses.
In You Are Everything To Me,
Ramadan, the ageing policeman, loses his virility, and torn between despair and
humiliation, he pursues every means to regain it, but finally resigns himself
to a transferred comfort.
In The Errand, El Shabrawi
volunteers to take an insane woman by train to Cairo, the city he hankers to
return to - but the bureaucracy of Cairo and the mentally disturbed woman have
an unexpected effect on El Shabrawi.
In Hard Up, Abdou is broke,
as always. He moves from job to job
between periods of unemployment, until he discovers an ingenious method to earn
his money, but even that doesn't
last. The story strongly puts the point
that a man must even sell his blood just to stay alive.
The Queue deals with the thwarted
attempts of a landowner to deprive the poor of their marketplace, and the
determination and ingenuity of the poor in always finding a way to make a
living.
In The Funeral Ceremony, Abou'l
Metwalli has no time for civilities - driving a bargain, performing the mere
formalities, to get the rituals over with - even in the presence of death. It shows with stark simplicity the dire
struggles for daily bread.
All On A Summer's Night is a pathetic story of the effects a city-wise braggart's stories have on a group of pubertal peasant
boys. The narrative is well-developed to
its climax, and the secret dreams of the young farm-workers are revealed with
remarkable sensitivity.
In The Caller In The Night, Saleh
believes everything the medical student tells him, so that his unforgivable
ignorance and blind faith have tragic consequence.
In The Dregs Of The City, Judge
Abdallah, a bachelor, uses his obsequious servant Farghali to hire a young
female servant. The story gives a very
good descriptive contrast between the rich and the poor areas of Cairo.
Did You Have To Turn On The Lights
Li-Li, is the most delightful, and in the end, rather sad story of Imam
Abdel Al, who comes to lead a drugged community onto the right path, only to do
battle with the devil incarnate, the half-Egyptian, half-English, red-haired
temptress Li-Li, who only gives herself to foreigners. It would be rather cruel to reveal the ending,
which is absolutely delicious.
Death From Old Age: Intimation s on life and death in a
philosophical, descriptive narrative - those nearest death making a living from
the death of others.
Bringing In The Bride deals
with the strange custom of bringing in the bride, but it is also perhaps a
comment on how generosity can be taken advantage of.
The Shame is set on a farm,
where "private
affairs need not remain private."
The story demonstrates Yusuf
Idris' shrewd understanding of the fellahin mind.
Because The Day Of Judgement Never
Comes is the story of Ibrahim's
premature discovery of life, and himself, in an overcrowded room. Leading to the ultimate realization of the
truth of his own origins, it is about the painful loss of innocence.
The Freak is an allegorical
tale of the fear people have of their innermost truths and of their clandestine
activities being discovered.
● Yusuf Idris was born in 1927 in an Egyptian village, and his family
moved a great deal from one town in the Delta to another before finally
settling in Cairo.
He studied medicine, but his years as a
student were increasingly interrupted by the turbulent political situation in
Egypt: he took part in demonstrations against the British and the corrupt
system of King Farouk; and he was responsible for radical publications which led
to his suspension from college, and to his imprisonment. After graduation he worked at a government
hospital, but his revolutionary vocation continued. He joined underground organisations fighting
the British, and he supported Nasser's
rise to power, but soon became disillusioned, when he realised that the
revolution had accomplished few of its glowing promises. Idris was arrested and incarcerated; and
during his detention he joined the Communist Party, only to resign when he
realised he could never accept the totalitarian side of communism.
Idris practiced medicine for a time, travelled
extensively in the Arab world, and became a government health inspector. Butin 1960, having decided to devote himself
entirely to writing, he gave up medicine, and became editor of a Cairo
newspaper.
In 1961 he joined the freedom fighters in
the Algerian mountains, and remained there for six months fighting the French,
until he was wounded. He was later
decorated for valour by the Algerian government.
Yusuf Idris' literary career began when he was a medical
student. His short stories began to
appear in a prominent Cairo newspaper and a leading weekly magazine. In 1954 his first collection of stories was
published as Arkhas Layali (The Cheapest Nights). In 1959 Qua'a Al Madina (The Dregs Of The City) appeared; followed
by Hadi'that Sharaf (The Shame) in 1960. Akher al Dunya (Ends Of The Earth)
appeared in 1961, followed by Lughat ul Ay Ay (The Language Of
Pain) in 1967. In 1970 Beit
Men Lahm (House of Flesh) appeared.
The Cheapest Nights is the
first time his works have been published in English, and includes, at the author's request, stories from each of the above six
collections in order to represent work from every stage of his development as a
writer.
Yusuf Idris is best known as a short story
writer, but he is also an established journalist, has published novels, and is
a playwright of great originality: his plays are mostly comedies with political
overtones written in colloquial language.
Idris is essentially a socialist writer
and brings to his stories a unique ability to exploit both the classical and
colloquial languages to his literary purposes. Idris'
style is unique: he makes a deliberate distinction between the language spoken
by his characters and that which he assumes when he himself takes over the
narrative. This subtle alternation of
spoken and classical Arabic enhances the realism of his stories, and expresses
his own individuality as a writer. (Unfortunately
the distinction is lost in the English translation). This innovation raised an outcry among Arab
critics initially, but they eventually capitulated, when it became evident that
the Arab reader was for the first time savouring a purely indigenous product -
a stark expression of himself.
Idris' short stories have been singled out
for particular praise, and much of his work has been translated into Russian
and other European languages. And this
book has been accepted in the Contemporary Arab Authors Series as part of the
Translations Collections of UNESCO.
Taha Hussein, the eminent Egyptian writer
and scholar hailed Yusuf as a young writer of outstanding talent. Tewfik al Hakim, the most famous Arab
playwright, called Yusuf Idris "the renovator and genius of the short story." Michael PetrieRitchie commented: "As a social document, The Cheapest
Nights is absorbing; as a series of character studies it is both vivid
and moving."
Yusuf Idris is no stranger to censorship
and persecution for his humanitarian attitude to the plight of Egypt's poor. And success and recognition have not diverted
him from political issues. His play, The
Schemers, was banned for being highly critical of Nasser's policies; and as literary editor of Cairo's highly influential newspaper Al Ahram
he was sacked once under King Farouk, four times under Nasser, and once under
Sadat so far.
From the beginning of his literary career,
Idris has been concerned to portray life as he saw it, with all its anxieties
and blemishes. As a writer he sees
himself as the "social lungs
for the people to breathe through." He says that a
writer differs from other people in that he is more impressionable, with a
keener sensitivity to his surroundings, and has a part to play in society. And his views remain the same today as they
did more than two decades ago: that there must be change, an improvement in the
lot of the majority of the people.
Yusuf Idris reiterates his conviction that
life is a constant process of change with which views and values must keep up. Nothing must remain static. Where there is standstill there is no life. People are not born to accept the situations
imposed upon them by previous generations. He is therefore always alert to new concepts
and to new philosophies. He says that "in a constantly changing world, a writer is a
major factor in revolution."
© farouk asvat
composed: 1980 [Cape Town, South Africa
under apartheid]
[]
Acknowledgements:
Modern Arab
Writers was previously
serialized in:
Muslim News as:
"Modern Egyptian Literature": (Muslim News, Cape Town, p9, 17.10.1980);
"Egyptian Short Stories": (Muslim News, Cape Town, p16,
31.10.1980);
"The Man Who Lost His Shadow" by
Fathy Ghanem: (Muslim News, Cape Town, p8, 14.11.1980);
"The Cheapest Nights" by Yusuf
Idris: (Muslim News, Cape Town, p8,
28.11.1980).
Modern Arab Writers was previously serialized in the:
Sowetan as:
"A Clash Of Cultures" [Modern Arab Literature]: (Sowetan, Argus, Jhb, p14,
29.07.1987);
"Reflections On Political, Social Realities" [Modern Arab Poetry]: (Sowetan, Argus, Jhb, p11,
05.08.1987);
"Within The Walls" [Egyptian Short Stories]: (Sowetan, Argus, Jhb, p13,
12.08.1987);
"Genius Of The Short Story" [Yusuf Idris]: (Sowetan, Argus, Jhb, p10,
19.08.1987);
"Moulded By Upheaval" [Yusuf Idris]: (Sowetan, Argus, Jhb, p17,
26.08.1987).
Modern Arab Writers was previously published in:
Weapons of Words (kindle, 2016);
Weapons of Words (amazon paperback, p50, 2016).
[§] Books by Farouk Asvat:
● Sadness In The House Of Love (novel)
● The Gathering Of The Storm (novel)
● I Dream In Long Sentences (poetry)
● The Wind Still Sings Sad Songs (poetry)
● A Celebration Of Flames (poetry)
● The Time Of Our Lives (poetry)
● This Masquerade (short stories)
● Bra Frooks … (poetry)*
● The Paanies Are Coming (short
stories)*
● In The House Of Love (novel)*
● Weapons Of Words (comparative
literature & literary criticism)
¨ all my books are now available on amazon: in paperback & kindle
___________________________________________________________________________
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piquante: https://faroukasvat-piquant.blogspot.com
streetwise: https://faroukasvat-lingo.blogspot.com
quran lectures: https://faroukasvat-quran.blogspot.com
biography: https://faroukasvat-bio.blogspot.com
books by farouk asvat: https://faroukasvat-books.blogspot.com
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Asvat
is now available on amazon: in paperback @ $15 & kindle @ only $5
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Arab Writers Union conference is a good initiative by Arab officials to promote Arab literary work. It’s a best platform where cultural personalities can gather and such events encourage cultural and poetic events in the country.
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