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Modern orientalism
Talented young Arab writers are now addressing the misrepresentation of the Orient by the West. Among them is Yousuf Al Mohaimeed.
- By Sara Saleh, Notes Report
- Published: 23:14 September 8, 2007
It was almost 30 years ago when one of the world's most prominent critical literary theorists and writers, Edward Saeed, who is of Palestinian origin, coined the term 'Orientalism'.
A term that is no doubt still as controversial, relevant and widely-debated today as it was then. It claims that historical discourse on the Orient is misrepresented view within a Eurocentric and Western framework.
The continuous conflict
Rising amongst the masses is a group of young, talented Arab writers who are out to set the record straight.
Writers and artists say, there is no place in the cultural public sphere, encompassing the arts, the literature, the music and the film, to get a message across to your own as well as to other people of various countries. There has been a need to deflect to Western stereotyped conceptions of Arab society, and a newly-formed genre of self- representing books that portray the "real picture" is the answer to rectifying those wrongs.
Where it started
Generally, Egypt has been at the forefront of Arab literature, whether it was Nobel Prize winning Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy or the recent Yacoubian Building by novelist Alaa Al Aswany. Even Lebanon has had a strong contribution with authors such as Ameen Maalouf.
Today, Saudi writer Yousuf Al Mohaimeed and his published book Wolves of the Crescent Moon has brought his native Saudi Arabia to an unlikely place, sparking much interest by other Arab countries and even more by the West.
In tackling matters of Western interest in Saudi Arabia, from religion to the war in Iraq, he argues that most of the past literature was restricted when it comes to representing his country, because of Western interests in keeping it so.
Not what you write, but how you write it Al Mohaimeed acknowledges the difficulties in attempting to go around the cultural sensitivities of writing about society and religion, but the focus must remain on the art of writing itself, he believes.
An authentic voice of Saudi society, Al Mohaimeed plans on staying around, and will soon release the English version of his book, Al Qarura, or The Bottle.
We review
Wolves of the Crescent Moon
By Yousuf Al Mohaimeed
Born into a Bedouin family, Turad made the decision long ago when he left his desert home to work in the city in whatever capacity. After hearing about an abandoned orphan, the bitter old man today is forced to reflect on the traumatic events of his life and an unlikely friendship with an old Sudanese man forced into slavery in Saudi Arabia.
This smoothly-tailored narrative attempts to challenge stereotypes of life in Saudi Arabia by telling the poignant tales of three broken people, resulting in a troubling portrayal of a society, sometimes cruel, and the ways in which modernisation and its effects are rife and almost detrimental to it.
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