The voices of Arab culture around the world

The voices of Arab culture
Arts from ancient, diverse world stir interest in the West
Jonathan Curiel, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, April 14, 2003

The war in Iraq has put a spotlight not just on Saddam Hussein but also on the whole Arab world. Close to 300 million people live in that world, and if you include the Arab diaspora -- those of Arab descent who make their home in the United States, England, France and other countries -- the numbers are much higher.

Spread out across different continents, Arabs are united by an ancestral language (Arabic) and an ancestral homeland (the Arabian peninsula) that gave birth to a Semitic people who've changed the course of human history. The footprints of those changes can be seen in Arabic culture. Even more than politics and military issues, culture is a gateway to understanding a world of distant capitals and disparate religions.

Although Islam is one of several faiths that Arabs practice, many Arabs are secular, so it's not surprising that -- citing the works of just one author -- Naguib Mahfouz has populated his books with characters who are areligious or critical of religion. Egypt's greatest writer, Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988, saying when he won the award, "I am happy for myself and for Arab literature. I hope this is the first step for future generations."

It was. Especially in the United States, a new wave of Arab writers has since established residence in publishing and academic circles -- people like Elmaz Abinader, a Lebanese American novelist, poet and performer who teaches at Mills

College in Oakland; Nathalie Handal, a Palestinian American lecturer at New York's Hunter College who writes plays and poems and who edited the best- selling anthology "The Poetry of Arab Women"; and Matthew Shenoda, a writer and lecturer with roots in Egypt who, this semester, is teaching San Francisco State University's first course on Arabic literature.

The breakthroughs aren't limited to books and letters. In film, Arab directors and documentarians are producing scores of critically acclaimed movies that tackle complex and sensitive subjects, such as Elia Suleiman's "Divine Intervention," a dark comedy about Palestinian life that was a recent hit in Europe and the United States; Hakim Bellabes' "Threads," the Chicago filmmaker's new work, which features a young woman who leaves the United States for Morocco; and Nabil Ayouch's "Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets," a dramatic movie from the French-Moroccan director that chronicles the lives of Casablanca's street children.

This renaissance in film, literature and other arts is celebrated by Arab artists at the same time they debate the ramifications of the war in Iraq and the perception that, for too many years, the Arab world has been stifled by a kind of political, economic and social straitjacket. These artists' works reflect the push and pull of Arab society and the constant tussle between old traditions and new demands.

"In Arabic, we call it sira, which means struggle," says novelist and retired Georgetown professor Halim Barakat, author of "The Arab World: Society,

Culture, and State." "It can mean political, psychological and spiritual struggle, but also refers to sociocultural struggle. This is expressed very vividly in Arabic literature."

This three-part series spotlights Arabic literature, Arabic film and Arabic music, since all three art forms reflect the beauty, tragedy, incandescence -- and contradictions -- of the Arab world. Because Arab artists have been producing so much new work, some Arabs believe that they are living in a kind of golden age for Arabic culture. An invitation to attend a continuing "Arabian Nights" music event in San Francisco puts it this way: "There has never been a better time to be Arabic."
----------
Spotlight on Arab culture

Today: The increasing focus on Iraq and the Middle East has sparked an enormous interest in Arab writers.

Tuesday: A new generation of artists is redefining Arab-themed film.

Wednesday: Arab musicians are on the verge of a breakthrough in the United States.