This corner stands through quick questions with a new voice in Arabic writing, in an attempt to identify the features and concerns of the new Arab generation of writers. “The state of writing for me is a kinetic act, a physical and visual act, not limited to the eloquence of the word or language,” the Lebanese writer says in her interview with The New Arab.
■ How do you understand the new writing?
Building a firm understanding of the term neo-writing is ambiguous to me; As soon as a meaning is defined for this term, we realize that what was considered new is no longer so, but has been domesticated within the system of repetition. In another context, social media platforms, with all their disadvantages, if we want to adopt the saying of Umberto Eco, impose a new language that he will not be able to monitor its movement. the text as a readable book. Here, the discussion is thorny and long. So I will mention, briefly, how I understand my relationship with the act of writing: the state of writing for me is a kinesthetic act, a physical and visual act, not confined to the rhetoric of the word or language. When I start writing, I don’t see myself glued to the computer. The word I write makes me move, walk, and do something that takes me away from the word, in order to return to it with a movement that sometimes changes the course of the text I write.
■ Do you feel that you are part of a literary generation that has its own characteristics, and what are these features?
Answering this question requires in-depth research. I prefer not to be certain, but there are indications that require further thought and scrutiny. I might reduce them – in my case, the short story or the novel – to writing affected by an intermittent rhythm, and a visual spectacle that is more concerned with working on conveying an emotional state or climate before it is conveyed. The plot and the tale. There is no need for coherence in a world that invites you to be distracted, fragmented, and fragile all the time.
■ How is your relationship with previous generations?
In general, I believe that our relationship with the past and with the history of the experiences of those who preceded us – whether in theater or literature specifically in Lebanon – is a very good relationship socially, but at the level of the date And documentation, as it is transient and tainted with a kind of estrangement, and this matter has a political dimension linked to the systematic amputation of our memory. Despite the rigidity of direct, verbal, and social communication, I always ask myself: After ten years, how do we build a systematic accumulation of all our knowledge and literature? And who determines, in this region, the countless knowledge that we have stored for hundreds of years?
■ How would you describe your relationship with the cultural environment in your country?
If we define the cultural environment as the people of music, theatre, cinema, visual and plastic arts, crafts and literature, and the incubators or producers of these practices, such as publishing houses and galleries of all kinds, galleries, libraries, cafes, workshops, etc., donors and supporters, the street and the public, I can say nothing but that I am grateful Because I grew up in an environment that was able, despite all the catastrophic events that passed through Lebanon, to present this amount and this type – despite its disparity – of literary and artistic activities. I simply tip my hat. What will history remember of all this? We’ll have to wait and see.
■ How was your first book published and how old were you?
I participated in a workshop on theater in Tunisia and presented a theatrical script, which was incomplete at the time. When I finished the workshop, I decided to continue working on the text until I published it under the title “A Feast Under Water / Lofty Hauz Tabula Raza”. I was twenty-seven years old.
How do we build a systematic accumulation of all the knowledge and literature we have produced?
■ Where do you publish?
My posts are currently limited. The abundance of creative writing that I was aiming for was transformed into academic writing, conference participation, and painstaking work writing academic peer-reviewed articles. Prior to that, she wrote for several newspapers, including Al-Modon, The Independent Arabia, Al-Arab, Raseef 22, Al-Akhbar, Howlround, Critical Stages, Incertains Regards, and others. Translated texts have been published in The Common and Independent Egypt.
■ How do you read and how would you describe your relationship with reading: systematic, planned, spontaneous, random?
I am a spontaneous and random being: whenever I plan something, I find myself doing the opposite. My act of reading follows the same path. By virtue of teaching and studying recently, I read daily for at least four hours. However, all these readings are governed by a goal and a purpose. The most beautiful readings are those that we do not plan for their destination… Reading in vain without a specific deadline and without seeking any employment.
■ Do you read in another language besides Arabic?
I read in French and English.
■ How do you view translation and do you have a desire to have your work translated?
Let’s be real. The first temptation to translate stems from the lack of recognition and appreciation surrounding writers in this part of the world. The second temptation is related to the idea that the writer witnesses the death of her text in his first language, only to see a text that takes on another language to meet a new audience of readers. Between the two deaths, there is a problem – specifically in texts of a very local nature – in the ability to revive the text with the same brilliance of the mother tongue and the dimensions of its social, colloquial and political uses. The paradox is that this problem will only be felt by the author of the text. Coming to terms with this feeling frees the writer: he then realizes that the paternalistic, authoritarian relationship between him and his book has ended.
■ What are you writing now and what is your next release?
In the summer of 2020, I began writing a new collection of short stories, with the initial title “Mrs. Hem’s Worlds”. But my writing is very sporadic, and I hope to finish the collection in the next two years. Currently, I am working more on writing the second chapter of my doctoral dissertation, and finishing two academic articles.
Card
Lebanese writer and storyteller. Her publications are: Off Duty (2009, short story and comic book collection), Underwater Feast, Lorem Ipsum Tabula Raza (2006, play script), Domino Devils; It is a collection of short stories that received a writing grant from the “Thaqafy Resource Foundation” and was recently published by the “Arab Renaissance House”. She writes articles and research on theatre, performing arts and cultural politics. She currently teaches in the theater department at the University of Washington while working on her Ph.D.
