2023-12-16 21:11:10
Dubai (Etihad)
The Mohammed bin Rashid Library, in cooperation with the Forum Salon, organized a dialogue session, entitled “Narrative Schools in the Emirati Novel,” with the participation of Dr. writer Sultan Al Amimi and Dr. storyteller Badia Al Hashemi, and the session was moderated by writer and media personality Aisha Sultan.
The session began by highlighting the beginning of the emergence of the narrative forms “story and novel” in Emirati literature, which dates back to the seventies of the last century with the publication of the novel Shahinda by the writer Rashid Abdullah Al Nuaimi and the collection of short stories “Al Khashaba” and others, which were attempts that ranged between the simple traditional narrative form and the experimental approach.
The era of the 1980s was also discussed, when the Emirati narrative witnessed a real boom, but it seemed biased towards the short story influenced by well-known international schools, and benefited from the emergence of cultural journalism and the emergence of young, educated names with great visions and aspirations, such as Salma Matar Saif, Maryam Juma, Nasser Gibran, and Amina Bou Shehab. And Abdul Hamid Ahmed, Muhammad Al-Murr, Harib Al-Dhaheri, Ibrahim Jumah, Nasser Al-Dhaheri, Ali Abu Al-Rish, and others.
With the beginning of the third millennium, and during the second decade in particular, the cultural reality in the Emirates witnessed the emergence of other names that were more established and open to international narrative forms and schools, such as the stream of consciousness in the stories of Maryam Al-Saadi, the social-historical novel of Maysoon Saqr, Reem Al-Kamali, and Widad Al-Naboodah, and the magical realism of Sultan. Al-Amimi, and the combination of social and historical realism according to Salha Obaid, and the story of the flash according to Dr. Badia Al Hashemi, dystopia and fantasy among Sultan Faisal Al Rumaithi and other young people who entered this field in large numbers, so that in recent years the balance shifted back to favor the novel at the expense of the story.
Several axes
The session discussed many important topics, such as the ability of current narrative works to play the role of literary reference for today’s writers, the reason for the superiority of the story over the novel in the past and the focus on it rather than the novel, and the extent to which international narrative currents and schools reflect on the Emirati story and novel in terms of narrative techniques and aesthetics. The speakers also discussed the reasons for the great proliferation of Emirati writers in recent years, and how to deal with it as a response to certain transformations in society, or is it just a wave that will recede, or is it a positive cultural phenomenon that bodes well and should be encouraged.
Experimentation and alienation
The session touched on the extent to which new writers respond and deal with the subject of criticism of their works. The session touched on experimentation and Westernization in contemporary narratives among young Emirati people. The session concluded by talking regarding the presence of the Emirati novel in acclaimed Arab award forums. The session witnessed a large attendance, which was enriched by questions and cultural issues that increased the dialogue with great vitality and interaction.
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