4
Sunday, May 30, 2010 www.nationalyemen.com
ARTS & CULTURE
Al-Maqaleh awarded Al-Owais poetry prize The Al-Owais Cultural Foundation, based in the United Arab Emirates, recently gave its 11th annual poetry award to Yemeni poet Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Maqaleh for his contribution to the fields of literature and poetry in the Arab world. Abu Aboud During the award ceremony in Sana’a, Al-Maqaleh dedicated half of the prize money to support outstanding literary works annually in poetry, novels and short stories in Yemen. Al-Maqaleh, born in 1937, earned a doctorate from Egypt’s ‘Ain Shams University in 1977, then served as President of Sana’a University from 1982 to 2001. He is a member of the Language Academy of Cairo and Damascus, and has written 14 poetry anthologies, 25 critical and intellectual literary studies. In turn, nine studies have been conducted on his poetry anthologies. He previously won several national and international awards, including the Lotus Award in 1986, the UNESCO Arab Culture Award in Paris in 2002, the Knight Award of the first rank in literature and the arts from the French government in 2003, and the Arab Culture Award of the Arab Organisation for Education, Science and Culture in 2004. We met with Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Maqaleh to discuss his literature and the importance of supporting creative artists. What does the Al-Owais Award mean to you?
Perhaps such cultural initiatives, in their essence and meaning, reflect an appreciation of poetry itself, as the premier Arab art. The status of poetry, with such initiatives, returns to the forefront of Arab culture, in which poetry assumes a leading role in serving the causes of our nation and our communities. The recognition that I am receiving today is a gift to Yemen, to my country, which nourishes me and lives within me just as I live in it. This country, to whose mountains, valleys and villages I whispered my poetry to, and whose events and issues brought me to maturity. It is from this country which I began my journey and in which I am proud my poetry, my prose and, indeed, my entire intellectual life exists in. This award is also a gift to my family, who tolerated my preoccupations and devotions to my poetry and its issues. I consider this award an opportunity to express my appreciation and gratitude. Frankly, even this would not be enough to thank them for all that they did in order to provide the amenable conditions which helped realise my work all these years. Thus, I am not acting excessively in allocating half the value of this award to my family, while the second part will go
to my second family, a family of Yemeni poets and writers who are pursuing aesthetic endeavours and ascending the ladder of creativity. What is your assessment of the literary situation in Yemen? The poetry scene in our country is not much different than in other Arab countries in terms of its strengths and weaknesses, and in its presence and its absence. But in recent years, I have noticed a rise of a new, young poetry movement led by female poets that offers a new distinctive voice in this field, which has been dominated by men for a long time; a long absence that cannot be broken by two or more female poets alone, throughout the entire ancient and medieval history of this country. “The literary reality is a reflection of public life.” Is this statement applicable to the literature of our time? Creativity is an indirect reflection of the conditions in the Arab world, that is, on a national level. Whenever problems
and challenges multiply and
‘
It is from this country which I began my journey and in which I am proud my poetry, my prose and, indeed, my entire intellectual life exists in.
escalate, the need for people to express them heightens endlessly. Creative artists are best at expressing that. But if those problems reach a critical and violent point, as is the case in the Arab world now, creative endeavour stands confused and unable to change, and that affects the literary situation now, even if the voice of poetry remains strong and clear in the
face of these challenges, and in its warning of the dangers facing the Arab world, both as a whole as well as each individual country. Many talk about the difficult living conditions for most writers, believing that literature cannot provide a livelihood. There is an old Arab saying repeated in books and on the tongues of creative artists, “The craft of literature caught up with him.” Those who take literature as their profession face suffering and unenviable living conditions, and that saying seems to still be valid for us Arabs, although there are exceptions. Perhaps the awards came to offer some of these writers some stability in their life, keeping them away from destitution and hardships, particularly writers and poets in the Arab world whose number does not exceed, even in the best conditions, more than about one percent of the population, according to some statistics. Do the relevant government agencies fulfil their role in
strengthening and revitalising the literary movement? That is the duty of the organisations, and the ministries of culture were established to foster creative artists, promote arts and literature, and encourage talent. But it seems that some ministries have not understood their primary mission thus far, and their budgets do not allow them to take care of all creative artists in the Arab world. What about the Al-Maqaleh Award and why? It is my duty towards the new generation of creative artists, whether in poetry, novels or short stories, to devote half of the prize money given to me by the Al-Owais Foundation to the best collection of poems, the best novel and the best collection of short stories each year. A committee was formed to direct this and evaluate the works nominated to win. This is the least that can be done to support and to foster an active literary movement.
Jewish tunes with Yemeni lyrics, produced in Tel Aviv, distributed in Sana’a Nagla‘a Ali Al-Shaibani Almost two years ago, the Israeli TV showed the song “Sana’a Beladi Thaniah” which translates as “Sana’a, my second home”. It was sung by a Jewish singer of Yemeni origins. Whilst Yemenis did not see the song at that time, an unknown producer made the song and sold on its CDs, distributing them in Yemen. Subsequently Yemenis were endeared to the song, and this was what started a trend in CDs and tape cassettes of Jewish singers with Yemeni origins, whose fast beat attracts the younger generation. There are songs with Yemeni lyrics on Jewish tunes, produced in Tel Aviv and distributed in Sana’a. Despite the fact that these tapes and CDs are prohibited distribution in Yemen as they are considered to be a plagiarism of Yemeni lyrics and tunes, they can be obtained with little effort. The CD venders and radio owners have rushed to offer a number of copies of such songs, which they sell to thousands of people every year, a student who asked not to be named said. “The most popular female Jewish singers are Shama’ah , Bint Salem and the international singer Afra’a Hasan Haza’a. The biggest Yemeni audience - the youth - come looking for these CDs because they match their taste. CD
shops and radio owners believe that Jewish singers have developed the Yemeni song, and have made it popular in Yemen, Israel, and even European countries. For example, Afra’s song “Aim Nane’ilwa”, which is a song from Yemen’s heritage but sung in Hebrew, received the Eurovision Award,” the student added
of Culture, confirms that those songs are prohibited from distribution in Yemen and that the ministry executes, from time to time, search campaigns on stereo and CD shops to make sure the market is free from such songs, because they are considered to be a violation of cultural rights to our heritage and singers, when they are attributed to Israeli art. He indicates that the ministry does not mind distribution of songs that come into the country through legal means via a license to record those songs, but this happens only rarely.”
While he was buying a number of CDs for Jewish singers, Fuad Qasem adds, “These songs are magnificent and performed in a contemporary manner, although the original musical notes come from the Yemeni song heritage. Yet, these Jewish singers have a right to perform Yemeni songs, simply because they have Yemeni origins.”
born in Israel.”
Fuad Alkibsi, a Yemeni singer, considers what the Jewish singers do as exploitation of Yemen’s songs; due to the fact that they are played with modern musical instruments and because those singers cannot be touched by a court of law which might contest the rights to the songs, which are themselves of Yemeni heritage – not Israeli.” He says, “They perform the songs with such a strong accent and do not understand what the lyrics really mean, especially those who were
Abbas Ali Alshebami, a researcher, who wrote a book about the Jews of Yemen, says that Yemenis in Israel formed musical bands for dancing and singing. Among those bands is “Anbal”, which is supervised by Sara Levi Tanay. “Yemeni songs became very popular within the local arts community, and they are exported from Israel as Israeli art.”, he adds. But the modern Jewish song is not entirely detached from the Yemeni originality; Songs of Yemeni heritage
do not yieldbend to their performance by musical instruments. In fact, what happens is the opposite; the musical instruments adapt to the lyrics themselves, and mood of the singer. The attempts of Yemeni-Israeli singers who study arts in Israel to adopt Yemeni songs have exceeded experience. The popularity of such songs proves that Yemeni music possesses spontaneous zest and original tones.
from the force and type of emotion expressed by local Yemenis, in a certain linguistic manner. ” He continued, “any attempt to imitate the Yemeni song is clearly apparent. For example, the word Ain, of which the first letter is pronounced in the soft palate, is pronounced like ‘Ain, which is a glottal stop sound. When old Jewish singers, who were born in Yemen, sing, they conform to the Yemeni dialect completely.”
Those singers encounter various obstacles, such as the local dialect and also the lyrics come only
Ali Abdul-Qader, Deputy Manager of the Arts Categorization Management in the Ministry
By listening to many songs, it has been noticed that the topics of songs which singers in Israel sing are various: some songs focus on love; others on emigration and homesickness; others focus on nature. Other songs are known to Yemeni singers in Yemen are performed in the same musical notes with a difference in tone, which stirs the anger of Yemeni singers like Ayoob Taresh Absi, a great singer, who made many complaints to the Yemeni Ministry of Culture, asking to withdraw the songs which imitate his songs from the market and prohibit their distribution.