Skip to main content
Read page text
page 76
ALAWIYA SOBH Together with the experience of maturing as a novelist, my illness prompted me to tone down the shrillness of the text. My novel has been strengthened, rather than weakened, by poetry; fiction can be especially persuasive when its characters allow for this type of poetic language. I treat all characters and their cultures with the utmost respect, making sure that they have the artistic justification necessary to speak out of their own culture and their own natural inclinations. As for the presence of violence and illness in the novel, the reason for this is my sense that our society is ill. Consequently, the characters embody the presence of death, imperfection and incompleteness. The body in this novel takes on a different dimension than those highlighted in my other works, since the stories of our bodies resemble the stories of our cities. The individual body and the country bear some resemblance to one another. These are the basic ideas posed by the novel in narrative form. The anger I felt and the pain that would come over me in response to the scenes of violence I used to witness led me to imagine numerous characters, most of whom suffer from some defect or dysfunction while being targeted by the arrows of violence that whizz about them. KT:Your novel is filled with art.The main character is a dancer and a choreographer, her sweetheart is a painter and a poet, her best friend is a writer, and the man to whom she tells her story is a director.You say somewhere in the narrative that “writing, music and art generally can rescue a person from suicide” (p. 258). Do you actually believe that a return to art can be a kind of salvation? AS: Art is a kind of therapy that causes us to grow deeper, more aware and more in tune with ourselves. Art is a key to discovering yourself and your surroundings; knowledge and culture enable you to be freer, more beautiful, more conscious. Knowledge changes people, and when they possess the capacity to read their inner states and express themselves, they change. This is why our Arab regimes are afraid of knowledge. They’re afraid of the arts because they confront the brutality of society and, in particular, its brutality toward women and humanity as a whole. Our societies fear knowledge and, instead, promote the vacuous and the trivial. They fear knowledge because it’s 74 BANIPAL 70 – SPRING 2021
page 77
ALAWIYA SOBH knowledge that introduces people to themselves and brings them freedom. That’s why we see them popularizing ‘the dark word’, ‘the blind word’. They promote human blindness because, if our society changed – if knowledge became a part of who people are – they would be sure to reject tyranny and darkness and begin to think about justice. No entity on Earth fears knowledge more than our dark, tyrannical societies, especially those whose tyranny is directed toward the woman. I deal in my writing with the fact that, despite the ruin that’s been caused by the failure of attempts to struggle against religious and political regimes, there remains a passion for life, for art. I share in my protagonist’s passion for life, in her will and fortitude, and in her adamant determination to overcome illness. The character’s passion for life, her resolve to resist illness and reclaim her body belong to me, too, and these are the things that will rescue us all. KT: At one point in the narrative, Amina’s character says:“Don’t beautify me. Don’t make me an attractive, sophisticated, strong woman like you. I’m afraid the man will run away” (p. 282).Why does this novel present us with male characters that are so deficient, and with female characters that are both weak and content in their weakness? Why these truncated models? AS: Amina is aware of the fact that Arab men are afraid of strong women. So, not wanting to risk her chances of getting married, she prefers to appear weak.Women in our Arab societies are raised on the idea that the man’s violence represents protection, strength, and a symbol of manhood.Viewing herself as men have portrayed her, the woman then becomes the fiercest advocate for the very patriarchal mindset and patriarchal social constructs that oppress her. But this terrible fear of women is something I don’t understand. I’m not against men, and I don’t always portray men as bad in my novels. What I am against is the concept of male domination. Youssef, for example, the sweetheart and the husband, has a positive presence in the novel and in Basma’s life. When he is a painter, and before becoming a member of Hezbollah, he believes in and promotes women’s freedom. He encourages and embraces it. But when, as a reaction to his disappointments, sorrows and losses, he joins Hezbollah, he changes.Youssef is a dramatic BANIPAL 70 – SPRING 2021 75

Page Text

View plaintext

ALAWIYA SOBH

Together with the experience of maturing as a novelist, my illness prompted me to tone down the shrillness of the text. My novel has been strengthened, rather than weakened, by poetry; fiction can be especially persuasive when its characters allow for this type of poetic language. I treat all characters and their cultures with the utmost respect, making sure that they have the artistic justification necessary to speak out of their own culture and their own natural inclinations.

As for the presence of violence and illness in the novel, the reason for this is my sense that our society is ill. Consequently, the characters embody the presence of death, imperfection and incompleteness. The body in this novel takes on a different dimension than those highlighted in my other works, since the stories of our bodies resemble the stories of our cities. The individual body and the country bear some resemblance to one another. These are the basic ideas posed by the novel in narrative form. The anger I felt and the pain that would come over me in response to the scenes of violence I used to witness led me to imagine numerous characters, most of whom suffer from some defect or dysfunction while being targeted by the arrows of violence that whizz about them. KT:Your novel is filled with art.The main character is a dancer and a choreographer, her sweetheart is a painter and a poet, her best friend is a writer, and the man to whom she tells her story is a director.You say somewhere in the narrative that “writing, music and art generally can rescue a person from suicide” (p. 258). Do you actually believe that a return to art can be a kind of salvation?

AS: Art is a kind of therapy that causes us to grow deeper, more aware and more in tune with ourselves. Art is a key to discovering yourself and your surroundings; knowledge and culture enable you to be freer, more beautiful, more conscious. Knowledge changes people, and when they possess the capacity to read their inner states and express themselves, they change. This is why our Arab regimes are afraid of knowledge. They’re afraid of the arts because they confront the brutality of society and, in particular, its brutality toward women and humanity as a whole. Our societies fear knowledge and, instead, promote the vacuous and the trivial. They fear knowledge because it’s

74 BANIPAL 70 – SPRING 2021

read next page

My Bookmarks

Buy this Book
Skip to main content