Arab literature falls victim to overproduction
Writers, publishers, literary critics and academics, and even Arab writing award academies have become embroiled in a model based on ‘goodwill’ and the perpetuation of personal, economic and political interests that affect the intellectual development of readers.
According to Al-Arab contributor Mohammed Saeed Ahjiuj, Arabic novels used to be produced annually, i.e. fairly infrequently. Currently, they are experiencing overproduction, which has resulted in steadily declining quality.
One reason is the need for publishers to release more titles for purely commercial purposes. The commercial logic of immediacy and efficiency has led them to completely disregard whether these works have any cultural value or not.
Another reason is that the rigour of literary critics has also declined. Mohammed Saeed Ahjiuj complained that these experts no longer do their job, limiting themselves to purely propagandistic activities, thus affecting the development of the judgement of novice readers and the confidence of the more discerning.
Literary awards also contribute to the decline of the industry with their mechanisms of ‘soft power’. The prestige that characterised them for their arbitrariness and good judgement has fallen prey to manipulation backed by agents outside an industry that should value art.
Journalists have been no exception, as the media dedicated to this field had to close due to another crisis: that of journalism. Due to the proliferation of social media and the need to finance themselves in some way, they make deals with publishers to promote the works entrusted to them, whatever they may be.
Lebanese poet Asala Lamaa corroborated Saeed Ahjiuj's words, saying that the literary quality of the Arab world is mediocre compared to the rest of the world because of publishing policies. ‘The fragmented political situation in the Arab world makes it difficult for Arab writers to reach the podium (...) They revolve around their own environment and lack the capacity, through translation and marketing, to reach more distant parts of the world,’ Lamaa commented.
Margarita Castells Criballés, professor of Arabic Literature at the University of Barcelona, highlighted in an interview that the conflicts in the Arab world have a major impact. Diasporas force female poets, for example, to publish their work online without the backing of a publisher. While the internet facilitates dissemination, it does not guarantee effective reception.
Tunisian critic Haytham Ayoushi also confirmed that the problem lies in the system, not in the writers: ‘The main reason lies in the laxity of the systems and organisations directly related to culture and which influence it.’ Because just as there are many bad books, there are also many good books that do contribute positively.
On the other hand, Mohammed Saeed points out that academic critics are too preoccupied with using Arabic works as an experiment. An experiment in which they draw on the splendour of their knowledge of the abstract and the Western world.
As a result, many readers, such as Al-Arab's own contributor, have taken steps to avoid poor-quality works. Some limit themselves to reading works by authors they already recognise, while others form communities.
The presence of Arabic literature in the West
‘I believe that, despite the proliferation of mediocrity, which is normal, Arabic literature has something to say. It includes great writers who have achieved real success and deserve their rightful place in world literature,’ said Egyptian writer Ahmed El-Fakharany.
There was one Arab writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. That was the illustrious Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz in 1988. But since then, no one else has won it.
Because the winners have always been Westerners since then, several writers do not rule out the idea that these prizes, like the Arabs, are conditioned by outside interests such as politics.
Iraqi poet Ali Al-Bazzaz believes that this is implicitly human: ‘There is no such thing as an impartial mind, and if it exists arbitrarily, it is outside its nature, which accepts difference, alternation and positioning. (...) This applies to the Nobel Prize committees.’
Both El-Farakhay and Egyptian writer Nora Naji pointed out that the lack of recognition of Arab writers is due to the lack of institutions that support creators and the lack of translation.
There have been effective attempts to introduce this literary culture to the West, such as Pedro Martínez Montávez, Doctor of Semitic Philology at the Complutense University of Madrid and a pioneer of Spanish Arabism. He was the one who introduced Naguib Mahfouz and other illustrious authors to Spanish-speaking readers.