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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 January 2000 Issue No. 464 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 January 2000 Issue No. 464
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Landmarks in the History of the Communist Party of the Sudan in the half century 1946 - 1996, Mohamed Said al-Qaddal, Beirut: Dar Al-Farabi, 1999. pp310
Monthly supplement
The barber of Baghdad
Ard Al-Sawad (Land of Darkness), a novel in three volumes, Abdel-Rahman Mounif, Beirut and Casablanca: Al-Mou'assassa Al-Arabiya Lildirasta wal-Nashr (Beirut), Al-Markaz Al-Thaqafi Al-Arabi Lil-Nashr wal-Tawzi (Casablanca) 1999.Fiction and reality
Abdel-Rahman Mounif
Chinese monuments and miracles
Al-Seen: Mo'jizat Nihayat Al-Qarn Al-Ishreen (China: Miracle of the End of the 20th Century ), Ibrahim Nafie, Cairo: Al-Ahram Centre for Translation and Publishing 1999. pp200Deep roots, shallow soil
Landmarks in the History of the Communist Party of the Sudan in the half century 1946 - 1996, Mohamed Said al-Qaddal, Beirut: Dar Al-Farabi, 1999. pp310Cinematic maladies
Al-Cinema Al-Arabiya Al-Mo'assira (Contemporary Arab Cinema),Samir Farid, Cairo: The Supreme Council for Culture publications,1998. pp260Horses in the desert night
Night & Horses & the Desert, An Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature, Robert Irwin, London: Allen Lane, the Penguin Press. pp462Heritage in the balance
The Arabic Literary Heritage: the Development of its Genres and Criticism, Roger Allen, Cambridge University Press, 1998. pp437Summer torments
Azhar al-Shams (Flowers of the Sun),Youssef Rakha, Cairo: Sharqiat Publishing House, 1999. pp143Hill of evil counsel Tal Al-Hawa ,Youssef Abu Raya, Cairo: Al-Hilal Novels, 1999. pp146
Century, conceived and edited by Bruce Bernard, London: Phaidon Press, 1999. pp1120 --see caption--
To the editor
At a glance
A shorthand guide to the month compiled by Mahmoud El-Wardani* Al-Faylaq (The Corps), Amin Ezzeddin, Cairo: Fustat Publishing House, 1999. pp174
* Ana Baqqa wa Adel Hammouda (Adel Hammouda and Me), Ahmed Fouad Negm, Cairo: Zeinab Publishing House, 2000. pp108
* Jamal Eddin Al-Afghani, El-Sayed Youssef,Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organisation, 1999. pp255
* Masirat Hayati Hatta 1964 (The Course of My Life to 1964), Mohamed Youssef El-Guindi, Cairo: Organisation for Cultural Palaces, 1999. pp208
* Al-Mohammashoun wa Al-Siyasa fi Misr (The Marginalised and Politics in Egypt), Amani Massoud El-Heddini, Cairo: Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, 1999. pp302
* Al-Kotob: Wughat Nazar (Books: Viewpoints), monthly magazine, issue no. 12, January 2000, Cairo: The Egyptian Company for Arab and International Publication
* Al-Hilal, monthly magazine, January 1999, Cairo: Al-Hilal Publishing House
* Al-Arabi, monthly magazine, issue no. 494, January 2000, Kuwait: Ministry of Information
* Sotour (Lines), monthly magazine, issue no. 39, December 1999, Cairo: Sotour Publications
* Al-Osour Al-Jadida (New Eras), monthly magazine, issue no. 3, 2000, Cairo: Sinai Publishing House
* Adab wa Naqd (Literature and Criticism), monthly literary magazine, issue no. 172, December 1999, Cairo: Progressive Nationalist Unionist Party publications
To see other book supplements go to the ARCHIVES index.
Illustrations courtesy of International Commitee of the Red Cross
"Folk drawings and tales", Cairo, 1996
Deep roots, shallow soil
This book covers the most important events in the history of the Communist Party of the Sudan (CPS) since its establishment in 1946 and for the half century to 1996. The author states that the study is not intended to cover the history of the CPS in a comprehensive fashion, but aims instead to give an account of certain 'landmarks' in that history. In doing so, he has relied on a variety of source materials, from primary sources to a series of secondary studies, the most important of which is likely to be a volume written in Arabic by the CPS's late Secretary-General, Abdel-Khaleq Mahgoub, entitled "Features of the History of the Communist Party of the Sudan". However, al-Qaddal has also looked into PhD theses relating to his subject, primary sources from newspapers of the period, as well as the public and internal literature of the Party itself.
Al-Qaddal has divided his study into three parts, corresponding to stages he detects in the development of the CPS. The first of these parts is an account of the years 1946 to 1964, which corresponds to the Party's birth and its development into a leading player in Sudanese politics. The author points out that the CPS, unlike other Sudanese political parties, was not supported by either a religious sect or a tribe, and accordingly it had to establish itself in the political arena without such a constituency to support it. This was a period characterized by zeal, youth and self-sacrifice among party cadres and supporters; in the wider international environment, it was marked by decolonization, the withdrawal of the European powers and the Peace Movement. While the CPS remained unaffiliated to the Communist International until the late date of 1957, its young leaders were nevertheless influenced by the new ideas that were blowing through the world at that time. In retrospect, one can say that the Party and its leadership was almost too influenced by these international developments, neglecting the national and local heritage of the Sudan in the process. Later it was to pay a high cost for that negligence.
The second stage in al-Qaddal's history covers the short period of 1964 -1971, described here as the period in which the CPS had been closest to power, in varying degrees, but especially in the years leading up to 1971. In the author's judgement, however, the CPS, though sharing power, was historically unqualified to do so. Though it enjoyed ideological support in Sudanese political life, and had wide influence in this rather narrow milieu, nevertheless it had only limited popular support and a very limited mass base.
The third stage in the Party's development from 1971 to 1996 was a period of historical retrenchment. In many ways this must have been the most difficult part of the study to write, but it is also the most important part of it, since it introduces questions relating to the Party's mission and role -- which are still being actively debated in the Sudan and await definitive answers. Despite the controversial nature of his material, however, the author has been able to develop conclusions that are clear, and, whether one agrees with them or not, can at least be analyzed. The main issue for the Party in this period was its attempt on the one hand to maintain its political and ideological influence, while simultaneously trying to deal with the consequences of its limited membership base on the other. At the same time, the CPS was trying to realize significant achievements in different areas of Sudanese life in order to qualify it for power, or at least for it to become an influential partner in power.
In each of his three parts the author has included an analysis of the relation and interaction of the CPS with the different regimes that ruled the Sudan during the period under study, as well as its relations with other political parties. He has also given a full account of its regional and international sympathies and relations. The book contains many interesting details concerning events in the history of the CPS, along with quotations taken from documents from a variety of sources in support of his analysis and conclusions.
In addition, al-Qaddal's three stages coincide with the development of Sudanese political history prior to and following the country's independence from the former colonial power, Britain. Accordingly, it is impossible to study these stages in isolation from these developments, since the CPS was both a part of Sudanese political history during the period and was influenced by it. Therefore, the author elaborates on this exchange and its impact on both the development of the CPS and on the country in general.
Having taken Marxism as his theoretical guide, the author devotes considerable space to investigate to what extent the CPS followed Marxist tenets in theory or in practice during the years under study, as well to his own judgments on its historical positions in the light of the degree of its perceived commitment to Marxism.
The 'landmarks' in the history of the CPS that are discussed here, are then, also landmarks in recent Sudanese political history. The CPS was formed at a fertile time for Sudanese national politics, its constitution occurring at the same time as that of other Sudanese political parties after the Second World War. Accordingly, the CPS shared with them the birth pangs, and later the weakness, liveliness and stubbornness, of a new born child and then youth trying to find his way; it shared with other Sudanese political movements both the road to independence and then the challenges of the post-colonial period. It is for this reason that the author is able to write that "since independence is the most important event in the modern history of the Sudan, the party that played a role in its realization -- the CPS -- has undoubtedly been able to root itself deeply in the soil of Sudanese political life", while at the same time recognising that Party's weakness -- its comparatively shallow roots in this soil, which is its lack of a really extensive mass base.
Reviewed by Mohamed Khalid
