5 - 11 April 2001
Issue No.528
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 5 - 11 April 2001 Issue No.528 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
The writer's vision
The difference between a real writer and someone to whom writing is a mere hobby resides in the writer's vision. It is this vision, more than any other attribute, that defines a writer's approach: he wants to communicate all that he sees.
A vision is more general than either philosophy or ideology. Political opinion, for example, comprises part of the writer's vision, but so do male-female relations and many other aspects of life. A vision encompasses and transcends all this.
The difference between Abul-Alaa Al-Ma'arri and Abu Nuwwas (two giants of Abbasid poetry) can be described as the difference between pessimism and hedonism, in a nutshell.
The vision develops as the author matures. In Abu Nuwwas, for example, profanity eventually gave way to wisdom and resignation, from pleasure to philosophical reflection.
As for my own vision, let my work speak for me on that front. All that matters is that what vision I have, I have endeavoured to remain faithful to.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
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