Plain Talk

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By Mursi Saad El-Din

The Arab world is the guest of honour in the forthcoming Frankfurt Book Fair, scheduled to take place in October. Under the aegis of the Arab League, a preparatory committee has been set up in anticipation of the event. Coming at a time when the Arab world needs to boost up its image, and following an important conference on reform, the fair looks like an opportunity for presenting the world with the positive aspect of life in the Arab world.

The Egyptian press has been busy speculating about the Arab contribution to the fair. The literary department of Akhbar Al-Yom, for example, has been discussing the pros and cons of alternative plans for several weeks now, as well as publishing the ideas of leading Egyptian writers and academics. Witnessing the ongoing debates has driven me to come up with a number of proposals concerning the Arab, or rather, to be perfectly frank, the Egyptian contribution to the fair. I will restrict myself to suggestions concerning the peripheral part of the fair, that is everything other than Arabic books themselves, since the latter have been sufficiently covered in newspapers like Akhbar Al- Yom as well as other media.

One thing that emerges from media reports is the plan to show books published by the American University in Cairo Press -- a plan I wholeheartedly support. The Press has published countless volumes of invaluable literature by Arab authors, 150 of which I discussed on my own television programme, The Spell of the Orient. These include not only academic books on Graeco-Roman, Coptic and Islamic history and heritage, but the English translations of novels by Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz and other Arab authors. Such excellent translations provide a great opportunity to introduce Arab authors to an international readership.

Other titles that should be on display in the foreign language section include books on the Arab world written in French and German as well -- valuable if not groundbreaking contributions to the West's understanding of Arab history and culture that should be easily locatable. Besides foreign books, and accompanying the book exhibits, there should also be film and video shows on literature and art in the Arab world. The Egyptian television and the National Centre of Cinema have produced many such documentaries, some specifically on writers. A selection of these should be made available to the Western fair goer.

Also relevant to the fair are translations into Arabic of foreign books, especially the classics. The inclusion of such books in the presentation will not only provide a welcome sense of familiarity but demonstrate the Arab world's openness to the cultures of the world. Everyone understands the Arab and Islamic contribution to the European Renaissance, with many European scholarly studies of the subject; and to show the Arabic translation of such books helps forge the essential connection between the Arab and European literary worlds. One author who comes to mind in this context is Norman Daniel, a former representative of the British Council in Egypt whose writing on Islam and the Renaissance is important.

On that same subject the UNESCO Centre for Arab Publications in Cairo has published a bilingual book on the Islamic and Arab contribution to the European Renaissance, containing articles on literature, philosophy, geography, astronomy, medicine etc, written by leading and expert scholars. Copies of this book should be sold, if not distributed free of charge, during the book fair.

These are simply some random thoughts, offered as it were off the top of my head, but it is my hope that the preparatory committee will at least take them into account during the conception of the Egyptian contribution to Frankfurt. It is well to remember, too, that the Arab world lacks for neither literature nor culture; and only the choice and presentation of material could possibly let it down at such a significant event. It is up to the committee to avoid any such failure.