Dubai Lit Fest (Mar 7-9) –rough notes
The
fifth edition of the Emirate Airlines International Literature Festival (whh
I’ll call the Dubai Lit Fest for short) with its clever “Villain Vs Hero” motif
was far too complex and multi-faceted to sum up in a few simple sentences. There
was more of everything, more books, more publishing categories, more genres and
subgenres, more events, more workshops etc. More nationalities and more people
stuffing the rooms and aisles of the Intercon annex where the Fest is held. With
as many as a half-dozen things going on at the same time from 9 to 9, the
single spectator was hard-pressed figuring out what was going on and how
best to spend his time. Yes, more of everything except a few minor amenities.
It
all challenged one’s attention to the point of Hamletian indecision or, worse, nervous exhaustion. Meanwhile one's body--due to the lack of anything resembling a comfortable place to sip coffee, browse and schmooze--suffered more banal pains.
But
what about the old charge against the Lit Fest that it emphasizes trash at the expense of quality literature? Is there any truth to
this scurrilous rumor? Unfortunately, in my opinion, there is more than a
smidgen. The clear stars of the show, as revealed by size of venue, audience
numbers, and book stack dimensions (not to mention program cover font size) were
the Archers, Rankins, Deavers, La Plantes et al. These giants of pulp fiction with
their thunderous mobs of fans may have overshadowed the quality literature
scene- but did not crowd it out altogether.
The
Nigerian novelist-poet (and Booker Prize winner) Ben Okri was probably the most
celebrated literary writer there and was featured in several sessions (that I didn’t
see). A writer I knew of from a select literary magazine was there, Geoff Dyer,
with an odd ball reputation (Yoga for
People who can’t be bothered to Do it), but sadly got a small audience for
a very droll session on his opposition to genre. A well –regarded young British
novelist Chris Cleave, who writes on sports themes, made his second appearance.
One enthusiastic fan gave him high praise (she was his wife).
Besides
these we found many other types of literary, sub literary and non literary
activities in nonfiction, (history), self-help, cooking (Italian, French, Asian
& Lebanese), children’s books (as always splendidly represented), not to
mention too many workshops (writing poetry, drawing, screen-writing etc). One
major type that wasn’t present in force was original travel writing (only the
copycat Steps of Thesiger).
News,
newsmen & newswomen were very popular at the fete – The controversial
American anchor man Dan Rather was there (touting his My Life in the News)
talking to Nik Gowing, Abdel Bari Atwan and “Mrs Moneypenny” in the Breakfast
News session and several others. Rather seemed to have plenty of compatriot
fans who lined up to get a signature and something we rarely saw from the legendary
newsman during his years on TV- a smile. His iconic voice, as I can attest, is
entirely intact. [It occurred to me later, that Rather, with his checkered
career may have been the perfect example of the Fest’s hero-villain theme.]
The
international aspect of the fete was accentuated. Judging by appearances the
DubLit Fest has always been mainly a British show – and if this is the case –
more power to British publishers and authors for taking advantage of the
opportunity. But where were the giants such as Barnes, Boyd, McEwan, Thubron and
company? It would also have been good to see more major Yankee literary talent on
display (e. g. Roth, DeLillo, McCarthy, Theroux etc.). Next in order are Arab
and Arab Gulf writers & publishers followed by Indians and a sprinkling of
French and other European countries. Overall, I’d say the fest had a more cosmopolitan
character than in the past.
My
favorite session on Thursday was the evening event “The English Language
–Villain or Hero?” It was a lively, energetic and wit-sparking discussion of
the dilemmas caused by the all-conquering English language, which has become
for all practical purposes a world language. Leslie McLoughlin, a Harvard
professor & well-known translator of Arabic moderated the session (his just
published “Confessions of a Translator” was the subject of another session).
The two major speakers were our own Abdulla Dabbagh, representing the literary
critical point of view and Eugene Rogan, professor of history at Oxford and
author of the recently published (and best-selling)“The Arabs – A History.”
Dabbagh,
former chair of English Dept at UAEU and a widely published literary comparatist,
described how “English has imposed itself on the world,” starting with this
region in which Arabic and Arabic language studies are suffering but put the
dominance of English in a “wider perspective.” He went through the history of
world languages finding that at one point Arabic, French and Latin had all
served this purpose. He also detailed the multiple attempts by scholars to
invent a “universal language” that would serve the whole world. None of these,
he commented, has ever truly caught on. In the meantime, English has continued
to grow to the point where it would be hard to find a competitor.
Dabbagh
described how once when Sigmund Freud came to the UN to give a speech, he spoke
in German. Nowadays, he said, this would be unimaginable.
[Dabbagh
also participated in two other events – the Lost in Translation?” discussion with
four other speakers which dealt with the specific problems of putting Arab writers
and texts into English and “Shakespeare and the Arab World,” a discussion with Dr
Yousef Aydabi about the Bard’s debt to Middle Eastern ideas.]
The
historian Eugene Rogan also described English as a villain “that threatens
every language in the world.” “The beast is out,” he warned. He described how
recently traveling to Ireland – where the official language is the charming Gaelic
tongue – he heard none of this lilting language but only English. (Someone has
calculated that as many as 500 languages are disappearing from the world every
year).
As
English becomes the required second language, Rogan warned, “the need to learn
other languages will be reduced to nil.” As a result, those of us confined to
English will “miss others’ views of ourselves… we won’t have a clue about how
the rest of the world thinks.”
None
of the experts however felt that English would become some kind of Orwellian monster
(such as the evil shrinking dictionary in Orwell’s frightening 1984) that would
exert dictatorial control over language or people. On the contrary, the ability
of English to absorb and create new vocabulary (8,500 words per year on
average) is probably one of its greatest strengths.
McLoughlin
concluded with the point that he did not feel the rise and conquest of English
as a linguistic phenomenon was identical to the aggressive political motivation
identified by Edward Said as “Orientalism.”
A
lively Q & A followed but as usual had to be cut short due to time
constraints.
(second
thoughts as I left the session were as follows: those “conquered by English”
often get unexpected benefits; first as we see in India and the Philippines
where sects and island have created mutually incomprehensible dialects –
bridged by the lingua franca of English – and (in the case of the Philippines)
an employable skill; second advantage is bilingualism considered to be improve
the brain’s learning powers, and lastly a tactical advantage of the bilingual
over the monolingual in competitive situations.)
In
a excellent and well-attended session the next day, the American historian Eugene
Rogan who teaches modern Arab history at Oxford, discussed his widely praised
The Arabs – A History (Penguin, dhs 85) with a moderator whose name I can’t
recall. Rogan described his youth growing up in the Middle East in family of
professionals. Learning Arabic at an early age, Rogan immersed himself in the
culture and languages of the region, especially Egypt and Lebanon. He described
how in doing the research for this volume --which emphasizes the modern period --
he interviewed as many living witnesses as possible to accurately portray the
point of view of the region. His purpose was to make history newsworthy and
fresh, and judging by the critical praise he received, it seems he succeeded. On
style, the historian explained how his editor helped him transform his academic
style to a more readable style for the general reader that allowed a more
personal point of view. “She taught me how to use strong topic sentences for each
paragraph,” Rogan said, and maintain a personal tone throughout a long story.
This volume has also been updated to reflect the events of the Arab Spring,
which Rogan calls the “Revolutions of 2011.”
I ducked
in briefly on one of Jeffrey Archer’s many sessions –to see what the pulp
phenomenon {and the Lit Fest’s true headliner) looked like. I expected to be
disgusted and was in fact turned off by the man, by his style and content
alike. He recounted in broadly comic strokes the fate of his first novel (Kane
& Abel), getting laughs for the tale of how his first interview on US TV
flopped, but I kept hearing numbers in his speech patterns which always
reverted to “millions” or “thousands” or “minutes.”
A
man with a quick mind but with nothing in it, I mused.
Archer
responded to Antony Horowitz’s questions about his work habits, and where he
gets his characters from; the villains come from the political scene, he
explained, and the strong women from his mother and Margaret Thatcher, his
political mentor.
Ducking
out just as quickly as I’d ducked in, breathing sighs of disgust and relief. But
it inspired a refresher course in negative vocabulary: grossly insipid, jejunely
trite?
Korky
Paul must be one of the most deservedly popular figures at the Lit Fest – his
delightful children’s series Winnie The
Witch that he illustrates for the stories of co-author Valerie Stevens are
some of the finest beginning books for kids I know. I didn’t go to any of his
sessions, but saw him frequently out in the hall finishing his mural for the 5
year celebration of the festival. The middle-aged Brit was friendly and eager
to hear his books were well liked. Later, seeing the long lines of 5-6
year-olds waiting to greet him at the signing desk, I realized what joy his books
must give that readership. [I have to admit, I like them quite a bit too!]
William
Dalrymple always seems to be a big draw at the Lit fest with his India themed
travel and history writing. This year he presented and read passages from his
new history of the British defeat in Afghanistan (“Return of a King”). A
resident of India and heir of one of the participants in the disastrous campaign,
Dalrymple had a vivid, well-researched tale to tell of British folly in a
country still giving grief to its would-be invaders. Accompanied by beautiful
period illustrations, the author just barely managed to finish recounting the
suspenseful epic which left one survivor out of 18,000.
The
annual Orwell lecture was delivered by the Indian diplomat and litterateur Shashi Tharoor. Recently
considered for the position of UN Secretary General, Tharoor is also the author
of numerous novels such as the satirical The
Great Indian Novel. Dressed in a tie-less Nehru-style suit, Tharoor was
eloquent, witty and charming –winning over his large audience with an
optimistic vision of the contemporary world that relegated Orwell’s main
worries about individual freedom and the threats of tyranny to the background.
Tharoor
didn’t completely dismiss totalitarian threats (Islamism for example can be
seen in that light) in the contemporary world but generally painted a rosy
picture in which, yes, social media and the Internet have loosened up controls
over expression.
Tharoor
cited India’s multicultural society with its traditions of tolerance as an
example of how countries can overcome binary thinking, in which Muslims, Hindus
and Christians generally live peacefully side by side; he also feels India’s
rich culture and history help Indians maintain their identity and resist the
pressures of globalization and cultural colonization.
Thanks
to these factors, India doesn’t have to fear globalization. “We will never be ‘cocacolonialized,’”
he quipped.
In
the brief Q & A session, Tharoor revealed he was a cricket fan -- and the last question dealt with
cricket. A bit ironic in a lecture that supposedly dealt with Orwell?
As
he was rushed out by handlers, I elbowed a quick query: “Sir,” I asked, “while
it’s true that in this country, we do not live in extreme Orwellian repression
such as [that of] Big Brother… still the conditions of human rights &
freedom of expression are far from perfect…” As Tharoor was disappearing into
the wing, I insisted, “Sir, couldn’t you say something about that?” Tharoor
replied as he retreated: “I can’t because I work for the government!”
Reeling
in shock, I wandered back to the signing desk area trying to comprehend.
An
idea formed in my befuddled mind, and I got in line. When the line of fans finally
dwindled to me, I asked with as friendly a smile as I could muster, “Sir, with
all due respect, if you are someone who can’t speak his mind, should you be the
one giving the Orwell Lecture?”
The
elegant, youthful-looking diplomat looked up at me with just as friendly a
smile, and spreading his hands in the classic “Helpless” position he said, “I would be very happy to talk
about that under different circumstances.”
When
I told this story to another book maven, a UK citizen working in Saudi Arabia,
he said, “The Orwell Lecture has never really worked all that well at this event,
has it?”
When
I told it to Geoff Dyer, he quipped, “You’re a dangerous person. We should call
security.”
A more
serious criticism--it would be nice to have a few more amenities such as a sitdown
coffee shop for browsing and schmoozing.
Yes, they have one for “friends of the Lit Fest” but it would be nice to
have one for the hoi polloi as well. Also I wonder if the organizers of the Lit
Fest view book fans as entirely spiritual beings with few biological needs such
as for food and drink and with legs and spines so solid as to never need a
chair or seat to rest on. The price of dhs 60 is not exorbitant but a bigger
student discount would be neat.
A
special thank you to “Kelly” in the press section who kindly gave me press
credentials so I could attend so many of these sessions.
