ADIBF 2013 - Show Daily 5

7/30/2019 ADIBF 2013 - Show Daily 5

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The Arabic Book

01 www.adbookair.com | Wednesday to Monday 09:00 - 22:00 | Friday 16:00 - 22:00 Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2013

23rd Abu Dhabi International Book Fair

24 - 29 March 2013

Bringing Back the GoldenAge of Arab Science

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Born in Baghdad to an Iraqi ather and a

British mother, it wasnt until his early teens

that he rst thought o himsel as a budding

scientist: I must have been about 13. Inphysics class, I perormed well on a test and I

remember the teacher hauling me in ront o

the classroom and patting me on the head.

Actually, I elt quite pleased with mysel,

thinking, Clearly I have a talent or this. From

that day on, he began pursuing science with

a passion. He eventually ocused on physics,

since its a subject that asks the most

undamental questions about space, time and

the universe, he explains. Moving to the UK

with his amily at age 16, Al-Khalili received his

PhD in theoretical nuclear physics rom the

University o Surrey, where he now teaches.

On top o his scholarly contributions to the

eld, he has also become one o the UKsmost prominent commentators on science or

the general public: in addition to presenting

award-winning television documentaries

and presenting a weekly science program

on BBC Radio, he is the author o several

popular science books, and will be speaking

on his two most recent books here at the Fair:

Paradox, which outlines the nine greatest

enigmas in physics, and Pathnders: The

Golden Age o Arabic Science (published in

the US as House o Wisdom.)

In Pathnders, Al-Khalili oers biographical

portraits o some o the most important

scientists in the medieval Arab and Islamic

world. As Al-Khalili points out, many o thesegiants in the history o science have been

unjustly overlooked or orgotten. Some, such

as Ibn Rushd and Ibn Sina (known as Averroes

and Avicenna in Europe) are widely known

today. But Al-Khalili is keen to note that this

history is also ull o ascinating characters

who deserve better recognition. One such

character is al-Biruni, a Persian polymath who

wrote in Arabic, and whose contributions

Iraqi-born proessorand media

personality JimAl-Khalili is on amission to revivethe reputation o

orgotten pioneerso science.

by Chip Rossetti

Jim Al-Khalili admits hedidnt t the stereotype

o a uture scientist as a

schoolboy: I wasnt your

average nerd dismantling

radio sets. It was my brother

who owned the telescope in

the amily.

ranged rom history to geography,geology, trigonometry, and mathematics.

Among other things, al-Biruni measured

the circumerence o earth, devising a

more ingenious and accurate way than

Eratosthenes had used, involving geometry

and trigonometry. Remarkably, al-Biruni

came to a gure within 1% o the actual

measurement.

More colorul still is the Iraqi-born Ibn

al-Haytham (known as Alhazen in Latin.)

Born in Basra in southern Iraq during the

ourth Islamic century (965AD), he was one

o the earliest proponents o the scientic

method and did important work on optics.

I regard him as the greatest physicist in thetwo thousand years between Archimedes

and Newton, says Al-Khalili. Ibn al-Haytham

successully eigned madness (twice!) to get

out o dicult situations: once to duck out o

a job he wanted to avoid, and another time

when he realized that his plan to build a dam

across the Nile was unworkable. Fearing that

the Fatimid caliph in Cairo who had hired

him would have him executed, he pretended

to be insane. As a result, he was merelyplaced under house arresta punishment

which conveniently allowed him the leisure

time to pursue urther scientic work.

The reaction Al-Khalili has received rom

readers has been overwhelmingly positive,

he says: Lots o people ask me, Why dont

we know about these scientists the same

way we know about Galileo, Newton, and

others? In the Arab world, he nds that

people are rightly proud o this heritage,

and he hopes that modern societies will

make use o the real intellectual reedom o

thought that was so vital to this golden age

o Arabic science. But as ar as Al-Khalili is

concerned, highlighting the work o thesescientists and thinkers is a long-overdue

correction o historical memory: This is the

untold story o scienceull stop.

Jim Al-Khalili will be speaking today at

19:00-20:00, on Pathfnders: The Golden

Age o Arabic Science, at the Discussion

Soa, and on Monday, 11:00-12:00, on

Paradox: The Greatest Enigmas in

Science, also at the Discussion Soa.


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02 www.adbookfair.com

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Editor:Edward Nawotka

Deputy Editor:Irum Fawad

Design Manager:Nada Baroudy

Bylined articles do not

necessarily reect the

views of the editors.

Abu Dhabi International Book Fair

2013

All rights reserved.

Duplication, either in whole or in part,

permissible only with the prior written

consent o the Abu Dhabi International

Book Fair.

MASTHEAD

Sheikh Zayed Book Award Seminars

kick off at ADIBF with an in-depth lookat contemporary Arab thought

Elizabeth joined Dr Masoud Daher, Member

o the Scientic Committee o the Award on

the discussion soa to chat about her book

and what it means to her to win the SZBA

and her work on understanding the process

o cultural decolonisation within the Arab

context.

Her work is considered as the rst analysis

o major trends and thinkers through the

application o a comparative perspectivethat brings the Arab world into conversation

with Arica, the United States, Europe, and

Latin America. Kassab has been awarded a

Fulbright ellowship to work on her research

project at the New School University in New

York. Ater which she was a Visiting Scholar at

Columbia University or several years and a

Visiting Associate Proessor at the Yale Center

or International and Area Studies in 2006-

07. Since 2012 Kassab has been a Mellon

Visiting Proessor at the Cogut Center or the

Humanities o Brown University in USA.

The interactive seminar gave the opportunity

or Dr. Kassab to discuss in depth her

motivation or undertaking a ten yearcommitment to present the study. In her

words, she believes Al Fikr Al Arabi Al

Muaser only scratches the surace o such

a complicated arena, and views her work

as an invitation or uture scholars and

researchers to continue where she has let

o by delivering more ocused and deeper

insights on cultural critique in contemporary

Arab thought.

Dr. Kassab is a sel-proclaimed curator o

the modern tradition o modern Arab thought,

taking stock o all that was achieved and

produced by Arab critical thinkers, so that

it doesnt get lost, so that new generations

can get to know their immediate turath, be

proud o it, learn rom it, discuss it, improve

on it, own it, transmit it, and critically teach it

to uture generations.

Dr. Kassab also spoke o her appreciation inbecoming a part o the Sheikh Zayed Book

Award alumni, and spoke o how Abu Dhabi

could easily become a cultural hub or Arab

heritage, where Arab scholars can interact

directly and not via western congregations.

The Sheikh Zayed Book Awards is an

excellent orum to bring together Arab

thinkers and scholars, and this is a wonderul

opportunity or me to share my work with

others, she said.

Dr. Masoud Daher, who acilitated the

seminar, holds a PhD in social history rom

Sorbonne University, Paris and has been

teaching at the Lebanese University since

1973. Appointed as a member o the Council

o Scientic Advisory Lebanese University

College o Arts and Humanities in 1996 Dr,

Daher has participated in more than two

hundred Arab and International conerences.

He is regularly invited as a visiting proessorto the University o Tokyo and Georgetown

University in Washington, and has won the

award or best Arabic book in the humanities

in 2000 rom the Kuwait Foundation or the

Advancement o Science. He said: I am

optimistic the Sheikh Zayed Book Awards will

continue to grow and get the global coverage

it deserves, with a distinct ocus on Arab

culture.

Dr Ali Bin Tamim, the Secretary General

added: Elizabeth Kassabs book is

characterised by its highly extensive research

in modern criticism and the breadth o its

scope...we are very proud she joined the

Award alumni.The nal seminar will take place throughout

the Abu Dhabi Book Fair at the Discussion

Soa at the ollowing times:

Interview with: Adil Hadjami

Winner o Young Author Award

Host: Dr Masoud Daher, Member o the

Scientifc Committee o the Award

Sunday, 28 April 2013, 12:00 13:00

The Sheikh Zayed Book

Award (SZBA), celebrated

as the most important

cultural event in the Arab

region, hosted the rst

o three seminars with

Elizabeth Suzanne Kassab,winner o the Development

and Building o Nations

Award and author o

work Al Fikr Al Arabi Al

Muaser (Contemporary

Arab Thought).

ElizabethKassabs book is

characterised byits highly extensiveresearch in modern

criticism and thebreadth o its

scope...


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24 - 29 April 2013

Urdu Writer Fahmida Riaz:Feminist and Provocateur

Her eminist stance and earless literary

expression, in both poetry and prose, have

given a new voice to Urdu literature. Butthey have also challenged the chauvinist

and oppressive power structures.

Show Daily: Godavari appears to be a

simple tale on the surace, but there are

many subtexts that call the attention o a

reader. How did you bring these together

in the same text?

Fahmida Riaz: I envisioned three

unresolved conficts in the book.

In the oreront is the HinduMuslim

riots in Bombay. The second is the

snatching o the mountain in Maharashtra

that belongs to the Adivasis (indigenous

people that were kept outside the Hinducaste system) by the British, Hindu and

Muslims, who join hands to take it away.

Then there is the personal story o

Ma and Ba and their children.

The couple is unable to exist in a

happy manwoman relationship.

All these conficts have their own

contradictions, good sides and rays

o hope within them.

SD: Godavari contains several

autobiographical elements

FR: I can write only about reality; I nd

it hard to invent anything. I write about

something that needs to be understood.

I write to be able to understand what is

happening in my lie and around me.

SD: Why did you choose to live in exilein India, despite the political dierences

between the two countries? How did living

there aect the perception in Pakistan, o

you and your work?

FR: We were about to be charged or

sedition, when I received an invitation in

India or a mushaira (poetic symposium). We

let or India at that opportunity. There I met

Amrita Pritam (well-known Indian writer in

Punjabi), who spoke to Prime Minister Indira

Gandhi to allow us to stay. When I went back

to Pakistan, Zia was still in power. Peoplewho supported the democratic movement

welcomed me back. Only the military

bureaucracy established by Gen. Zia had

a problem. Lie was made very dicult or

me only later, ater Nawaz Shari overthrew

Benazir Bhutto.

SD: What is the state o womens writing in

Pakistan?

FR: There are now more women writers

now, and they are writing uninhibitedly, by

expressing themselves than they did ever

beore. Women writers in Urdu are creating

a splash. Urdu is not the only language in

Pakistan. There are other, older languageslike Sindhi and Pashtun. Also Punjabi, where

there is now very modern literature too.

SD: Did Malalas courage and her shooting

bring any changes or women in Pakistan?

FR: There are only two times that I have

seen our nation eel like one person: once

was when a major earthquake struck in

Kashmir in 2005. The second was when

Malala was shot. There was not a single

household which wanted that to happen. It

let everyone distraught, including the army.Malala emerged then as a symbol o a new

generation o Pakistanis.

SD: How can women challenge the

patriarchal domination over language?

FR: By writing without inhibition. By calling

a spade a spade. Men have chosen to talk

about women in their own symbols and

metaphors. When women do not ollow this,

it shocks them. Then they begin to reconcile.

It takes time.

SD: Have the translations o your books

brought in more readers?

FR: It has done wonders. It is ironic thatwhatever good paragraphs are written

about my work are in English, not Urdu. My

contributions to Urdu literature have not

been touched upon in Urdu literary criticism.

It is as i I dont exist. But they have been

written about in English.

Fahmida Riaz will be in conversation with

Vinutha Mallya at 19:30 at The Tent.

by Vinutha Mallya

I write only about

reality; I nd it hard

to invent anything,

says Fahmida Riaz, the

outspoken Urdu poet,

writer and eminist

rom Pakistan. The

writer and her amily

had lived in exile in

India ater having

been charged under

sedition laws in Gen.

Zia Ul-Haqs regime in

Pakistan. In Godavari, a

novella set against thebackdrop o communal

riots in Bombay (now

Mumbai) in the 1980s,

Riaz has borrowed rom

her experiences in India

to explore conficts

social and personal.

I can only write

about reality; Ind it hard to

invent anything.


4/16


N05

by Chip Rossetti

In the eight years since he

published his rst book, the

international bestseller No

god but God: The Origins,

Evolution, and Future o

Islam in 2005, Reza Aslan

has become a much-needed

voice in the American

media as an authority on

Islam and the West, the

misunderstandings that

uel extremism, and the

commonalities shared by

dierent religious traditions.

Born in Tehran in 1972,Reza Aslan moved to the

United States with his amily

in the wake o the Iranian

revolution, and went on to

study religion at Harvard and

the University o Caliornia.

Between his high media

visibility (among other

things, he has appeared

multiple times as a guest on

The Daily Show with JohnStewart) and the gravitas

he brings to the subjects

he writes about, Aslan has

achieved an enviable level

o public prominence as an

author.

In addition to his writing (his next book,

the provocatively titled Zealot: The Lie

and Times o Jesus o Nazareth, will be

published in the US this summer), Aslan

is expanding into other orms o media as

well: he is the ounder o AslanMedia.com,

an online journal or resh perspectives

on the people and societies o the Middle

East; more recently, he helped to ound

BoomGen Studios, a lm studio that ocuses

on content rom and about the region. We

are deep into development o our rst two

lm projects, Aslan explains, starting with

a lm called Birthright, which he describesas a romantic comedy about a shy, dorky

Jewish kid who goes to Israel and gets lost

in the West Bank. He is currently writing the

screenplay or BoomGens second project,

a eature-length animated lm being co-

produced with an experienced French team.

The lm, Ajax, is based on a 2011 graphic

novel or the iPad about the CIA-led 1953

coup that toppled Irans government and

had ar-reaching consequences or Iran and

the region.

Outside o his various projects, Aslan

maintains a keen interest in the events that

are reshaping the contemporary Middle

East, and in particular how those events

are perceived outside the region, pointingout the disconnect in the way the ongoing

revolutions in the Arab world are being

interpreted and broadcast in the US, and the

way they are lived by people in the region.

In the US and Europe, the general media

narrative paints a picture o a rustrated

Arab spring, although people in the region

itsel take a much dierent, more optimistic

view. The Egyptians I talked to say that

they are still in a long-term revolution, he

explains. It is a view that the western media

has no appetite or.

Whether authoring books on global religion,

editing an anthology o Middle Eastern

ction, or writing a screenplay on modern

political history, Aslan has become aperceptive commentator on the ault lines

that divide societies as well as the bridges

that connect them, oten in unexpected ways.

On Sunday, April 28, rom 18:00-19:00 in

The Tent, Reza Aslan will be participating

in No god But God: A Conversation About

Islam with Reza Aslan, hosted by Alia

Yunis.

The author, TV personality, mediamaven and lmmaker is Americas

avorite authority on Islam.

RezaAslan:Engagingthe WorldAcrossMultiplePlatforms


5/16



24 - 29 April 2013

Engaging theOtherThrough

Fictionby Chiara Comito

Writing about multiculturalism in Italy

or, the lack o it is not an easy task,

especially i you have been a migrant

yoursel, such as was Amara Lakhous.

Lakhous was born and raised in Algeria

and arrived in Italy in the 90s as a reugee.

Things have changed over the years and

today he has acquired Italian citizenship

but, perhaps o more importance, is that

he has now become one o the best known

writers in Italy.

Lakhous, who holds a Degree in Philosophy

rom the University o Algiers and a PhD in

cultural anthropology rom the Sapienza

University in Rome, is the author o three

books, two o which written both in Italian

and Arabic. As he said, he likes to write

both versions on his own because he can

arabize Italian and italianize Arabic.

His ourth novel has just been released

by the Roman publishing house Edizioni

e/o, with the title Contesa per un maialino

italianissimo a San Salvario, which can be

roughly translated as Fight or a very Italianpig in San Salvario. The book is set in the

Turins intercultural neighborhood o San

Salvario and revolves around the character

o Enzo Lagan, a detective who nds

himsel involved a mystery: his Nigerian

riends pig was dragged into the citys

mosque and nobody seems to know who

did it and why.

Lakhous books explore the dynamics o

multiculturalism in Italy, a country where

migration is quite a new phenomenon. He

intends to open a discussion about the

relationship between Italians and migrants,

something which has never come easily.When it comes to talking about the human

ear towards the Other, Lakhous has a

very precise idea: He who ears the other,

is actually araid o himsel.

Unortunately, the situation does not seem

to have improved much since Lakhous, in

2006, published his rst book, translated

in English as Clash o civilizations over

an elevator in Piazza Vittorio (the Piazza

Vittorio is the center o the multicultural

community in Rome). Speaking on Friday

as part o the Proessional Program o the

ADIBF, Lakhous said he is condent about

possible improvements: It is true, there is a

short-circuit between Italians and migrants.

The rst do not accept the latter, but at the

same time they hire them as maids and

nannies. This schizophrenia can be solved,

but it needs work.

This ourth book is the last leg o Lakhousliterary project devoted to exploring the

new and multicultural Italian society. The

writer is already working on the next novel

whose main theme will be the Gypsies,

another hot debated issue in a country that

should look ahead and promote cultural

diversity and integration but instead seems

to withdraw into itsel, maybe araid to see

in the mirror its other Sel.

Algerian-Italian author

Amara Lakhoususes his novels

to conrontItalys

xenophobia


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Beware of Virtual Happiness,says Prominent EmiratiHis Excellency, Dr Jamal

Sanad Al-Suwaidi,

Director General o

the Emirates Centre

or Strategic Studies

and Research drew

a large crowd at hissigning session or his

intriguing book From

Tribe to Facebook: The

Transormatinoal Role o

Social Networks.

The study contains some telling

observations about social media.

Dr Jamal cites a loss o desire or

sel-improvement, and writes:

the breath o cyberspace and the

growing potential o social networks

may lead the individual to lose anypersonal aspiration or desire or a

better lie brought on by a condition

called virtual happiness. Constant

communication with others does not

allow the user the opportunity or

sel-evaluation; instead, his desire

to remain as he is increases and he

views his lie through the prism o

virtual satisaction.

Its our rsttime here andour main aim is

to reach out and

build relationships

with international

publishers and

distributors. We

have had many

people on the standlooking at books on

tourism, culture,

literature and

Nepalese lie.

Its out thair. We have ameeting with aDubai publisher

who is interestedin buying rights

to our or vetitles rom ChinaIntercontinental

Press andSino-Culture

Press, so werepleased.

Ailsa Jing, Director, Human Resources,

China Universal Press & Publication

Company, Beijing

Likhat Prasad Pandey, Secretary General,

National Booksellers and Publishers

Association of Nepal


7/16



24 - 29 April 2013

For many people with

artistic ability, drawing

is simply a personal

interest, or at most a

hobby pursued during

ree hours. But despitethe odds, it is possible

to make a career as an

illustratorprovided

you have the talent,

the passion, and the

motivation to do it

proessionally.

On Saturday

aternoon, Syrian

artist Gulnar Hajo

spoke about her

own experiences

as an illustrator o

childrens books,

in the Illustrators

Corner, oering useul

advice on training

and proessional

opportunities or

illustrators. (She

appeared alongside

Malaysian illustrator

Nor Emila Mohd

Youso, author o the

childrens books My

Mothers Garden and

My Mothers Kitchen.)

Syrian Illustrator Gulnar HajoLives Her Dream Job by Chip Rossetti

Born in Damascus to a Kurdish amily, Hajo

studied painting at Damascus University

and since 2004 has illustrated over twenty

childrens books. Along with her husband,

Samer Al Kadery, she is the ounder o

Bright Fingers Publishing, a Damascus-

based childrens publishing house with

a backlist o 130 titles. Her most recent

childrens book, Ana wa-l-Ana (with the

English title o Me and My EgoA Heavy

Weight), won the Sharjah Prize or BestChildrens Book on Thursday. With its

deceptively childlike line drawings, it tells

the story o a boy who likes to do things by

himsel and doesnt like to share. His ego

weighs on his back like a heavy burden

and gradually shrinks as he learns to make

riends.

While Hajos proessional career remains

consistent, the situation in Syria over the

last two yearswhere a brutal civil war has

pitted a Syrian national uprising against

the entrenched regime o president Bashar

al-Assadhas disrupted her personal lie:

ater attending the Abu Dhabi InternationalBook Fair last year, Al-Kadery and Hajo did

not return to Damascus, but few instead

to Amman, Jordan, where they joined their

children and where they have lived ever

since.

Speaking o her own artistic infuences,

Hajo cites her admiration or the Egyptian

illustrator Bahjat Uthman, adding, I like the

style o French illustrators, and the Iranian

style, too. As or would-be proessional

illustrators, she advises them to not to

ocus too much on the trappings o a career

at rst: Dont be in a hurry or success or

ame. They will come in their time. In themeantime, they should work every day,

even i its just or an hour. Equally key

or illustrators is to be artistically distinct:

You have to have your own artistic identity.

Choose your style and develop it. And she

oers would-be illustrators the ollowing

piece o wisdom: You will never leave

you job as an illustrator. Or rather, it never

leaves you.

Dont bein a hurry

or success orame. They will

come in theirtime.


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08www.adbookfair.com


24 - 29 April 2013

Illusrtration of the Day: Emila Yusof


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Documents

ADIBF 2013 - Show Daily 5