A great observer of the human condition, and himself a product of multiple cultures, Maalouf offers a penetrating and personal account of the troubled state of our planet and its peoples. ISBN: N/A. Der aus dem Libanon stammende Schriftsteller Amin Maalouf erhält den renommierten Prinz-von-Asturien-Preis in der Sparte Literatur in diesem Jahr. David Guy wrote in The New York Times: "The Gardens of Light has the feel of a 1950's Hollywood epic, in which men gesture boldly and deliver words that deserve to be immediately carved in stone. In the first chapter Maalouf describes his own identity and his cultural background in great detail. Amin Maalouf and a lesson on identity . 6 people found this helpful . “A single identity with limits should not be rejected” said Amin Maalouf who has the following philosophy: “Instead of objecting to global culture we can all learn from it or present something to it” as he is a literary master who combined Mediterranean culture with global ingredients. During the first, which corresponds to prehistory, communications were extremely slow, but knowledge advanced even more painfully, so that every new development had time to spread everywhere before another came along. They were not tempted to go along that path until all other were blocked.” (Page 68). 3; Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020. (…) From this episode the Arabs concluded than and still conclude now that the West doesn´t want the rest of the world to be like it; it just wants them to obey it.”. He published his first book, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, in 1983. 9782806296078 52 EBook Plurilingua Publishing This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of Ports of Call by Amin Maalouf. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts and shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. In order to preserve Istanbul which he portrays in many of his work he keeps it separated from his re IN THE NAME OF IDENTITY. Shall I go back as far as the great great-great-uncle who was the first person to translate Moliere into Arabic and to have his translation staged in 1848 in an Ottoman theatre?”. Amin Maalouf, born 25 February 1949 in Beirut, is a Lebanese-born French author. Using a refreshing, nearly folkloric style that turns his protagonist, Tanios, into a classic hero, Maalouf details the shifting alliances and international power struggles that follow the murder of a patriarch. And he also became a French-speaking writer. Translate review to English. Very few. But neither eventually is likely until an effective process exists, aimed at promoting domestic harmonisation , integration and maturity, by which time each candidate can at last be judged by his fellow citizens on the basis of his human qualities and his opinion and not of his inherited allegiances. Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events. Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events. The length of this chapter gives the impression that it must have been important to Maalouf to make clear that he is suited for writing on this topic. Freedom to belong to the road, without attachment to a culture or country, is true luxury. He studied economics and sociology and then worked as an international reporter until the Lebanese Civil War broke out in 1975. Page 1/6. Merci Amin. This is, he underlines,”a defining aspect of my identity”. He ended his life vanquished and humiliated. Save for later . “Shall I set out even more details about my identity? In my opinion we need to move away from linking our identity with a specific country. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts and shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. Throughout, Acho is a friendly guide, seeking to sow understanding even if it means risking just a little discord. This guide to Black culture for White people is accessible but rarely easy. Wednesday, March 10, 2021. By “marginalising all other civilisations and reducing their status to that of peripheral cultures threatened with extinction” (Page 58) the dominant civilisation increased the pressure to preserve and safeguard cultural identities in the rest of the world. He worked as an international reporter before the Lebanese civil war broke out in 1975 and he relocated to Paris. To say that he is merely cultivated is to underrepresent his sensitive and humane writing. Promi-Paare: Hat sich Amin Maalouf (Mitglieder der Académie française) von seinem langjährigen Lebensgefährten getrennt? As for the effects of his uncle Amin Maalouf, the trumpeter said he is a "genius." He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts and shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. Amin Maalouf: a writer’s bedroom There is no news about plans to demolish author Amin Maalouf’s former Badaro apartment, covered on this blog last week. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts, and shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. Keeping in mind that the whole book has only four chapters, he uses one quarter just to make sure his voice will be accepted by the reader. This guide to Black culture for White people is accessible but rarely easy. Nonetheless it should be mentioned. Investor Information Maalouf argues that “each one of us has two heritages, a “vertical” one that comes to us from our ancestors, our religious community and our popular traditions, and a “horizontal” one transmitted to us by our contemporaries and by the age we live in. Reception. Amin Maalouf, qui nous livre ici une biographique romancée du célèbre diplomate Hassan al-Wazzan (devenu Jean-Léon de Médicis), peut se targuer d'avoir su allier tous les ingrédients nécessaires à la naissance d'une grande oeuvre : l'érudition est au service de la littérature. “He doesn’t think like most of us. Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events. It is the basis to understand recent events like the crisis of the European Union, Anti-Americanisation in the New World Order and it will be a crucial part in future challenges like the advancing incorporation of China into the global community. The fact remains that Maalouf’sidentity as an Arab and a Christian makes him a minority.His identity is further narrowed when he thinksthat he was born “into what is known as the Melchite or Greek Catholic community, which recognises the authority of the Pope while retaining some Byzantine rites”. Vous y trouverez également de la papeterie, carterie, jeux et jouets pour les plus jeunes. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts, and shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. This phase lasted for several thousand years, which correspond to what we call History. Isn’t it true that we all have a whole set of identities recallable depending on what environment we are located in? His first book, The Crusades through Arab Eyes, was a critical and commercial success and remains in print after 20 years. As a result, the reader is propelled into the world of myth yet gains a very real sympathy for the vivid characters. Time could be spent to discuss the validity of this theory, which I in any case have only presented in very simplified terms. ISBN: N/A. Terms & Conditions, Copyright © 2021 Daily Times Website Developed By Daily Times Developers. by Amin Maalouf ; translated by ... tackling difficult topics with the depth of an engaged cultural thinker and the style of an experienced wordsmith. A big part of On Identity is devoted to the question of how we form our personal identity. When the conflict broke out in Lebanon, Maaloufsettled in Paris, rather than in “New York, Vancouver or London”.And he also became a French-speaking writer. Although his native language is Arabic, he writes in French, and his works have been translated into many languages. While Maalouf is tracing a modern Arab identity he describes the immense influence the fate of Muhammad Ali, the founder of modern Egypt, still has on the forming of opinion in the Arab World. Dr. Nathalene Reynolds. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts and shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. We are also living through not the dawn but the dusk of internationalism too” (Page78). He notes a paradox which has shaped his identity: that of belonging to the Christian faith, even though his”mother tongue” is “Arabic, the holy language of Islam”.This language also allowed him “in central Asia” to speak with “an elderly scholar outside a Timurid madrasa”; “you need only address him in Arabic for him to feel at ease. [Amin Maalouf; Barbara Bray] -- In , with prophecies and portents foretelling the forthcoming Apocalypse, Balthasar, an antiquarian merchant and sage, embarks on a perilous quest to find a rare book that could hold the key to. Amin Maalouf avoids any academic lengthiness. Latest News Life is a creator of differences. However, he came to the idea that “anyperson of goodwill trying to conduct his or her own”examination of identity “would soon, like me, discover that that identity is a special case”. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. In "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes", Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events. 9782808000840 46 EBook Plurilingua Publishing This practical and insightful reading guide offers a complete summary and analysis of Leo the African by Amin Maalouf. Maalouf clearly underestimated the United States potential when he said: “There is nothing to stop us supporting that one day a black person might be elected president of the United States and a white person president of the “new” South Africa. Every individual without exception possesses a composite identity. Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events. Maalouf then explains how Arabic religious radicalism emerged as a reaction to the impasse that was reached after Muhammad Ali, Nasser and other failed nationalist leaders. Hat sich unser Lieblingspärchen wirklich entzweit? It is all the easier to imagine the reactions of various non-Western peoples whose every step, for many generations, has already been accompanied by a sense of defeat and self-betrayal.” (Page 58). Within him, French, European and other western influences mingle with Arab, Berber, African, Muslim and other sources, whether with regard to language, beliefs, family relationships or to tastes in cooking and the arts”. 164 pp. And that is what I want to emphasise: through each one of my affiliations, taken separately, I possess a certain kinship with a large number of my fellow human beings; but because of all theseallegiances, taken together, I possess my own identity, completely different from any other”. “I’ll merely ask: how many of my fellow men share with me all the different elements that have shaped my identity and determined the main outlines of my life? It goes without saying that we have not reached that point yet.”(Page 127), When this book was written, the Queen still had colonies in East-Asia and New York still had Twin Towers. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Fortunately! Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events. I shall try to summarize it as clear as possible: Toynbee argues that the history of the human race had consisted of three successive phases. One country gets out of line when it comes to nationalism and its connection with identity. Librairie généraliste et ouverte sur les cultures du monde, ou vous pouvez faire une pause-café ou thé, en intérieur ou en terrasse. He was born on 25 February, 1949 in Beirut, Lebanon.He studied sociology at the French University in Beirut.He was the director of the Beirut daily newspaper an-Nahar.But, he left the country 1975 at the start of the Lebanese Civil War.He moved to Paris and still lives there today.. Maalouf writes in French, and his works have been translated into many languages. 2 people found this helpful. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts and shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. "Amin Maalouf has an intact love of Lebanon inside him, as well as ever-enduring suffering and great nostalgia for his youth, of which he has perhaps never spoken of as well as he has in this novel." This is a voyage between the Orient and the West, the past and the present, as only the 1993 Goncourt Prize winner knows how to write it. The world changes faster every day therefore our concepts of identity should never cease to adapt changes. ( Log Out /  (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Home That is precisely what characterises each individual identity: it is complex, unique and irreplaceable”. Then he will speak to you from the heart, something he’d never risk doing in Russian or English”. In his writing, Amin Maalouf depicts the fanatics of doctrine whose identity promotes perverted behaviors as being intolerance. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts and shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. Language: english. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. I would even go further and emphasis the ambiguity of identity. Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events. “This represents an enriching and fertile experience if the young man in question feels free to live it fully, if he is encouraged to accept it in all its diversity. Folgen sie einander nicht mehr auf Twitter, und gibt es wirklich kein Zurück? Thus all human societies evolved roughly in parallel with one another and had many characteristics in common. Read more. An approach that is suck on my mind since I read this book is a mentioned theory by the British historian Arnold Toynbee published in 1973. Report abuse. But then he relapses and constantly argues within the concept of nations as the source of individual identity. But if one asks him today how he defines himself (half Lebanese, half French), he would answer that “identity cannot be compartmentalised”. Amin Maalouf, author of over a dozen books and the first Lebanese inductee into the prestigious 40-member Academie Francaise, spent his formative years in the home from the age of 12 to 22. Publisher: World Editions. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts and shaken by a User rating: /5. Bienvenue sur le site du café-librairie Lectures Vagabondes, librairie indépendante, située dans le centre-ville de Liffré. Travelling even further, I might find my identity relating only to a certain continent. David Guy wrote in The New York Times: "The Gardens of Light has the feel of a 1950's Hollywood epic, in which men gesture boldly and deliver words that deserve to be immediately carved in stone. For the sake of argument, I refer to two “senses of belonging”, but in fact such a youth’s personality is made up of many more ingredients. He has also been awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature in its 2010 edition. This is an essential point with regard to current concepts of identity.”. Helpful. Read more. Never have men had so many things in common – knowledge, points of reference, images, words, instruments and tools of all kinds. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts and shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. It seems to me that the latter is the more influential of the two, and that it becomes more so every day. Nehmen Sie an der Umfrage teil: Shall I mention my Turkish grandmother, or her husband, who was a Maronite Christian from Egypt? Company’s Financials However, I wanted put this theory forward not only as an appealing and intellectually stimulating insight into the situation we see around us today but also because it leads to one of the central conclusions Amin Maalouf reaches: “We are living in an age of both harmonisation and of dissonance. ( Log Out /  David Guy wrote in The New York Times: "The Gardens of Light has the feel of a 1950's Hollywood epic, in which men gesture boldly and deliver words that deserve to be immediately carved in stone. One can learn a great deal about the time period in which he writes, but you will find that his characters face fortune and tragedy in equal amounts. Writer Susan Sontag saw the philosopher as "most uncompromising and troubling" in her actions and beliefs. Amin Maalouf, a Lebanese writer who has chosen to live in Paris and who writes in French, is infatuated by the character of Hasan al-Wazzan for a similar reason: Leo Africanus gives him the key to an imagined, tantalizing world, far away from the relentlessly real, albeit surrealistic, world of today's Lebanon. That said, I must say that the latter sections of the book failed to grip me as much as the first ones did. “In a country like Lebanon, where the more powerful communities have fought for a long time for their territory and their share of power, members of very small minorities like mine have seldom taken up arms, and have been the first to go into exile”. When the conflict broke out in Lebanon, Maalouf settled in Paris, rather than in “New York, Vancouver or London”. Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events. Amin Maalouf avoids any academic lengthiness. Amin Maalouf is a Lebanese author. Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events. I shall try to pick some interesting aspects discussed to exemplify how much this book is worth reading. He writes and publishes primarily in French. Amin Maalouf named cultural personality Zayed Book Award names Amin Maalouf as the Cultural Personality of the Year Published: April 17, 2016 16:37 WAM Entdecken Sie "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes" von Amin Maalouf und finden Sie Ihren Buchhändler. It provides a thorough exploration of the novel’s plot, characters and main themes, including religion, war and power. --NRC Handelsblad Amin Maalouf gives us a perfect look at the thoughts and feelings that can lead to emigration. There is a short book, In the name of identity, by the French-Lebanese novelist Amin Maalouf that merits regular rereading. It builds on the same principle. Translated by Barbara Bray. European and Arab versions of the Crusades have little in common. Maalouf has a playful surreal style that just fits this period of history so well. Jul 02, 2017 Zara Riches rated it really liked it. The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (Multiple languages, Paperback) Amin Maalouf. ‘Travelling Poetry’: Text as Migrant in Amin Maalouf's Samarcande ‘Travelling Poetry’: Text as Migrant in Amin Maalouf's Samarcande Hiddleston, Jane 2014-10-01 00:00:00 In his celebrated essay `Travelling Theory', Edward Said evokes the dynamic migration of ideas between cultures and epochs and the resulting, continual production of new theories out of the transformation of the old. Beards and veils in the 1970s started to burgeon as signs of protest. He received the Prix Goncourt in 1993 for his novel The Rock of Tanios. He need only ask himself a few questions to uncover forgotten divergences and unsuspected ramifications, and to see that he is complex, unique and irreplaceable. It is a simplification that does not come up to properly describing the complexity of identity anymore. He studied economics and sociology and then worked as an international reporter until the Lebanese Civil War broke out in 1975. Editor’s Picks, Contact He presents himself as the perfect mixture of cultures to mediate between the Arab and the Western world and to analyse both cultural identities as well as concepts of identity in general. IN THE NAME OF IDENTITY. The Lebanese-born French novelist Amin Maalouf has won this year’s Cultural Personality of the Year Award in recognition of his achievement as a novelist, who has conveyed in French some key moments in the history of Arab and other Eastern peoples to the entire world. 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As soon as we stop to keep pace, turn around and try to wind back our increasingly fast-spinning globalised world it gets complicated…, “May my grandson, growing up and finding this book one day by chance, look through the pages, read a passage or two, then put it back in the dusty corner where he found it, shrugging his shoulders and marvelling that in his grandfather´s days such things still needed to be said.”(Page 133, last page, last sentence). “Mankind itself is made up of special cases. What a ground-breaking conclusion that must have been in 1996! Perhaps none at all. It examines the question of identity.Indeed, the late Twentieth and early Twenty-First centuries have seen disturbing tensions, running counter to the prediction that globalisation would usher a world in which cultural differences, far from stoking racism, would bea symbol par excellence of inclusivity and broadening prosperity. In "The Crusades Through Arab Eyes", Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses and often participants in the events.