Love of Lit

Laila Lalami is a literary evangelist. If she's not working on her second novel, writing her literary blog, or giving away books, she's on the road talking about her current novel Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits and her forthcoming novel. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting her briefly and hearing her read this evening at Olsson's Books and Records in Washington, D.C.

One of Ms. Lalami's dreams is to bring her first novel to the people of her native land — Morocco — in their native Moroccan dialect, Darija. To date, no publisher has even agreed to translate the book even into the more widespread, but less accessible classical Arabic that is the traditional language of literature and public life. Ms. Lalami hopes to translate her book into Darija during her forthcoming Fulbright fellowship in Morocco beginning this December.

Ms. Lalami addressed a wide range of questions, from the challenges of working as an Arab author in America, to the audience she writes for, to her literary influences and writing technique. She explained that fiction is often a better vehicle for arriving at the truth than the kind of sensationalized non-fiction that makes up the contemporary news. As a Arab writer, it can be difficult for her to be seen as airing the community's "dirty laundry" sometimes, particularly since she is deeply indignant about the way in which Arabs are so often misrepresented in contemporary America. And while she feels an obligation to feed the hungry minds of the 15,000 visitors to her website every day, ultimately she writes her books for herself alone. Otherwise, she said, she would always be censoring herself, if she thought about what other people would think, and that would betray her central mission — to write the truth.

Fresh Catch

What's the Catch? Fresh Fish in a Moroccan Port Town

The Washington Post extolls the pleasures of fresh fish in Essaouira:

In seaside hamlets across Morocco, you'll find fishermen hawking the fruits of the sea. But for an experience that appeals to all the senses, Essaouira -- revered by Moroccans and tourists alike for its windswept vistas, laid-back vibe and walled old city -- is the most appealing locale for indulging in fresh fish.

Morocco in the Internet Age

I take it as a positive sign for the Moroccan economy that the country now has its own "monster.com" style job board. After I encountered the board, ReKrute.com, the other day, I contacted the owner, Philippe Montant, and asked him about his board and what it meant for Morocco. Montant replied:

In fact ReKrute.com is the first professional jobboard here in Morocco and we have spent a lot of time evangelising the recruiters here in Morocco and convince them to go online to recuit. It have been created by 2 partners with the purpose of developing the online recruitment market in North Africa and French speaking countries in Africa.

The situation regarding Internet here in Morocco is exploding since 12 months now in Casablanca. To-date, there are approximately 6 to 8M web-users, and also 50000 new ADSL subscribers each month (total ADSL is around 700 000 units now). No need to say that for the level of development and the size of the population, this is huge.

The board is in French and most of the entries seem to be weighted toward technical occupations, but there is a wide variety of listings. I am hoping that ReKrute.com succeeds, and that its success bodes well for the Moroccan technical sector.

Moorishgirl Goes Back to Morocco

Laila Lalami has won a Fulbright to go back to Morocco for nine months to study Islamic extremism and secular movements. Based in Casa, she will also do volunteer work in a poor neighborhood. Godspeed.

Morocco Foundation

BBBSMOROCCO

The Morocco Foundation is making new efforts to aid children with Down's Syndrome. In addition to providing material aid, board members are acting as Big Brothers and Big Sisters to the children.

The Caliph's House

Starting Over in a Caliph's Castle - New York Times

SETTING up house in a North African slum is not at the top of many wish lists. But as the writer Tahir Shah explained recently, his family's relocation from a cramped apartment in London to a 10-bedroom mansion in this sprawling coastal city was partly to help his two children escape the cultural insularity of his own youth.

The New York Times reviews Tahir Shah's The Caliph's House. Not the least interesting part of the review is the photographs.

The Lost Land

As Percy Bysshe Shelley recognized when he penned Ozymandias, there is nothing quite so Romantic as a lost civilization. The history of the Andalus is a poignant, if not melancholy, example. Not only did the Umayyad caliphate in Cordoba and the taifa kingdoms that followed its collapse represent a unique flowering of poetry, scholarship, and architecture, but they were also key conduits for the transfer of classical learning and Arabic science and culture to the West. In a remarkable display of short-sightedness and ingratitude, the West repaid the favor by conquering the Andalus and forcibly converting, exiling, or exterminating its inhabitants, setting the stage for the rape of the New World.

Richard Fletcher's is a straightforward but engrossing history of the Arab/Berber conquest of most of the Iberian peninsula and the civilization that flourished there until the completion of the Reconquest in 1492. The history is rich in fascinating anecdotes, such as the parallel careers of the Arabic poet and adventure Ibn Ammar and Rodrigo Diaz, El Cid. While Fletcher beautifully describes the cultural richness of the Andalus, he is skeptical about the extent to which Christians, Jews, and Muslims were able to live peacefully together.

Maria Rosa Menocal's is more interested in cultural history than Fletcher and spends more time on the cultural influence that Arabic science and poetry had on European thought, describing at some length the translation projects of Peter the Venerable and the scholarly impact of Arabic culture on Petrus, Peter Abelard, Boccaccio, and Geoffrey Chaucer. She is also fascinated by the phenomena of such figures as Samuel Ibn Nagrila, the leader of the Jewish community who also became the Jewish Vizier of the taifa kingdom of Granada in the early eleventh century. Little more than a half century later, the Jews of Granada were massacred in 1066, but their position in Granadan society contrasts remarkably with their expulsion after the Reconquest.

Stories

Keeping a Moroccan Tradition Alive, One Tale at a Time - New York Times

Mr. Jabiri is a storyteller, a profession he has practiced for more than 40 years. Every day, he conjures up a real or imagined past that is filled with ancient battles and populated with sinners and prophets, wise sultans and tricky thieves.

The New York Times profiles the storytellers of Jemaa El Fna, who are perhaps the last of their kind.

Three Things

Three things I have learned so far reading Richard Fletcher's Moorish Spain:

1. The "Arab" conquest of Spain was mostly accomplished by Berbers.

2.  Transportation in the ancient world between Morocco and Southern Spain was easier than within Spain, thus facilitating the conquest.

3.  There was a significant population of Jews in Spain in the eighth century who were badly treated by the Visigothic regime that had succeeded the Roman Empire and who most likely welcomed the comparatively more tolerant Muslims.