تجربة أدبية

اليوم ساجرب تجربة أدبية. كل مرة اكتب تحليل لصفي العربي، ساكتب نسخه منه علي هذا الموقع لاتابع تطوير كتابتي بللغة العربية. اليوم، ساكتب تحليل لمذكرات نوال السعداوي. بشكل محدد، هذه النثر عن تجربه في السجن المصري.
نص التحليل يسمى سجن النساء

حالة يأس في سجن النساء

وصف نوال السعداوي عن السجن في مذكرتها يرعب القارىء بالوضع الإنساني في السجن المصري. للقاريء الغربي، هذة الصورة تبين أن الحكومة المصرية تخلت عن أي احترام للحقوق الأنسانية. دليل تعذيب المرأة واضح بسبب عدم الخدمات الطبية عندما يصرخ المسجونين للمساعدة. علاوة على ذلك، هناك معاملة سيئة بوضع النساء من الناحية العاطفية. تعرض السعداوي صورة يأس حيث اللة غائب فيها لآنة، عندما تدعي النساء، "السماء تظل مظلمة مصمتة صامتة لا ترد." عدم رد السماء رمز غياب اللة و غياب الآمل للمسجونين عندما تكتب السعداوي "و الهه بغير آذن." تشبه الكاتبة نداء النساء بصفارة الاسعاف لترمز اهمية دعوتهم لمساعدة طبية و لكن غياب الأطباء يسبب عدم فائدة ندائهن.

تموت الإمرآة مثل الحيوان و النساء لسن قادرات علي أي شيء غير أن يبكين. لما تموت المرأة، القارىء يبداء يشعر بنفس اليأس الذي تختبره النساء. الأمل الوحيد للنساء للخروج من السجن هو الموت. تقارن السعاداوي النساء بالحيونات التي تنتظر يوم الذبح أو يوم الموت. رجوع النساء لله يبين عقليتهن القدرية. توفر الحزن و اليأس و كآبة و الموت يظهر صورة مظلمة تبين أن الطريقة الوحيدة للهروب من كوارث السجن من ناحية الموت عندما تقول واحدة اخرى: "استراحت من عذاب الدنيا." أخيرا، السعداوي لا ترسم صورة قاتمة لحياة نساء السجن فقط، بل تناقذض الظروف التي تؤيدها الحكومة

اتمنى انكم استمتعتوا بكتابي. إنشاللة ساكتب مكالات اخرة بالعربية قريبا

Impressions of a deprived writer...

Typing away at midnight, I gasp for air. Writing is what gives me the energy to go on... I have gone many days without writing and I feel incomplete. I have had no person, notebook, or God to share my emotions with lately. I resort to you. Why you? Well, the abysmal darkness of the night gives me the opportunity to write under the veil that hides me from society. Writing for me seems like such a deviation that actually doing it nowadays guilttrips me as a waste of time. Even though I have so much bottled up in my mind ready to be spilled on paper, I must restrain myself, for I know if I let it all go right now, my pen won't stop until the sunrise.

It is something about this nocturnal lifestyle, that when everyone is tucked tightly in bed that I am most alert. I hear the water trickling in the pipes, the leaves rustling outside my window, freshmen giggling next door. Everything is a distraction that inspires me to write. Instead, I am forced to blast Mozart to maintain my train of concentratrion and get back to work, no matter how desperate I am to write!

Another week from hell, but I take it with pinch of sugar this time, knowing that it will end and that I will be able to sit at the end of the week to free all my thoughts to you. I don't want the fire of this passion to die down, so even though I cannot bear the piling work, I pause for a breath of air to write and to promise you dear reader that I will return, and I promise myself that I will never let my passion for writing wane. Back to another college all-nighter of work, but optimism for the end, which seems so near yet so far, is what drives me to persevere.

I look forward to our weekend rendezvous...

Its A Matter Of Attitude

Ever since my return to the U.S., I had flipped to a new page in my life. I had resolved that there was no point about being melancholic about life. At one point in my life, I used to embrace melancholy, just as this mysterious feeling would envelop the literature of Pamuk and Poe. A multitude of homesickness, detatchment from society, a profound chasm with reality had all led me to dig a hole in my life and hide in it. I found myself losing self confidence and morale.

What was perpetuating all of this? After some introspection, I realized that it was just a matter of attitude. I was taking life a tad bit too seriously. I was like a scholar who was driven by dissatisfaction with the status quo and who was on a mission to seclude himself from everything to learn about life in the books. Well, I realized that theory doesn't always convert to practice. This whole time, I was look at the empty half of the cup.

I realized that there is no need to keep searching for the answers to the questions of life any more. This may sound tremendously cliche, but if you look deep into your heart, your will find all that you seek. Each of us has a part of God inside us, and only ultimate bliss can originate from the source. There is a natural balance of happiness in life. What you lack in one aspect of life will inevitably show up in another part of life, so its better to just look at the bright side of things. It is unfortunate that there are somethings beyond our control, but all we can do is improve our present state of life and not necessarily stretch ourselves too thin by concerning ourselves with the problems of the world. Just seek for internal peace and you will achieve it.

Now that I have come to terms, the only thing that's left is to transform myself for someone who's trying to keep myself from melancholy to one who can sublimate his newfound bliss to prosperity, success, and glory. I think its like a rebirth. Once you start having faith, hope and motivation, a lot will change...its sort of the butterfly effect. Its a matter of appreciating what you have.

Obama, I'm Finally Listening

So the pessimist cynic in me was just waiting for this whole Obama fad to pass by so that we could return to reality. I remember sleeping through what will be deemed the most memorable moment of the decade, if not the century, the election of Barak Obama. While America was raving for their new prince charming president, I was busy reading some radical communist doctrine. I was sure nothing would change. Sure, America might better itself under Obama, but the world will remain in peril as long as America flexes, its muscles, I thought to myself. We of the Middle East, I thought to myself, are hopeless. America has its dogmatic neoconservative agenda, and it will carry it out regardless of who's in the white house. I was like the three monkeys, each of whom would either cover their eyes, close their ears, or shut their mouth. I was completely indifferent to what was going on regarding the elections. As a foreigner, I thought to myself, this is "their" election and it should concern me. Deep down inside, I was jealous that the Americans could enjoy such a sound electoral system, where as we, those of the Arab World, would never be able to enjoy such liberty in the near future.

At the same time, I had been thinking to myself, who out there could possible set a role model when it came to my future aspirations to lead? My admiration for the likes of Che Guevara, Nasser, Nekruma, Nehru, and other revolutionaries of the 20th centuries has not waned the slightest bit, but I have come to realize that their ideologies aren't necessarily compatible with today's times. So I looked around me...Sarakozy, Putin, and Gordon all seem like laughable jokes! Was this ideal that I'd been searching for all along before my eyes? Could it really have been the guy I'd been so skeptic about this whole time? Could it have been Obama?

I never really knew much about Obama or his beliefs as a politician. The revolutionist in me only paid attention to Obama whenever he was compared to having socialist tendencies. In any case, my thought was that he must be the lesser of the two evils when it came down to him running against McCain. I only started paying attention to how Obama's intentions truly aligned with mine when visiting Washington DC during the inauguration weekend. Never in my life had I seen so many people rally in the streets from one man. I thought the days of popular support for figures like Gandhi, as one can still see in the black and white documentaries, were long gone. I was proven wrong on the 18th of January when walking across the national monumental "Mall" in Washington DC.For the pre-Inauguration party that I attended with several friends who study in DC, I had never in my life seen so many people from so many different walks of life, creeds, and ethnicities come together to celebrate one man. The Lincoln memorial was like the colosseum Rome, with trumpets horning to celebrate the glory of an empire. After some entertaining shows put on by U2, Beyonce, Usher, and Shakira came the moment the million or so people had been waiting for, Obama's oration .

Obama's reference to America's ancestors is a clear reminder of the foundations on which this empire is founded. He gives the Americans purpose of existence, hope, motivation, and inspiration for this country to move forward. It is this nationalism and values of freedom and equality that American is built on, which Obama reminds Americans where they came from. He reminds America of its ingenuity, innovativeness, prosperity, and grandeur that is incomparable in the world. This is the power of America that can prove to be an unprecedented in history. Could America's ability to renew itself, to repeat a renaissance every couple of decades, prove to be essential to allow this empire to never face a decline or collapse as every other empire in history has experienced?

Obama has inspired me. I am not another political sheep who follows the herd, but after hearing Obama live and feeling the energy in the crowd, I am convinced that an idealist revolutionary is now in the rightly crowned the most powerful man in the world. He gives hope and motivation to all to strive to defy reality to fulfill the ideal. I am convinced that this is a new era that every human being should look forward to, that the world's leading superpower is now steering a new course than the one it has led for the past decade. I am optimistic. Even if Obama can't go through with all of his promises, I am convinced that his mere aura is one that gives hope to revive a nation and a world. I am inspired that if we can import this inspiration and hope from a country like America to the Arab World that we can bring about justice, egalitarianism, and a reason for the oppressed to rise and stand up for their rights. Finally, by lending an ear to an inspiration to Obama, I myself am inspired to work for a better future for me, for Egypt, and for the world.

The Reader

It was the around 9pm on the 17th of January that I made another one of the realizations worth noting in a blog entry. The realization of the fact that reading means experiencing, means living, means breathing. There is no way to experience the 5 sense without living the lives that reading has to offer. 

I just completed watching The Reader in a Georgetown theater. I can attest that this is a movie that I want to remain in my memory as one of the moments I cherished, like the a sugar cube that one whirls around their tongue until it gradually dissolves. I don't think I'd ever sympathized with a fictional character as much as I had with Hannah Schiller. To the illiterate, who cherishes knowledge, illiteracy is worse than being handicapped. The sense of touching a book, but being unable to read it can be petrifying. Being unable to read is similar to being unable to speak, hear, or even feel. 

I don't think that it is possible to experience one of the most important emotions of life with out reading, the emotion of loving. This reminds me of the novel, The Old Man Who Read Love Stories, which makes one appreciate the access to the world of reading, an unboundless world of creativity. I love reading and I am fortunate for my literacy more than I've ever been. 

Although The Reader is a bitter, sweet, dark, harsh, and painful delight to experience, I recommend that you watch it. It will change the way you look at the simple things in life. It will make you appreciate what you take for granted. You will realize how empowered you are by being good at something as simple as merely as reading. I never thought I was good at anything until I realized that I was good at reading. The Reader will teach you how one must strive to pursue his passion of life, even if it is as simple as the task of reading. Some may use reading for futile, busy, silly work, such as drinking something as dull as beer, or for enlightening themselves, such as drinking something as exhilirating as divine wine. The point is, you can use the same cask for drinking two diametrically opposite drinks, its a matter of making the most out of what you have. 

The Travels of the Egyptian Marco Polo

Since returning from Inner Mongolia, I haven't really had the opportunity to sit down with a good cup of tea to reflect about what was truly an eye opening experience. Although my visit to China this vacation had taken me to Beijing, Shen Zhen, Hong Kong, Macau, Zhu Hai, Guangzhu, and Hohhot, all of which are some of China's largest metropolises, I don't think any of these cities sufficed in showing me the traditional side of China I had been craving to see. I was curious to see how the traditional Chinese person lived, what he ate, where he slept, how we spent time with the family and friends, what he did in the bitter cold of the north of China, how he reacted to a foreigner... These were amongst some of the questions that my sense of curiosity was eager to find out.

I was truly fortunate that the opportunity presented itself in the last week of my stay in China. After returning to Beijing from my trip to the south of China, I had been passing time shopping, reading, spending time with the family, writing, but I realized that during this whole time, I wasn't experiencing China. Then, luckily, my good friend Xiaohuan and his family invited me to their village in Inner Mongolia. After accepting their cordial invitation, I felt that I was Marco Polo embarking on a journey to the ends of the world to experience exotic distance lands where I might come across treasures and miracles. This was obviously my exaggerated imagination taking me on an unrealistic adventure, but now I realize that the rewards of this trip truly did contain treasures of friendship and miracles of realizing that no matter where people lived, be it on the eastern end of the Orient in China or the western end in Egypt, people essentially had the same needs, emotions, and love for one another. These conclusions that I had come to had comforted my heart in a time when humanity can really show its dark side via financial crises, wars, etc...

After my first night in Xiaohuan's village, I remember writing in my diary "Never in my life have I been treated so hospitably and graciously as I have today by Xiaohuan's family." This was only an excerpt from the many impressions I had of living with a Chinese family for a couple of days. During my visit to Inner Mongolia, I had tasted the most delicious food ever, such as lamb dumplings, and tasted some of the finest green tea of my life.

What was truly interesting was the reception of the villagers to a foreigner. I believe that a foreigner hadn't set foot in some of the villages surrounding Xiaohuan's house in a very long time, so I wasn't surprised when some of the townspeople would stare at me for extended periods of time. People were anxious to see this alien from Egypt. Almost everyone I met asked me questions about my country, which seemed to them to be at the other end of the world.

Of course, my traditional Chinese experience didn't go without sight seeing to some of the most fabulous places in Inner Mongolia. Unfortunately we were unable to see some of the beautiful grass lands because it wasn't the appropriate time of the season, but what we did see was more than sufficient to make it up. Xiaohuan was very culturally considerate to take me to a Muslim restaurant upon my visit.
The most intriguing think I was exposed to must have been the milk tea, which was very tasty but very new to me. We then went to a Buddhist temple that convinced me that Buddhism is a very lively and colorful religion.

We also visited the Zhaojun museum, which showed me the prehistoric side of China's history. Although it was almost -8 degrees celsius as made our tour, I truly enjoyed seeing what was in Hohhot.

The next day was truly a revelation for me to see a side of China I never fathomed existed. we visited some of th poor villages in Inner Mongolia where people lived a very harsh life. These run down villages reminded me of the poverty I had seen in Egypt and India. Moreover, due to the financial crisis, these people lived under really dire circumstances. The was malnutritioned animals and unsold corn harvest. Upon experiencing this side of China, I was grateful to God for my comfortable life.

We also visited China's famous yellow river. It was truly a beautiful sight seeing a frozen stream still flowing in the bright sun.


I would have to say that the highlight of the trip was by far the farewell dinner I had. Xiaohuan's family had invited many of their acquaintances to a dinner to bid me farewell. There was a live performance and Xiaohuan and his sister even sang to me!

I have just given you, dear reader, an excerpt of the many chronicles of my adventures in the far land of Inner Mongolia. I leave the rest of my adventures to imagine based on your own curiousity so that maybe one day when I become a famous traveler like Marco Polo and my travelogue is published, you may find out the rest of my adventures (hehe!).

In any case, if there is anything that was truly worth getting out of this trip, it was the amiable friendship I have with Xiaohuan and the people of China.

The Cartoon Revolution

Ever since writing my old post (i.e. A Voice for The Arab World) on Carlos Latuff, the Brazilian political cartoonist, I had started corresponding the artist himself to express my admiration for his cause and his art. I was ecstatic when Carlos replied to me to thank me for comparing him to the likes of Guevara and Nasser for voicing the plight on behalf of the oppressed and speaking out against injustice.

As the current crisis in Gaza is escalating, I am saddened to see the world stand by in idleness as more than a thousand Palestinians have been killed. My sympathy for the Palestinians is not one out of my Arab identity, but one out of the fact that I am a human and cannot stand blind as such a humanitarian genocide takes place. It is in this light that I believe that every human who has emotions should take action, no matter how minuscule his or her impact may be, to put an end to the war in Gaza and bring about Peace in the Middle East. I know that it starts with us, the new generations of the Middle East to bring about any peace and justice. It is for this reason that I have joined the Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine organization here at the university. I and Assad are heading the Publicity initiative to raise awareness by puttying up fliers to keep university students informed of the latest news regarding the crisis. I truly hope that our efforts will make some sort of impact.

Tying this back in with my correspondence with Carlos, the artist encouraged me to spread his work. He informed me that "my art is your art". It is this selfless spirit that will allow us to achieve our dream of bringing about justice in the region. Especially in a country like the US where ignorance tends to be prevalent, I think it is imperative that everyone one who is informed carry out their share of duty to inform those who are ignorant. In the words of Carlos,

"I beg you reader, my brothers and sisters-in-arts, to spread these cartoons. Reproduce them in posters, newspapers, magazines, zines, blogs, everywhere. Let's make the voice of the Gaza people to be heard all around the world."

Likewise, I encourage everyone to do all that they can to raise awareness regarding this issue, even if with a cartoon, to bring about an information revolution that can bring about justice about the genocide taking place in Gaza.

For more of Latuff's artwork, check out: http://tales-of-iraq-war.blogspot.com/
For more artwork to raise awareness about the current situation: http://www.gazaresist.com/