Arranged

I thought arranges was a cute movie, but definitely American. I would think this film to be appropriate for a younger audience such as junior high or high school students. For the most part it was a feel good film and I think that worked in it's favor. Personally I was uninterested in the arranged marriage subject as the obstacle for both main characters. I don't think there was much to learn about arranged marriages from the film especially since we as college students might be more familiar with it than younger students.

Guest speakers Part 2

So I know we spent part of the class trying to talk about the literature but since we really were more interested in our guest speaker, I think that is what this blog should be about. When we got on the topic of Egypt's perception of the United States things obviously got awkward. I felt as though she felt attacked by our questioning because she interpreted our argumentativeness as anger or offense when it really wasn't. I think Americans know a little about how the rest of the world views us. I though it was interesting when she said the United States is perceived as a servant to Israel for supplying them weapons. I wish KATIE had been there to help our argument but w/e. Though I understand disliking a country for supplying an enemy country weaponry I thought it was a little unusual to have no second options. I think a good discussion would have been to find out what Egypt feels the United States should do, or what thwy think we are actually doing.

Two Women

For our class and what we are trying to accomplish I beileve Two Women was a good film to see. It was written and directed by Iraqi women so though it may be biased, it is likely accurate. However because this film was produced many years ago and is not current, it may be important to find a more modern film that depicts the situation of women now in Iraq.

I thought the film used women in a positive light despite the fact that the women in this film were not treated as they should be. You can really empathize with the women in this film unlike some Lifetime movies....

The women in this movie were intelligent and ambitious and relatable to an American audience which I think is it's best feature.

Women in Islam: Guest speakers

I think guest speakers are the best way to introduce people to a foreign culture. I always learn a lot more when I am able to speak face to face with someone. Being in the presence of a person as opposed to reading fictional tales is a little easier to relate to. It become hard to distinguish what is drama and what is truth when you are reading novels about a region. When someone who has been there is answering your questions, you can get the answers you want instead of just what the book wants to tell. When there is a guest speaker, you are also able to speak in the present tense, ask about the way things are now as opposed to when ever the article or book was written.

I thought our guest speakers were amazing, they answered a lot of my questions and also gave me new information that I didn't know. The best part was the fact that there were two speakers, one from Egypt and one from Pakistan. felt that was a perfect relationship for both of them to have because it put them in a more relatable position with the rest of the class. Not only were they both from a place other than the United States, but they were also from different countries within the Middle East.

I thought it was also beneficial that they were both educated not only about American culture, but about their own. One speaker spoke Arabic, but did not talk about Islam, the other did not know Arabic, but has studied the Koran. They were both from different age groups and practiced their beliefs in different ways. The speakers also were in agreeance with one another about some subjects but disagreed about others.

Honor Killings

The discussion we had in class the other day made me really think about how one would justify an honor killing. Because I am an American I know that it may be impossible for me to accept honor killing as a solution to anything. However a large community of people believe that honor is the most important thing you can have. Honor keeps you safe, without honor you have no power in your village. Not going through with an honor killing would mean escalated violence against your whole family. In order to protect the others in you family, you have an obligation to go through with the honor killing in order to restore the family's honor. Now, I can understand the concept of protecting your family, sacrificing one for many etc. What I do not understand is why honor killing do not involve men as the victims. Men having the most power should be the one responsible for the actions of the women in his family. It is unfair to blame a female for her mistakes when she does not have the power to make decisions on her own accord. The honor killing punishment can be used for an assortment of reasons that are not justifiable causes to kill a person. Honor killings are likely to be a huge deterrent in Western society accepting the Middle East. Such a biased cultural defect would go against the American family and their values. Regardless of whether or not I am able to understand the reasoning behind honor killings, I cannot imagine committing such an act against my own family. There just has to be other options available that don't involve killing your family member. At the very least, those involved could relocate to another village or country, or do whatever it took to save the life of your family member.

Paradise Now

I enjoyed this movie in the same way I would enjoy any other movie. Paradise Now is interesting because it focuses on the point of view of a group of suicide bombers from Palestine. This is a relevant film because the Isreali/Palestine conflict is still ongoing with no end in sight. If you are looking for a movie to educate Westerners about Life in the Middle East, this is not the one. The greatest benefit his film can offer is to educate people who can't understand the point of view of terrorists. Paradise Now makes an impactful statement about the nature of suicide bombers and the relaties that they are faced with.

Paradise Now

OMG.... This movie was so good.



Will post more later, still watching

Children's stories

The Arabic group before ours showed us 2 childrens books written by the same authors. The first one was The Day of Ahmed's Secret. On the journey of discovering what his secret is the reader follows this boy throughout his day. Egypt is depicted in the Illustrations by Ted Lewin. I think that the book delivers a favorable and authentic Egypt to young readers. However the second book, Sami in the Time of the Troubles takes place in Libya. This is a war torn country at the time of its release and the plot reflects this. It is a much heavier book in comparison with the previous one. In class I believe we decided that the second books illustrations were intentionally darker and more intense. I felt personally that the book was a bit more then a bedtime story.

Short Stories

I found it interesting that both the short stories featured a plot about wealth. Neither The Lawsuit or The Long Term Plan depicted the possession of wealth as a positive element. In fact there is a line in TLTP where the widowed servant-woman says "idle hands are unclean" (172). I think this means that he is a dishonest man for not having employment. al-Bagli "loathes" work and chooses instead to pester his mother who is elderly and supports her son with her pension. When she dies the house remains and once al-Bagli is in his seventies he sells the property to a company for half a million. The enjoyment is short lived because the man dies later that day. In the Lawsuit a "pretty young wife" is suspected of taking their father's money after his death. The narrator gets a good education and makes a sustainable living. However the wife that had married his father is asking for support from the son whom she says should be responsible for her. The son finds out that she too was robbed and she has grown unattractive and poor. Once he discovers this it seems to change his attitude about the situation. Both stories feature wealth as their primary obstacle within a lifetime. The Lawsuit might be likened to an alimony situation here in the United States, but I think The Long Term Plan captures an easily understandable situation for a Western audience.

Gold Dust

I am so glad Amy picked this book, it is way better then the ones I have been reading. To be honest I don't become involved in a book very often, but this one was pretty good. The pace of the book kept me from getting distracted which is kind of a problem sometimes. It was easy to understand, you didn't get lost like in some books where the vocabulary can just throw you off. Books that are translated into another language usually have that obstacle and thus, some people don't enjoy reading translated novels. I would also like to bring up the point that the religious message of the story is to hold Allah above everything else. Ukhayyad from the first page cares only for his camel. Some of the passages in the first few chapters read like a crazy person who is in love with an animal. He was ready to sacrifice his sanity for his CAMEL. That kind of devotion is usually reserved for religious worship or at least another human being. Allah is not someone who will betray you or die. So many Middle Eastern cultures were built on that belief even if they don't share all of the same values.

Kalamazoo Islamic Center

This trip to the Islamic Center was actually my second. In my religion course I took last spring, I met the Imam there and learned a whole lot about Islam and the Qu' ran and Muslim culture. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know on this trip because in the previous class we had so much background information that our questions were more in-depth. But if we are going to look at the trip from a different prospective, maybe from the perspective of someone trying to learn how to teach western culture about the Middle East; this trip may yield different results. The Imam spoke much about Islam and its beginnings. He spoke about how Islam spread throughout the middle east and into other cultures. The Imam portrayed a much gentler and tolerant religion then many Americans' probably imagine. One of the ways we could teach Americans about the Middle East is to reintroduce Islam in the media as a positive force. For our book however, since Islam is such a large part of Middle Eastern culture, there should be a section on Islam and it's principles. If at all possible we should try to make as many parallels as we can to American cultures.

The Road to Love: Homosexuality in Algeria

This film was awesome I can't even explain how good it was. For the average American it is sometimes hard to get excited about a movie in subtitles, especially documentaries. However this film paralleled so much of the current American attitudes toward homosexuality that it redemmed itself. A western oriented student could very well understand what was going on in the movie whilst still learning about Algeria and other Middle Eastern attitudes about homosexuality and its history. Arab countries are often depicted as undeveloped and narrow minded, but despite their religious obligations they are considerably tolerant in comparison t the United States.

Blood and Oil

I understand that this movie was about war in the Middle East. For some reason I thought this film biased by a western point of view. Though it may be undetectable to myself, I didn't recognize a blatant bias from any point of view. The Middle East was the focus and the location of conflict but was careful not to only represent the views of Arab or Anglo historians. For that reason I think this film is a good choice in accurately representing historical events, a hard task for most forms of media to accomplish.

The part of the movie I liked the most was the the first half, where the Turkish empire fought against the British. Being an American I can sympathize the task before them, not submitting to the British despite impending death. I admired that they never backed down and they were able to defend their land as long as they did. I got the sense from the film that the Turks were fighting for every inch of their land and that their army was to be reckoned with. Both the Americans and the British thought they would not meet as much resistance as they did. Their power as a people is underestimated by western societies.

In conclusion:

This post is supposed to bring together the two other posts I made about Aunt Safiyya. In short, I think the book does a great job of defying stereotypes Americans have about Arabic speaking countries in general. Because the book is written in English, it may be a bit difficult to successfully understand everything that may have been offered if we could have read it in its original language.
No one in the book is an American hating violent extremist. In fact everyone in the book lives by the Qu' ran in that they have respect for one another. The only one who falls outside of that is Safiyya who in a rage cannot forgive. Even the outlaws have an honor system, much more trustworthy then any criminals I have ever heard of. There is hopefully an honest acknowledgment to the fact that women are considered the weaker sex. However, it is important to know that the story takes place in another time, and that it is at least acknowledged. This is beneficial to English speaking readers forming an opinion of Egyptian culture based on this book. Because te book does not automatically explain every detail of their lives and why they do it, it allows the reader to more fully understand the culture. That might seem counterintuitive, but when things don't have an explanation, you can surmise that its is not something they question either. hat is just the way it is, the way i works. Until something goes very wrong and people are unhappy, no one is going to try to "fix" it. Women maintaining the home is a different situation then some Western countries. In this book, your home is an important place, you family can be judged on the work of the wife. Women also don't have to be held completely responsible for things that their husbands have told them to do. Women also havethe option of getting educated, which some might not know is an option that is available.

Aun Safiyya and the Monastery : An in Depth look

For this post, I would like to explore the presence of the coptic monastery. Though the story is predominantly about the need for Safiyya to get her revenge for the death of the bey, it is also about the monastery that keeps Harbi safe from her intentions. The monastery is from the start an important character in the book. It houses the christian monks including the Miqaddis Bishai who keeps close company with Harbi once he is released from prison. The narrator, his father and a band of outlaws also congregate there for a time to visit Harbi from inside the monastery walls. The outlaws whose leader Faris, befriended Harbi in prison and won his devotion. He protects Harbi during trips outside the monastery which become frequent once it is determined that the outlaws should not be allowed inside the sanctuary. Harbi is very ill once freed from prison and as his condition continues to worsten, Safiyya becomes afraid that her son will never get vengence. Once Harbi dies, Safiyya soon follows slipping into coma after coma, weak from malnutrition. She neglects her child even throwing him in anger. Her final words to her father were about Harbi who in a daze recalls the moment when the bey asks for her hand except for Harbi seems to be the one proposing. Likely, this is a sign that her anger was not necessarily about the beys demise but her anger that Harbi sacrificed her to his "father." She was to spend her life serving the bey as a wife and knew the importance of her marriage to him. She was devoted to her family to whome she reached as an orphan, and likely felt obligated to fufill her purpose and raise their honor. It was likely she that convinced the bey of Harbi's supposed intentions to harm their son, a son she very seldom seemed to care about. Safiyya's vendetta against Harbi is greater then her call to custom, or her devotion to God. She demands her guard to storm the monastery and kill Harbi and they refuse, as it is a sin.

Fate of a Cockroach: A short play

To be honest, I am not interested in blogging on a topic that everyone else is blogging about. I feel like after a certain number of people have disected a novel that there really is nothing left to say. I am more interested in documenting what I have found aside from my classmates, so that they may read about something they haven't already read. So I am reading a short book of plays that begins with Fate of a Cockroach. FOAC is about several cockroaches, a king, a queen, a priest,a minister, a savant who must save the minister roaches sun from a bathtub. The play explores each of their roles as they try to determine how to save the minister's son. There are also scenes that encompass the humans as they contemplate the predicament of the roach that is attempting to escape their bathtub. There is a husband and a wife, Avil and Samia, a doctor and Youssef the postman. Avil admires the cockroach and his determination for escape, until the cockroach is killed by the ants and carried away. The cockroaches argue to determine how to tack action against the ants who are so organized and dependant on one another, while the cockroaches are by nature self reliant.

Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery: Quick summary

This book which is told from Safiyya's nephew is a great insight to the familial relations of this particular Egyptian family. Aunt Safiyya bears a son raised to avenge his father the bey, who was killed after attacking a relative named Harbi. Harbi killed Safiyya's husband in self defense, however the customs of this tight -knit village require that he defend his family's honor and kill Harbi. It bears mentioning that everyone in this small village is related either by blood or marriage. Honor seems to be the most important asset of a family and is protected at all costs. Safiyya herself in order to maintain the honor of the family and the respect of the other female villagers is denied an education and raised by her father's sister to be a wife. Safiyya's other sister who are considered more homely then herself, are encouraged to get a proper education by their father. Though both do become wives themselves, they go on to lead a successful and seemingly fulfilling life while Safiyya's is consumed with avenging her husband. It seems though she is held in high esteem in the village, she was destined to lead a somber life committed to the memory of a dead man. Social stereotypes are challenged in this book as a father demands an education of his daughters, and the mother acting as an oppressor in the house hold, at least on behalf of Safiyya. The mother and father seem to disagree on what the best way to equip their daughters for the real world. This situation is not unlike modern day parents in the United States or other western countries. Neither is the vendetta against family members. As we discussed in class fallen gang members are often avanged by fellow members of the gang, in order to protect their honor. Though both acts are illegal in their respective countries, in their village their is a lack of enforcement behind such laws. People are used to solving problems for themselves and not depending on law enforcement. The people of this village live a life comparatively different then most western societies and allow the reader to gain a better understanding of why their culture does what it does. Female oppression still exists in arab countries as it does here in the United States. Our own example is proof that change takes time, and that change is indeed occurring in the middle east.

Reel Bad Arabs

I think there is a better video, with a better argument out there. Yes there are stereotypes portrayed by the media. But some of the films that were featured, I have thought long about and have come to this conclusion. A particular film, Aladdin (the animated version) is not necessarily a film about negative stereotypes. I personally hate stereotyping because there are just a million ways to be wrong. But some of Aladdin where people say arabs are being presented as caracatures could be construed a different way. The scene where the parade takes place, there are camels and elephants and women belly dancing women skipping through the street, gold flowing everywhere, a hero that gives to the poor, etc. Yes there are stereotypes featured here. However, if you are going to make a fictional portrayal of life in a distant land that was a very interesting way to do it. It was like a display of the exotic things they have there. A promotion, if you will of and arab country. If that scene was a commercial yeah, you would go there. The end of the film where Aladdin chooses Genies freedom over his own desires displays the values that he has. He kept his word despite what would make him happy. The sultan changes his rules about who the princess can marry because he knows the true character of this "street rat." Also there has bee talk about Princess Jasmine and her skimpy clothing. Number one: that's the sort of thing that American audiences like to see, and it is a constant theme in most Disney movies. This is not necessarily a slight against arab countries. If this film was meant to be seen by an american audience, then many of us whom the developers know are not familiar with the values in the middle east would not have approved of Jasmine being "hidden" as we would have percieved it.

Ramadan

So I have been paying attention to everything Arabic, and I had a fun experience this weekend. I had a friend over who is from Saudi Arabia and my roommate was tutoring him in Spanish. My roommate Angela is learning Arabic as well. Abdullah and my roommate were speaking to each other in their respective languages. I know more Spanish then he does at this point, so I was listening to him speak the words in Arabic. Turns out, I have no hope of even saying hello in Arabic, but the rules of the language are interesting. I took time to serve him cake which until he looked at the time, seemed doubtful. When I cut myself a slice I looked up and his was gone. I didn't ask why he ate it so fast, but later he told me he must fast until 8 pm for Ramadan. He has gotten so skinny it seemed insane for him to do that. So he explained that it was a necessary part of Muslim worship for this month. It is one thing to hear about religious fasts, it is entirely another to see the effects on a person you know. So I did some research on the event and can understand now how ingrained Islam is to its followers. Islam is a lifestyle, not just a religion. Putting that into perspective helps one understand the position of so many middle eastern Americans, as well as the ignorance of the general public.