Imran Abdullah
It is a family epic of magical realism, similar to the biography of the Boindia family in "A Hundred Years of Solitude" or "The Epic of Harafish" by Naguib Mahfouz, but this time it is taking place in an Omani village and focuses on three sisters: Mia, Khoula and Asma, Original in Arabic, and won the Man Booker International Prize.
The English translation of the novel "Women of the Moon" by Omani writer Jouja Al-Harithi, published in Arabic version of the Lebanese House of Arts, received the Man Booker World Prize 2019.
The Omani novelist, who is worth £ 50,000 (about $ 63,000), shared her American translator Marilyn Booth to become the first Arab novelist to win the prestigious award.
The characters of the novel, which is almost escaping from a historical book, travel on the appearance of animals, cars and airplanes. The revolution is against English colonialism, the smuggling of weapons and forbidden trade, and moves between Arab and urban deserts as smoothly as in a cyclical time.
Although the writer did not live the time of the novel, which mostly revolves around the local community, it relied on sources from the British archives, and the heritage and folklore of Oman, to embody the profiles of the three sisters and their emotional and social relationships, and depict scenes of ancient Omani life such as dates trade, pearl hunting, slavery, poverty, customs and traditions Popular.
Tracks of tragic emancipation
As if they were the tales of the grandmothers familiar, they were written in a graceful literary language that blends the exquisite Omani and the Omani dialects. Al-Harithi recounts with great brilliance their conflicting feelings, their life styles and the circumstances that shaped their real and imaginary characters at the same time.
The women of the moon live in their own world, steeped in customs, tragedies, and magic legends. The storylines follow a generation of women who are different from their mothers, but despite the transformations of the past and the present, they live in tradition, marriage and motherhood.
The novel is written in more than 60 short chapters. The reader learns about the family of Azzan and his wife and three daughters through what Abu London (Abdallah) tells. The novel approaches the narrator's feelings during his journey to Germany and his marriage to Mia, who did not agree with his romantic dreams. Received from his father Solomon slave slave and the story of his concubine cute.
In other chapters, the narrator narrates the stories of the three girls, who have taken different paths, including marriage, migration and separation, through the changes in society and Mia's mother, who overly adored and sewed and chose a non-traditional name for her daughter.
It is the journey of emancipation through docking, separation, stories of love, betrayal, struggle, disappointment, family, traditions and slavery; it is in the Omani town of Awafi, whose people fear the jinn and do not visit the maternity hospitals, and tell the story that is woven into the events at a time when the characters seek to ditch and complete love and marriage.
While reading the novel, the reader will be enchanted by the story saturated with Omani history and culture. Al-Harithi presents a combination of "Bedouin romance" and rich details of family life in an interconnected Bedouin society and a closed environment. However, despite the urbanization of the novel, the temptations and temptations of Muscat with its buildings and facilities are strongly present in the background .
Although they are not chronological, they are full of personalities representing different families, most of which are rooted in the family culture and traditions rooted in tribalism. The multiplicity of personalities has made it difficult to invest in their individual stories according to critical readings of the novel.
The social life of the novel's characters is not limited to political backgrounds. In the background, the Seab Agreement also appears between the Sultan of Muscat, who governs the coast and Imam of Oman, who governs the more traditional and isolated interior areas.
Despite the uniqueness of the novel, it is a place and a time. With a universal theme like love, it has become a universal human story, capable of conveying the characters of the community, their concerns and their human stories. Khawla waited for her long-time Canadian cousin to return and marry her and have two children.
Arabic and international literature
"We recognize this society in all its degrees, from the poorest families of slaves who work there to those who make money after the emergence of new wealth in Oman and Muscat," said the British historian Bettani Hughes, who said that through various aspects of people's lives, love and losses, Work begins in a room and ends with a world. "
"We felt that we were coming to ideas and experiences that are not usually offered in English, it avoids all the stereotypes you might expect in the analysis of sex, race, social discrimination and slavery," she said, adding that the work was both heart and mind and worthy of reflection. She was also a rich and linguist, mixing her rhythm between poetry and language.
The "Women of the Moon" was chosen after beating two long and short lists of the best fiction translated from writers from around the world, including Olga Tokarkock, Annie Arnault and Colombian Juan Gabriel Vazquez, according to the Guardian newspaper.
Hughes said that the judges loved the "hidden art" of Harthy's novel. "There is a kind of poetic skill to it. It begins to feel like a local drama in a magical world, but with layers of philosophy, psychology and poetry you will be attracted to prose through the relationship between characters; To read a little differently. "
Al-Harithi studied classical Arabic poetry at the University of Edinburgh and teaches at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat. She said in an interview with the award site after her novel was included in the long list; she is pleased that the award will draw attention to Omani literature and offer it to a wider audience.
She added that the Arab world has amazing writers ... throughout the region, not only in the centers of literary creativity known as Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco and others, but also in Amman, considering that these writers are similar in their circumstances, and the example of their sacrifices and struggle, They have fun writing or art.
Al-Harithi said she was inspired by much of Amman, but international readers can also draw inspiration from human values such as freedom and love.