Nazik al-Mala'ika's poetry and its critical reception in the West - Modern Iraqi Literature in English Translation

Arab Studies Quarterly (ASQ), Fall, 1997 by Salih J. Altoma

As for al-Mala'ika's study titled "Literature and Cultural Invasion" (14:30-34), which she presented at the Fifth Conference of Arab Writers, Baghdad, 1965, it was a subject for commentary in English by two critics: Nissim Rejwan (73:16-17) and S. Moreh (70:273-274) in addition to what was written about it in Arabic sources (1:120-12). Rejwan's essay provides a summary of her study and partial translation covering crucial points which al-Mala'ika raised. They included her comparison between cultural and military invasions; her observation of the passive attitude of the Arabs which is evident, according to her, in their relinquishing "what is essential and superior to the West in our culture in order to embrace in its stead cheap and harmful commodity"; the loss of moral significance in Arabic literature; the spread of a pessimistic spirit; the new generation's abandonment of the Qur'an and its spiritual values; and the translation from Western literatures as a means of weakening the Arabic language. Rejwan ends his commentary, which was more journalistic than analytical, by translating al-Mala'ika's remark regarding writers who use the tragedy of Palestine to justify the gloom, the nihilism, and the general feeling of emptiness prevalent in Arabic writings. Al-Mala'ika argues that "the tragedy of 1948 has ignited the entire Arab homeland with the fire of struggle and Arabism leading to the great revolutions which took place in Cairo, Algiers, Beirut, Baghdad, and Yemen" (14:32). Irrespective of the reasons that might have motivated him to choose this study in particular for his commentary and publish it in a political journal hostile to the Arabs, Rejwan sought to illustrate an aspect of the Arab reaction toward the penetration of Western ways of life and ideologies at the expense of the Arabs' authentic traditions and their cultural identity. Using al-Mala'ika's study as an extreme and violent example, Rejwan also wanted to demonstrate that some who advocated resistance to the Western challenge were Arab thinkers and writers who were influenced by the West and were the product of what he called the "Age of Westernization."

Unlike Rejwan, who focused on the political aspects, S. Moreh, in his reading of al-Mala'ika's "Literature and Cultural Invasion," focused on the literary aspect of her argument, that is, the Arabs' imitation of Western literature. Moreh pointed out that al-Mala'ika reiterated her views in her letter to Suhayl Idris, the editor of the literary journal Al-Adab (Beirut) in which she criticized al-Adab for publishing indecent writings emanating from unethical attitudes toward life and existence. She referred to the journal's practice of publishing the works of young writers who excessively imitate contemporary Western writings which promote pessimism, atheism, decadence, and anxiety. Moreh cited also her criticism of a story by the Syrian writer Zakariyya Tamir which presents, in her view, a distorted image of the Arab city. Moreh's commentary included his translation of the following remarks (70:272-273):