5 | We would have liked to dedicate one chapter like this to the study of the language of affects and emotions that the writers of the emerging new generation have begun to employ in their writings,
that vividflexible language that is eager to make sophisticated use of the vocabulary (?)1
and invent new expressions that render the intended meaning powerfully and exactly/precisely.
And [I would also have liked to dedicate] another [chapter] to the interpretation of the meaning of art and the definition of its literary, moral and social mission as well as to the explanation of its rules;
We will therefore postpone the final parts of this study to our book Perspectives and Observations on Art / Aesthetic Contemplations, which we are about to publish.
[p. xv] We are following the example of Balzac, the master of French story-writers, in his writings, which are characterized by their humanism and all stage la comédie humaine.3
بمعنى أنّنا قد نتتبّع في قصصنا المقبلة حياة الأشخاص الذين صوّرنا صفحة من حياتهم في هذه القصص ، أو نأتي على صفحة أخرى من حياتهم ،
bi-maʕnà ʔanna-nā qad natatabbaʕu fī qiṣaṣi-nā ’l-muqbilaẗ ḥayāẗa ’l-ʔašḫāṣ allaḏīna ṣawwarnā ṣafaḥaẗin min ḥayāti-him fī hāḏihī ’l-qiṣaṣ, ʔaw naʔtī ʕalà ṣafḥaẗ ʔuḫrà min ḥayāti-him,
That means that in the following stories,4
we may trace the life of the characters whose lives we had described in some snapshots in these stories,5
or we present some other page of their lives,
Given that the only way for a writer to [really] study the human psyche is in novels,7
we will [try to] produce self-contained Egyptian (or: entirely Egyptian?) accounts8
that portray a general aspect of Egyptian life,
as we [also] have indeed written an account of this type that we called Between Love and Art9
in which we analyzed the finest nuances of the feelings of an Egyptian writer who is eager to become famous, including a description of the Egyptian art scene/milieu.
However, I have to confess that the question of the language in which the dialogues13
should be written has tired my mind and caused me much pain before I eventually found a solution for it.
Language, that is to say, is a tricky problem that any serious writer has to face, because there is such a big difference between [p. xvi] the language we write in and the language we speak.
AR: luġaẗ, kātib, fannī (fann) EN: …
فإنْ استعملنا الأولى ظهرت متكلّفة متنافرة شاذّة بعيدة عن الفنّ الذي يتطلّب المسحة الحقيقية والدقّة في تصوير الألوان المحلّية ،
If we use the former it appears mannered, inadequate, unnatural, far from the type of art that demands that the description of local colour be marked by realism and precision.
because the effect they have on the mind is most profound and because they help the writer study all the givens and issues, whether practical or philosophical or social or moral or psychological.
How then should we reconcile the language people speak in daily life with the high literary language that is to be used in written works?
AR: waffaqa (tawfīq), luġaẗ, ʔašḫāṣ, ḥayāẗ, luġaẗ, ʔadabī, rāqin EN: reconcile the language
ونذكر هنا للدلالة على عظم هذا المشكل أنّ صديقنا المأسوف عليه محمّد بك تيمور الثوروي الفنّي ارتأى بعد إمعان التفكير وجوب وضع الروايات القصصية المرسحية باللغة العامّية
To underline the importance of this problem, let us remind you here of the fact that our late friend, the revolutionary artist Muḥammad Bey Taymūr,15
had decided, after careful consideration, that theatrical plays16
should be composed in the vernacular/the language of the masses,
in order to imprint our literature with the [typically] Egyptian character and to make the stories closer to art and Reality/Truth, devoid of mannerism and stiffness.
AR: ʔadab, šaḫṣiyyaẗ, miṣrī (Miṣr / Miṣriyyaẗ), riwāyaẗ, fann, ḥaqīqaẗ, takalluf, ǧumūd EN: devoid of mannerism and stiffness
ونحن مع إعجابنا الشديد بفقيدنا العزيز ، لا يمكننا الموافقة على هذه الفكرة المتطرّفة الخطرة ،
For we are of those who are strong partisans of the [classical] Arabic language. We do not want Egyptian literature to become independent from Arabic literature.
We are of the opinion that in order to reconcile art and language, the dialogues should be written in an intermediate Arabic that is free from complex linguistic structures
AR: waffaqa (tawfīq), fann, luġaẗ, irtaʔà (raʔy), muḥādaṯaẗ ṯunāʔiyyaẗ, luġaẗ ʕarabiyyaẗ mutawassiṭaẗ EN: reconcile art and language, intermediate Arabic
وقد يتخللها أحيانا بعض ألفاظ عامّية حتّى لا يظهر عليها شيء من الجمود أو التكلّف ،
If the dialogues are short and condensed18
then the best thing we can do is to render them as they are, just as they come out of [the mouth of] characters of different confessions and races with their vernacular expressions and foreign gibberish.
wa-lā naẓunnu ʔanna-hū yaqūmu man yaʕtariḍu ʕalay-nā,
We do not think that anyone will stand up and disagree with us on that,
AR:…
فإنّ الكتّاب الفرنسيين أنفسهم الذين يعبدون لغتهم ويحافظون عليها أكثر من محافظتنا على لغتنا كثيراً ما يوردون في مؤلّفاتهم القيّمة التراكيب الأعجمية وألفاظ الألمان والإنجليز وعامّة الفرنسيين أنفسهم حال تكلّمهم لغتهم ،
as even the French writers themselves – who adore their language and are more eager to preserve it than we are to preserve ours – often insert into their valuable writings some foreign constructions, German or English words, as well as words used by the French masses themselves, exactly as they speak their language –
AR: kātib (kuttāb), luġaẗ, qayyim (qīmaẗ) EN: …
ولم نر أحداً منهم قام يظهر فساد هذه الخطّة أو يدّعی إهانتها للغة .
and we have never ever seen any of them stand up and claim that this strategy was a failure or an insult to their language.
AR: fasād, luġaẗ EN: …
فغايتنا الوحيدة من تأليف القصص والروايات العصرية المصرية أنْ نساعد على إيجاد أدب عصري مصري خاصّ بنا وموسوم بطابع شخصيتنا وأخلاقنا يتّفق مع ما بلغناه من الرقي والنضوج المبكّر البدري .
Our only aim with writing modern Egyptian stories and plays [or: novels?] is to contribute to the creation of a modern Egyptian literature of our own, bearing the stamp of our [national] character and specific identity and corresponding to the high level of progress and early maturity that we have reached.
AR: ġāyaẗ, taʔlīf, riwāyaẗ, ʕaṣrī (ʕaṣriyyaẗ), miṣrī (Miṣr / Miṣriyyaẗ), ʔīǧād, ʔadab, ḫāṣṣ (ḫuṣūṣiyyaẗ), ṭābiʕ, šaḫṣī / šaḫṣiyyaẗ, ʔaḫlāq, ruqiyy, nuḍūǧ, mubakkir, badrī EN: literature of our own, stamp of our [national] character and specific identity, progress, maturity
فهل نحن محقّقون الغاية التي نرمي إليها ؟ هذا ما سيحكم به الجمهور المصري ونؤمل أن يكون حكمه منزّهاً ومشجّعاً .
So, have we reached this aim to which we have been aspiring? This is what the Egyptian [reading] public will have to decide – hopefully, their verdict will be unprejudiced/unbiased and encouraging.