Visions for the Future of Arab-Western Dialogue

According to the head of the 'international literary festival berlin', Ulrich Schreiber, this year's event aims to be a milestone for literary communication between Europe and the Arab world. Mohamed Massad talked to Ulrich Schreiber

Ulrich Schreiber (photo: Selme Marie Schreiber)
Ulrich Schreiber: "Now we want to intensify the contacts we've forged and the knowledge of Arab literatures in the West"

​​ The focus of this year's programme for the international literature festival berlin is on the "Arab region". What does the programme hold in store?

Ulrich Schreiber: The 'international literature festival berlin' (ilb) is the most international of all international literature festivals around the world. Every year we invite over 150 prose and poetry writers from around 50 countries on all continents to present and discuss their work at almost 300 events. In our "Reflections" category we address key political topics – this year that includes visions for the future of dialogue between the West and the Arab world.

The "Speak, Memory" section consists of readings from texts by authors who are no longer alive – all the way from Homer to Mahmoud Darwish. Another important part of our programme is "International Children's and Youth Literature" – more than 10,000 of our over 30,000 visitors are of school age, storming our morning readings at the 'Haus der Berliner Festspiele'. In recent years we've placed more emphasis on young literature, inviting authors who aren't yet known on the international circuit but have grabbed attention with debut novels in their home countries.

The festival has already featured various authors and musicians from Arab countries in the past. And now we want to intensify the contacts we've forged and the knowledge of Arab literatures in the West.

We'll be focusing our efforts on setting up a stage in Berlin, offering our guests from the Arab world a chance to present their literatures, their intellectual, cultural and political standpoints in an authentic way. We want to ask: what issues are moving the Arab world?

Is that the only reason why you chose the "Arab region" as the focus of this year's festival?

Logo of the 9th international literature festival berlin
From Homer to Mahmoud Darwish: the 'ilb' presents a wide range of literature

​​ Schreiber: In view of recent developments I think it's become absolutely essential to promote greater understanding for the Arab cultures in the West, if I may put it in very simple terms. And what art form is better placed to do that than literature, which tells us all about people's most intimate wishes, hopes and fears?

So the aim of the focus on the "Arab region" at the 9th international literature festival berlin is to open up the cultures of the Arab region for an interested audience, promote mutual understanding and encourage contacts between artists, players in the cultural industry and authors.

What were your criteria for selecting Arab writers?

Schreiber: To start with, I'd like to say that we always go to great lengths to get something approaching an overview of the literary terrain of our focus region, this year as every other year.

And our main criterion is naturally literary quality. We were advised by former guests from the Arab region, translators from Arabic, European publishers of Arabic prose and poetry, the Goethe Institutes in the Arab region and local authors recommended to us in Cairo, Alexandria, Ramallah, Dubai, Beirut, Damascus and Israel as well, where there are also many Arab writers.

We wanted to persuade outstanding authors from the region to take part, including writers from the younger generation not yet familiar with Germany.

What is your assessment of previous encounters between Arabic and German literature?

Schreiber: There are already various cultural projects focusing on the dialogue component of relations between the West or Europe and the Arab region. Our Focus programme aims to follow in the spirit of these projects – for example Peter Ripken's work at the Frankfurt Book Fair or the "West-Eastern Divan", a Berlin-based project devoted to improving mutual knowledge of the literatures of the Middle East and Germany, through encounters between authors from the two regions.

Assia Djébar (photo: dpa)
One of this year's guests at the literature festival: Assia Djébar, member of the Académie française

​​ Admittedly, we have seen an increase in interest in the literatures and cultures of these countries since 9/11 – the clearest expression of that being the Frankfurt Book Fair's Arabic focus in 2004. But in essence, the reception situation has changed very little: Arabic literature is barely published and read outside the region itself. The encounters have been too marginal in character to date.

What are your hopes for the festival's Arab focus?

Schreiber: That it will be a milestone in literary and cultural communication with the Arab world, that friendships will be forged and plans made by the German visitors to travel to these countries and intensify their contacts there.

What is your answer to authors from the Arab world who aren't in Berlin this year?

Schreiber: You mean writers who might be disappointed not to have been invited? My answer is this: the festival will go on for ever!

Interview: Mohamed Massad

© Qantara.de 2009

Translated from the German by Katy Derbyshire

Qantara.de

Literary Publishers in Cairo
A Special Form of Modern Publishing
The German literary publisher Axel von Ernst was invited to Cairo to talk with Egyptian colleagues about the local literary world, as part of a German-Egyptian cultural programme. He describes his impressions in this report

Obituary for Doris Kilias
Naguib Mahfouz's German Voice
Doris Kilias was the translator of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. With her pitch-perfect translations, she introduced his novels to a broad German audience – contributing toward his worldwide recognition. Doris Kilias died on June 1. An appreciation by Loay Mudhoon

Yasar Kemal and Günter Grass
Defenders of Diversity
They are both eloquent writers and contentious thinkers. The authors Yasar Kemal and Günter Grass met at the invitation of the German Academy of Arts in Berlin. The topic of discussion was the relationship between literature and politics. Ariana Mirza reports

www
9th international literature festival berlin