Tayseer Sboul
Tayseer Sboul | |
---|---|
Arabic | |
Nationality | Jordanian |
Genre | Poetry, essay, play writer, novel, translation |
Literary movement | Postmodernism |
Notable works | You as of Today |
Spouse |
May Yateem
(m. 1973) |
Children |
|
Tayseer Sboul (
Born on 15 January 1939 in
Sboul wrote his first novella, You as of Today, just after the Arab defeat during the 1967
Despite initial Arab military successes during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Sboul felt increasingly sorrowful and began to feel a lack of any hope to bring about positive change to the Arab world. On 15 November of that year, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. His friends established the Jordanian Writers Society after his death, an idea that was brought up in Sboul's writings. The Society holds an annual literary award in his honor and numerous Jordanian universities' literary conferences are held in his name.
Life
Sboul was born in
Sboul continued to attend high school in the capital
Sboul later moved to Syria, which he felt was more suitable for him with its traditional society, Arab nationalist sentiments and political activism. Studying law at the
After finishing his education in Damascus, Sboul married May Yateem, a Syrian-Bahraini writer and physician, and returned to Jordan with her. He took up a position at the country's Income Tax Department, and later interned in a lawyer's office.[1] He travelled with his wife, for her work, to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where they had a girl and a boy, Saba and Otba. Returning to Jordan in 1964 to open up a private law practice in Zarqa, he later accepted a position as a producer, writer and a host of a radio talk show called With the New Generation. The talk show was very popular because it hosted numerous Arab and Jordanian writers and poets. He continued working at the station until he died in 1973.[1]
Works
You as of Today
The decisive Israeli victory during the 1967 Six-Day War devastated Sboul, who was a firm believer in Arab unity.[6] The most famous of Sboul's works was his novella titled You as of Today, considered one of the first Arab historical fictions written in response to the 1967 War, in addition to his other two short stories, Red Indian and The Rooster's Cry. The title of the novella is inspired by the You as of Today Are Mine My Homeland patriotic song, which he sang emphatically on his way to visit the destroyed Allenby Bridge across the Jordan River.[6] He was still hopeful despite the destruction that he witnessed and was searching for a way to contribute to his nation. In Sboul's work, the protagonist emphasizes that he was not "forcing history into the narrative", and that the stories are actually realistic. According to his wife:[6]
He cried bitterly after the defeat and went to the shattered bridge to say goodbye to a part of his homeland, very dear to his heart, which was lost forever. He stopped writing poetry and started carefully reading history, looking for possible solutions or interpretations that might help him face what he saw as a dark and gloomy future.
Sboul later said that he was "looking for the last inch of what remained from my homeland… It was not just defeat; it was something else, much more… a nation drowning in sadness".
The novella is told by two narrators, one of whom is the protagonist, Arabi ibn Arabi (an Arab son of an Arab), while the other is also an Arab who interjects and explains the narrative. It starts with the escalation of the protagonist's problems, from failed relationships with members of the opposite sex to his dysfunctional family and political leadership.[6] The confused and lost protagonist returns to his old neighborhood to escape from the absurd and try to seek familiarity. The last two chapters tackle the 1967 defeat and its impact. The novella was a hit in the Arab world but Sboul never boasted about its success and said through the protagonist that "I write because it bothers me". His other two short stories did not receive much attention even though they complemented the novella's themes and Sboul's other works.[6]
Red Indian
Red Indian is the story of a young Jordanian man's journey toward independence and self-discovery away from his patriarchal and stubborn father.[7] It takes place in the westernized parts of Beirut when he lived there during the mid-1960s and early 1970s. The story tackles the social distance between eastern and western cultures. Sboul's writings were described by Nesreen Akhtarkhavari, an associate professor and the director of Arabic Studies at DePaul University, as bold and absolutely honest. His willingness to self-criticize was present throughout his work.[7]
The Rooster's Cry
The Rooster's Cry is a story about a prisoner's encounter with the outside world during the evening and the day after of his release.[7] His struggles to cope are found through his friend's wife, the female protagonist. He justifies this as rejection of what his friend has become; a boring, greedy, overweight capitalist and a social pariah. The woman becomes his savior by mending his heart and his fragile body. The story is filled with sarcasm and honesty without attempts at self-glorification.[7]
Social views
Women in Sboul's writings are central to many themes. For example, in What No One Told Us About Scheherazade, he sees himself as the only one who understands Scheherazade's oppression and her plight when others couldn't for centuries. Sboul considered the subjugation of women to be similar to the oppression of people in general and he saw himself as the only one who understood that and undertook the responsibility of exposing it through his writings.[8][9]
شهرزادي |
My Scheherazade, |
In Sboul's writings, casual sex is not a sin but rather a natural human encounter. This is in stark contrast to past and current Arab cultural norms. Some of his poems are erotic but the language he used remained gentle so as not to provoke cultural sensibilities.[8] One of his verses:[8]
حين أومأت رضى |
When she gestured in consent, |
Suicide
Separation is bitter and death is bitter. Everything that deprives a human from his humanity is bitter. And life is bitter. Boredom, the night, loneliness and being lost are all bitter. Our entire existence is bitter. Oh God how bitter that is! And my throat is also bitter. Sadeq, how fortunate it is that we die because death is our last bitterness.
One of Sboul's letters to his friend Sadeq Abdulhaq[3]
Sboul's sorrow over the Arab defeat in 1967 was followed by disappointment in the 1973
The morning after on 15 November, his wife returned from work and found him lying in bed. He told her to sit beside him and asked her if she believed in God, to which she replied in the positive.[3] He then asked her to go to the neighbor's house to use their phone to order a gas cylinder for their house.[3] As he watched his wife head to the house from his bedroom window, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.[3]
Legacy
Sboul's friends established the Jordanian Writers Society, which was suggested by him in his writings. The Society holds an annual literary award in his honor and numerous Jordanian universities' literary conferences are held in his name.[3][11] In 2012, Jordanian writer Habib Zyoud wrote a poem eulogy about Sboul titled My Oud is missing a string.[3] Sboul's works were translated to English and French in 2016 by Nesreen Akhtarkhavari, an associate professor and the director of Arabic Studies at DePaul University.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sboul 2016, p. 2–4.
- ISBN 9781628952698. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Tayseer Sboul". Jordan Heritage. 1 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- ^ "Tayseer Sboul: Walked with illusion and committed suicide after the fail of Arabism". Khaled Basheer. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- ^ a b c "'A nation drowning in sadness'". Sally Bland. The Jordan Times. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sboul 2016, p. 5–8.
- ^ a b c d Sboul 2016, p. 8–9.
- ^ a b c Sboul 2016, p. 10–11.
- ^ "Poet Tayseer Sboul". Alsh3r. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- ^ Sboul 2016, p. 13.
- ^ a b Sboul 2016, p. 3.
Bibliography
- Sboul, Tayseer (2016). You as of Today My Homeland: Stories of War, Self, and Love. Michigan State University Press. ISBN 9781628952698.