The tragedy of Arab culture

Author's name: Dr. Mazen Arefa Publisher: Al-Takween for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2014 Brief about the book: The tragedy of Arab culture by Mazen Arefa ... Dr. Mazen Arefa discusses in his new book "The Tragedy of Arab Culture," published by Al-Takween in Syria, the problematic of the Arab cultural scene in a scientific manner far from personal subjective vision, relying on scientific and theoretical foundations established in his previous book "The Magic of the Book and the Temptation of the Image: From Textual Culture to the Power of the Invisible," published by Al-Takween in 2007, using research methods derived from his specialization in the science of the book as a tool for collective communication. The author takes the crisis of reading and books in the Arab world as a starting point for research, posing many questions about the crisis of reading and the sharp decline of reading in the Arab world with the advent of the twenty-first century, contrasting it with the situation in the second half of the twentieth century. The researcher denies the general traditional question: Why does the Arab world no longer read? and affirms in a new formulation that our Arab world still reads but not as it used to do before, and at the same time does not definitively say that Arab societies used to read actively in the past, considering it a relative symbolic view. The author points out that reading as a phenomenon and practice is inseparable from the cultural contexts produced by social structures within their historical conditions, especially related to political, economic transformations, scientific developments, and technological achievements. Those who practice the act of reading are individuals who form part of the social structure, interacting in multiple dialectical relationships with internal components and external elements. Here, reading is defined on the social level within what the individual thinks and practices in reality through his belonging to a specific group as one of the forms of individual and collective communicative reception reflected in actions, in addition to direct contact with the natural and social environment that grants him the opportunity to develop his abilities and organized, systematic thinking to build his cognitive system. However, there are other manifestations of the reading crisis and questions directed at academic graduates who occupy sensitive official positions and set economic, social, scientific, and cultural policies, who have stopped the act of reading, which is considered a primary source of information. Dr. Arefa also addressed the reflection of the reading crisis on Arab publishing houses, linking the issue of reading with the crisis of the overall cultural scene, starting from attending theater, cinemas, art exhibitions, and others, and ending with the responsibility of weak and absent national cultural policies and their impact on generating ongoing cultural crises, without neglecting the transitional phase between the paper era and the electronic era, or what later became known as the (Communication and Information Revolution), which the writer considers as the new rich or the new millionaires (as he called them) the reason for the decline in reading due to the dominance of audio-visual systems and their control in the information and communication age, pushing aside the printed text entirely. He believes that the expectations of the information technocrats are incorrect, especially since print publishing has begun to thrive by benefiting from the power and capabilities of media and communication means. Additionally, a wide and broad segment of individuals worldwide still finds pleasure in dealing with printed books. The printed book remains the foundation of the educational process, and we cannot overlook the historical importance of printed documentation for all aspects of human life and activities throughout all eras, in all social and creative forms. As an extension of this historical matter, official paper documents still relatively dominate official and economic dealings. The author affirms that modern informational media, in their current forms, have not yet displaced the printed book or official documents. He points out that the economic crises that have swept and still sweep the Arab world, linked to a culture of corruption and a culture of consumption, are a significant reason for the reader’s reluctance to purchase books, visit cinemas, and engage in other activities. Poverty and high prices have become natural features in Arab societies, and individuals face daily pressures of essential needs, to the extent that their human dignity is compromised in their pursuit to secure these needs. This anxious pursuit by individuals to secure basic life necessities naturally pleases regimes that fear their peoples, because this search exhausts the physical and mental capacities of these peoples, leaving them no time to think about politics, culture, or social change. It does not matter to the regimes if reading or culture in general disappears.