I’m not about to discuss the artistic aspects of the TV series “Life-time friend”… however, I’d like to discuss the general side including the relation between the drama work and writing history… also, the timing chosen to air the dramatic work or publishing a book… third, I’d like to discuss the effect of this drama works on the collective consciousness and what results from this…
The second side I’d like to discuss
here is the one related to how much those producing such dramatic works are
keen on respecting the already-known history facts and how diligent they are to
know the truth about what was not a known fact or event but it has to do with
the circumstances surrounding the event… meaning the objective circumstances as
to timing or parties involved…
First, I’d like to affirm that no one is
above criticism except prophets… and even they, some believes are exempted from
judgment in what is related to the revelation issue… otherwise, they are humans
subject to all universal laws like everyone else…
Also, no one possesses indulgences of patriotism
or objectivity to grant or deprive whoever he wants… however, it’s a matter of
a historical scientific material that has its sources and references… and it’s about
the ability to tackle this material as per the established rules of discipline
in the branch of Historical Criticism…
Also, it’s about rules and scientific
tools known by Arts academies and institutions and which are taught to students
in phases of pre- and post-graduate studies… and if there was some kind of
pioneering work that rebels over those rules and tools and provides an
unprecedented new work… it comes after committing to the axioms of history and
sciences of screenwriting and directing…
Hereupon, violating or overstepping
these axioms on both sides; history or artistic aspects, reveals without much
thinking that this dramatic work has an undeclared goal away from telling the
historical truth or respecting objectivity…
In the general side, history does not
recognize imagination but drama does… drama uses imagination to complete some
aspects that serve the historical events and add more meaning to them without
touching what is already established and documented of those events… otherwise,
it would be forging facts… and of course you know that sometimes fake coin is
more shining that an authentic one…
The drama series “Life-time friend”
came in a very pivotal timing of transition in Egypt and the whole region from
a state into another new one… a new state raising slogans of bread, freedom,
social equality and independence of national will… like the case of Al-Karnak
movie, that also came in a very pivotal timing when Egypt was being prepared to
be ruled by those who looted it in the time of the unbridled Infitah…
those who paved the way for Mubarak long time ago before he came to power…
In that movie, the trick was about
magnifying and exaggerating the issue of oppressing freedoms, torturing and
other things in the pre-Sadat era… and saying: “but now – meaning the Sadat-era
– look, it’s the era of institutions, freedoms, security, safety, and also
faith”… they coined that motto; “the state of science and faith” so that they
can verify looting, stealing, monopolizing and collaborating with the USA and
end Egypt’s Arab and regional role… etc.
In my opinion, that series aims at
breaking the huge tsunami wave of nostalgia to Nasser… the idea, principles and
goals the man personified… also, it aims at distorting the essence of his
stances and not the stances themselves by focusing – falsely – on the man’s negativities
and depicting him as the one who misjudges circumstances and who always takes
the decision alone and as a result, commits destructive mistakes…
Also, the series did not pay attention
to the background and circumstances that surrounded many decisions and stances…
for example, nationalization… as the Syrian capitalism deliberately worked on
destructing the economy by smuggling their money and taking loans unjustifiably
from Syrian banks without paying back so that fall down can take place… and so nationalization
was the only way to stop this conspiracy…
There is a very important document
that reveals all the circumstances related to the experiment of the
Egyptian-Syrian union; it’s the document of the tripartite union negotiations
among Egypt, Syria and Iraq… this document included the wide open discussions that
took place between Nasser and representatives of both the Syrian and Iraqi Ba’ath
parties…
I believe it’s important to republish
this document and reread it in a historical criticizing manner as per the
established scientific disciplines… and not according to the wishes of those
who want to cut our current historical course seeking bread, freedom, social
equality and independence of national will… those who want to put an end to this
nostalgia that raises up high posters of a patriotic national Arab-national
liberal symbol like Nasser… they want to stop this normal healthy human
nostalgia.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in Al Ahram
newspaper on July 19, 2014.
To see the original article, go to:
#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #Nasser
#nostalgia #drama #history
No comments:
Post a Comment