Seoul (Union)
A number of Emirati and Korean writers and critics agreed on the impossibility of understanding and assimilating literature away from its social framework, and awareness of the historical context and the characteristics of the era in which literary works of different styles were written. The writers emphasized that the relationship between literature and society is based on mutual influence and influence, and in this context they cited many models and fictional and poetic works, which provided a glimpse of the most important features of contemporary literature in both the UAE and the Republic of Korea.
This came as part of the activities of the Sharjah Pavilion, which is participating as a guest of honor at the “Seoul International Book Fair”, where a dialogue session was held entitled “Features of Contemporary Emirati and Korean Literature”, moderated by Korean critic Sungchin Kim, hosting Dr. Badia Al-Hashemi, critic and professor of Arabic language and literature. University of Sharjah, and Dr. Aisha Al Shamsi, Emirati poet and critic, along with Korean novelist Sangang Park.
Features of the Emirati novel
Dr. Badia Al-Hashemi resumed the session with highlights on the presence of the local environment and the popular heritage in Emirati literature, during which she reviewed the features of the Emirati novel since its inception, passing through its current development, highlighting the experience of the writer Maryam Al-Ghafli as a model, who brings the spirit of the local environment in her works strongly that highlights the elements of the Emirati identity. , without being limited to the element of place alone, but rather all that it contains of customs, traditions and popular heritage, in a fictional project aimed at preserving local memory.
Al-Hashemi referred to the extreme symbolism of the launch of Emirati literature coinciding with the founding of the UAE, where the writer Rashid Abdullah Al-Nuaimi published the first Emirati novel entitled “Shahanda” in 1971, in an indication of the interest of the first generation of Emirati writers to participate in national efforts to enhance identity and build human beings. Emirati, and open a window for new generations to learn about the lives of their fathers and grandfathers, as they extend their arms to build their country with determination and determination.
Poetry between tradition and modernity
In turn, Dr. Aisha Al Shamsi focused, by virtue of her experience, on Emirati poetry and the characteristics of the Emirati poem based on classifying the experiences of Emirati poets between three generations. and rhyme. With the emergence of Emirati newspapers, access to contemporary Arabic literature began throughout the region, and a second generation of innovators arose, such as Ahmed Al-Madani, Kholoud Al-Mualla, Dhabya Khamis, Ibrahim Al-Hashemi, and Nujoom Al-Ghanim, who turned towards the taflih poem, in renewing the transcendence of form to content, quickly. What was accompanied by a third and current generation, including Asma Al-Hammadi, Najat Al-Dhaheri, Sheikha Al-Mutairi, Hassan Al-Najjar, and others.
Al Shamsi stressed that these stages are not separated by a clear and firm time limit, given the emergence of Emirati literature during close periods of time in the middle of the twentieth century, noting that the classification of Emirati poets as generations is only with the aim of facilitating critical study, and not an accurate chronological classification of their experiences, especially since the presence of poetry in Emirati culture remained a literary phenomenon present in the period before the establishment of the union, which is what is known as popular poetry, whose literary features were crystallized based on the aesthetics of the Emirati dialect used in the oral heritage.
The development of the Korean novel
For his part, the novelist Sangang Park talked about the characteristics of contemporary Korean literature, focusing on the novel, which began to emerge as a mature literary style after the outbreak of the civil war and the separation of the Korean peninsula into two countries, north and south, especially mentioning the experience of writer Choi In Hen and his novel The Field. Where ideological divisions, issues of war, and societal schism played a prominent role in it during the sixties, with a focus on the spirit of determination to survive amidst the massive destruction between the two parts of the country.
Park emphasized the penchant of Korean writers for experimentation, and the transition from the realistic novel to the stage of modernity and beyond, in keeping with the emerging changes in Korean society, especially in the south, where transformation dominated and the focus became more on the impulses of the human soul, and the state of inner emptiness of the person in the big city, which makes Korean literature is a rich material for rediscovering the human spirit, human life and thoughts.
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