Frankfurt

After participating in the preparations for the 2004 Frankfurt Book Fair, where the Arabic World was the guest region, Palestinian publisher Allawi felt very disappointed. The Arabic participants in the fair, which was meant to serve as a bridge between the two cultures, were unpunctual in their preparations and often did not meet deadlines, which led to chaos. The spectrum of Arabic books was also less than diverse. There are hardly any translations from Arabic.

For these reasons, Allawi, the former deputy chairman of the PLO in Cologne, finds it is necessary to bring the Arabic world closer to the land of Goethe with novels, poetry, critiques and studies. He changed his sphere of work from politics to the arts. Arabic literature can convey an authentic image of the Arabic world and illuminate similarities.

Germans speak often of the image of Muslims or Arabs – rarely do they differentiate between the two. They speak of terrorists, illiterates, tyrants and the oppressed suffering from injustice and torture. They speak as well of the women, intellectuals and citizens who are stripped of all their rights. The media cultivates this image, making use solely of prejudices and stereotypes.

When asked why his publishing house will publish exclusively women’s literature, Allawi, who has lived in Germany for the past 40 years, replies: “To support courageous Arabic women’s literature. This literature is less subject to inner censorship than that of men. Men don’t want to show their dirty laundry in public.” The grey-haired young man continues: “Women write about problems and fears that men in a patriarchal society do not perceive.” He considers female Arabic authors the more politically courageous. There are innuendos in women’s literature “that the censors don’t register, without knowing the reason why.”

The woman as bearer of culture

His publishing house, which will print its first book in May 2009, focuses on the special role of women as mothers, teachers and bearers of culture. He gives women, as the more creative writers, a responsibility to function as ambassadors, pioneers and conveyers of Arabic culture. The publishing house, which took part in the last Frankfurt Book Fair, publishes translations of novels, poems, short stories, plays and literature studies. For the first two years, it will focus its interest on women’s stories; later other areas will be turned to as well. At present negotiations are underway with female authors from various Arabic countries.

Allawi adds that his publishing house is not interested in sexist or populist literature. These stereotypes are obviously appealing since they put the issues of veils, discrimination and oppression at the centre of attention. Like him, many Arabs have examined the market for Arabic books in Europe: “The number of Arabic books published in German is no more than six or seven works per year.” These include works by authors such as Rafik Schami, who writes in German. Allawi considers translations of Arabic books from a second European language as a risk for the Arabic cultural product. Books from Northern Africa, written in French, are also translated into German and sold here as translations of Arabic books. This bears the risk of losing the distinctiveness of the Arabic language with its expressive possibilities, beautiful imagery and metaphors. Most translators are specialized in interpreting or in the translation of press articles. It is difficult to find skilled translators for literature.

The writers and works are chosen by a commission consisting of Allawi and the Syrian critics Raschid Issa and Dalal Al-Maqari. Of course, he is aware that “founding a publishing house in Europe as the initiative of an older gentleman is a real risk.” Yet it is necessary to amend the errors made by politics in the portrayal of the Arabic world and its issues. For this, cooperation with German publishers is also sought. In the sales of his books, Allawi has targeted German women as the audience, as they read more than men and are curious to read books by women living in other societies.