Desert Voices: Bedouin Women’s Poetry in Saudi Arabia

As the title suggests, this book is a collection of Bedouin poetry written by women over the centuries. In fact, it’s closer to the truth to say the poetry preserved in this collection has been passed down orally from generation to generation of Arab women. Desert Voices has been compiled by Moneera Al-Ghadeer who is a professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the United States.

Lyrics of love and desire are explored in the first English translations of the rich tapestry of Bedouin women’s poetry. The book is also a progressive move in opening up the sphere of Arabic poetry to the wider world which in turn will lead to contemporary examinations and critiques. The more negative aspects of human existence are also explored such as a grievance and mourning, which together with the positive aspects provide an insightful exploration into the cultural heritage of the Bedouins (desert dwellers).

Moneera Al-Ghadeer herself is a talented writer and a deep thinker. Along with the poems, she offers her own interpretations and examinations of the works as well as making a case that Bedouin women’s poetry can become a literary theory to take its place beside the canons of European and American literary theories.

If you have a fondness for Arab culture, literature and in particular an interest in women’s rights in the Middle East, then ‘Desert Voices’ will provide a stimulating read. You can read further reviews of this popular poetry book here: ‘Desert Voices: Bedouin Women’s Poetry in Saudi Arabia‘.

The winner of the Million’s Poet competition will be announced on the 31st of March this year and Hissa Hilal, the Saudi housewife in question, is one of the favourites to pick up the hefty financial prize. The poetry competition results will be aired on Abu Dhabi state television which receives a large following across the globe. Nabati poetry, or Bedouin poetry is the main theme of the competition and is widely popular amongst Gulf Arabs.

Islamists have become infuriated with the contents of Hissa Hilal’s poetry which condemns the rigid Islamist social conditions placed upon women in Saudi Arabia. She also criticises the use of fatwas and has labelled the actions by extremist clerics as evil as well as writing a poem about such issues which is titled ‘The Chaos of Fatwas’. As Hilal says herself, she wants to “fight extremism which has become a worrying phenomenon”.

As well as condemning the separation of the sexes in Saudi society, the brave poetess has also damned the phenomenon of Islamic suicide bombings and has labelled the perpetrators as “monsters wearing belts”. The panel members of the contest which is held in the relatively moderate city of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates have so far been impressed with the Saudi housewife and have praised her outspoken attitude and bravery in the face of severe punishment.

In a nation where women are forced to cover from head to toe, including their faces and be unable to move around or work freely without a male relative, the freedom and expression of poetry becomes so much sweeter and indeed vital.

Next week some of Bin Laden’s poetry will be published in the academic publication, ‘Language and Communications Journal‘. Professor Flagg Miller of the University of California, an Arabic studies academic discovered the recitings on tapes found in the terrorist mastermind’s Afghanistan compound after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Millar said the recordings were passed around from person to person rather like pop songs are passed amongst teenagers. The professor’s analysis of the tapes shows Saudi-born Bin Laden to be a skilled poet who weaves mystical references as well as jihadist imagery into his verse, reciting centuries old verses alongside more current mujahideen-era work.

“[The readings] were sometimes given to large audiences when he was recruiting for jihad in Afghanistan… and other times they were delivered at weddings, or to smaller audiences, possibly in private homes,”

Many scholars have protested the upcoming publication fearing that the work has only become of interest due to the notoriety of its author and gives him an unfair forum. However Millar disagrees and believes Bin Laden to be a talented wordsmith with his own unique and distinctive style.

“They also show his evolution from a relatively unpolished Muslim reformer, orator and jihad recruiter to his current persona, in which he attempts to position himself as an important intellectual and political voice on international affairs.”

If alive, Bin Laden would almost certainly still be writing poetry, which is central to the oral traditions of his tribal culture.

“Poetry is part of the oral tradition in the Arab world, which Bin Laden uses to tap into the cultural orientation, the history and the ethics of Islam,” Millar said.

The dozen tapes are currently being refined and digitised at Yale University in the United States and public access is expected to be granted by 2010.