What if the Arab world is not “east” at all, but a neighbor in “Al -Wasat”, and sometimes in “West”? And what if there was a cognitive school for its study, a thousand years old, which is radically different from the “Orientalism” that was associated with colonial domination?
This deep conceptual challenge is presented by a prominent Spanish Arabist, Ignatius Guterres de Tiran Gumith BenitaProfessor of Arab studies at the Independent University of Madrid, who believes that the Andalusian model is able to “build a more just and balanced relationship between the West and the Arab world.” From a Spanish perspective rooted in the experience of Andalusia, De Tiran calls for a revolution in terms and replace the political “Orientalism” with the “Spanish Arabization” that originally arose to study Arabic texts objectively.
But De Tiran’s critical vision does not stop there, but rather extends to boldly reveal how educational curricula in his country “seek to reduce the role of Andalusia in forming the Spanish identity” with ideological motives. He also believes that the Arab world has granted “excessive importance” to Orientalism, blaming it with the responsibility of Western policies that are not driven by academic research, but rather “the service of imperial interests.”
On the sidelines of his participation in The first international conference for Orientalism in DohaAnd in this dialogue with “Al -Jazeera Net”, Ignatius Guterres de Tiran dives in the nuances between his country’s cognitive experience and dominant Orientalism models, raising the future of the relationship between the two banks of the Mediterranean, and a corrective vision of the heritage of Andalusia and its role in building more fair bridges.
Guterres – Professor of Language, Arabic Literature and Contemporary History in the Islamic World participated in the Department of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Independent University of Madrid – in the conference with an important research paper entitled “The Renewal Role of Spanish Teaching in the European Orientalist Model”, in which he presented a critical proposal that is different from what is prevalent in the Orientalist field, and highlighted the privacy of Spanish ArabizationAnd its root in the historical and cultural context of Andalusia, and the fundamental difference in its representations of the Arab and Islamic world compared to the French and British models.
He studied the Arabic language and its literature (listener) at Cairo University in 1993 and the University of Damascus in 1994, and he completed his doctorate in 2000 the subject of “sectarian relations in Lebanon and Syria from the era of Ottoman organizations to the end of the twentieth century.”
He coordinated African and Asian studies, which is the jurisdiction in which Arab language and culture decisions were included in his university, and he had assumed the secretariat of his department for Arab and Islamic studies for a decade.
He translated several books from Spanish into Arabic, and conveyed to the Spanish language contemporary Arabic accounts of contemporary authors such as Ibrahim Al -Kony, Edward Al -Kharrat, Merid Al -Barghouthi, Alia Mamdouh, Bahaa Taher, Ghassan Kanafani and Mazen Maarouf.
Among his poetic translations into Spanish, we mention the collections of Muhammad Al -Maghout, Samih Al -Qasim, Mahmoud Darwish, Saadi Youssef and others.
Some Spanish literary works were also translated into Arabic as “Ali Bey’s Journey to Morocco” (2005), and he participated in the “Spanish” book “History of Contemporary Spanish Literature” (2006), and published articles in Arabic in several Arab newspapers and magazines.
He wrote several articles on Spanish and Arab literature and the contemporary Arab world, including: “The picnic of the hearts, in what is not found in the book“ The Levashi Al -Tifashi, and “Yemen .. the key to the forgotten Arab world” (2014), and “a study in Arab gender: Al -Rawd Al -Ater” (Madrid, 2015), and publishing a study on Arabic language and culture in Spain with a group of Spanish researchers who write in the language of Al -Dad in 2016, and “Arab revolutions .. Continued “(2017).
He also conveyed to the Spanish language “A message for the neighborhood and the boys” for Al -Jahiz (2018), and contributed to multiple studies and literature looking for the literature of the trip, including the article included in the group that was coordinated by the writer Nuri al -Jarrah (“Arab travelers and Muslims”).
Al -Jazeera Net Culture (@Aja_culture) January 29, 2024
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We would like to ask you about the research paper with which you participated in the conference, which was titled “The Renewal Role of Spanish Endowment within the European Orientalist model.” What made the Spanish Arabization different from others? Why did you describe his role as a renewal within this Orientalist framework?
First, we say that the term “Orientalism” carries with it many dual and dangerous meanings. For this reason, we try to call ourselves and the field of our studies in Arabic and Islamic in the name of “Arab studies”, and consider ourselves “Arabized”. Why? .. Because the Spanish Arabization began more than a thousand years ago, and it focused on studying Arabic texts objectively, especially Andalusian texts.
This type of Arabization, in the past and modern, is linked to a fabricated colonial colonial goals, as we have seen clearly in the colonial wave that appeared in the 19th century.
Therefore, we call for the restoration of these spiritual meanings, and those intellectual situations that we can call “Andalusian Arabization”.
We believe and believe that Andalusia can provide a rich historical and ideological material, from which we can derive new topics. More than that, we see that the Andalusian model can be a role model in adopting new criteria for building a more just and balanced relationship between the West, or the European world, and between the Arab world.
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“In a previous dialogue, you talked about the perspective of Andalusia as a bridge for communication between East and West, but at the time you refused two visions: the European vision that deny Arab and Islamic history in Andalusia, and the opposite vision that clings to a romantic imagination that ignores the reality of Andalusia. And Arabization?
I believe that this conference expresses a specific concept of Orientalism, which is the concept associated with the political aspect of Orientalism. As I mentioned earlier, we do not prefer to use this designation.
First, because it depends on a geographical concept, while we – we are in Spain, and I believe that this also applies to other European peoples – we do not see that the Arab world occupies a position in the “East”, but we see it occupies a position in the “center” and sometimes in the “West”.
Secondly, these studies, known as “Orientalism”, have emerged mainly in the 19th century, and were directed at specific purposes, represented in providing a specific image – often negative or inaccurate scientifically and objectively – from the Arab and Islamic world.
Accordingly, we move away from this vision, seek to correct it, and we hope to build a straight and sound vision, based on material facts, evidence, and logic. This is what we aspire to.
And I believe that “Andalusia”, in the eyes of the Arabs themselves, can also represent this balanced vision: a vision based on contact, friction, and continuous communication between ancient European civilization and ancient Arab civilization as well.
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In your paper that you presented at the conference, you dealt with the reality of educational curricula in modern Spain, and in Europe in general, especially with regard to the education perspective of the Andalusia era, and how to deal with this stage in schools and universities. You have expressed a critical opinion in this context. How do you evaluate the educational curricula from this angle? How do specialized researchers and academics view the experience of Andalusia and its role in European history?
Unfortunately, we must say that the Andalusian era did not obtain its share of fairness and presence as it should, especially in schools, specifically in the educational curricula. Andalusia, although it is a highly important historical period, is foundational and formative at the same time, does not occupy a place little in these curricula.
This indicates, on the one hand, the decline in educational standards in my country, but – but – maybe more dangerous – indicates, on the other hand, the decline in deliberate interest in Andalusia, as if there are certain political and ideological intentions that seek to reduce the role of Andalusia in forming the Spanish identity.
For our part, we are trying to restore the consideration of Andalusia, and to re -present it in a proper presentation, as a basic stage in building the Spanish identity. No serious reading of the modern history of Spain can ignore the unique characteristics and features that have been characterized by Andalusia.
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In this conference, we witnessed a remarkable focus on what is known as “new Orientalism” and the role of research centers and political studies in its formation. In your opinion, to what extent the Orientalist perspective, whether traditional or new, still has an impact on the formation of the policies pursued by global powers towards the region The Middle East? Do you think that this effect is still active and direct in drawing the features of these policies?
I believe in my personal belief that Orientalism has gained excessive importance, especially in the Arab countries, as many Arabs believe that Orientalism had a great role, but rather Assad’s share, in shaping the Western political vision of Islam and the Arab world. I believe that Orientalism represents part of an intellectual and ideological system that seeks to justify the European role first, then the American second, worldwide.
Hence, what we call today “Orientalism”, “Orientalist Efforts”, or “Orientalist Vision”, may be more accurately expressed as the vision of Western culture in general, as it is manifested through the media and some writings and literature. Those who are called the “Orientalists” may be part of this mechanism, but they do not necessarily constitute the essence of the intellectual vision or the formative vanguard of the Western world as we know it today.
Modern colonial policies, in the 21st century, have nothing to do with that academic Orientalism practiced today in universities. These policies belong to another area completely, the field of serving imperial interests, political, economic and geopolitical interests. It is something other than other actors, who have nothing to do with orientalists, neither from near nor from afar.
What I want to say is that sometimes we hear those who say that so -and -so may attack the Arab culture, or he said that Islam is a backward or below level, or he claimed that Muslims are still suffering from “ideological backwardness”, so the half of this person is “oriental.” But what do we really mean when we call one of them a “desirable” or “non -Orientalist” characteristic?
For me, the orientalist – regardless of his position on Arabs or Muslims – is a person belonging to a specific intellectual and scientific school, which is the school concerned with Arab and Islamic studies. It is assumed that he is familiar with the Arabic language, elaborate on Islamic sciences, and has good knowledge of Islamic societies.
However, on the other hand, we find that many of those who attack Islam and the Arabs – right or unlawfully – do not belong to this school, and do not know ArabicAnd they do not understand anything about oriental societies. Thus, we cannot consider them part of this cognitive field. This is what I want to emphasize, sometimes we carry Orientalism with roles that have nothing to do with.
Many of these do not understand anything in culture, literature or history, and all their concern is to influence the policies of their internal countries, and they try to persuade their governments to take certain positions towards some Arab or Islamic countries. Often these guidelines or influential endeavors are driven by specific economic and political interests.
Do some orientalists participate – with their names – in these operations? Unfortunately, yes .. but the Orientalist School, in its deep academic and scientific meaning, is much larger than these narrow political and ethical uses.
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We witnessed in the conference many discussions on the topic of “surprise” .. How do you see this concept? Is there an alternative perspective or a kind of knowledge that the people of the East can adopt towards the West? Do you think that there is a reality or curricula for surprising studies at the present time?
Once again, what is meant by the concept of “surprise”? .. If the surprise corresponds to Orientalism in terms of the negative connotations of the two terms, it is a mistake that corresponds to a mistake. If Orientalism is a process that cannot be considered positively positive, given that it is fabricated and impressive, then surprise – if it is considered a response to it or equivalent to it – must make the same mistake.
In any case, “surprise” is a strange designation as well, and I do not know to what extent we can talk about organized or systematic “surprise”. And I imagine that there are some thinkers and intellectuals, and even some Arab scholars, who talk about the West in a negative and non -scientific way, but this is not an intellectual school that we can benefit from or rely on.
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The conference was talked about the relationship between Arab policies towards Palestine And what is related to the Orientalist perspective. Perhaps you agree that this perspective has some foundations and reality, as the orientalists have long viewed these peoples as primitive or unjust. This was a message to the Western person, to bear the responsibility of “preparing” these peoples and rehabilitating them to be ready to live in the modern era. This perspective was used at least in the middle of the last century to form the policies that were established for British colonialism and then for the Israeli establishment .. What do you think about this matter?
Once again, if we consider or Orientalists today those who work within a specific academic and methodological framework – that is, in the field of studying the Arab world and Islamic history, for example – we must acknowledge that a large number of them are standing today alongside the Palestinian issue.
If we went to many universities, academic institutions, and research centers, and we asked those who know the Arab world and write about it, we would find that a high percentage of them -from Spain to RussiaThey sympathize with the Palestinians and support their cause. The reason for this is that they know the issue real knowledge, and they have a deep knowledge of what is going on on the ground, more than others.
Therefore, contemporary Orientalism should not hold the responsibility of the pro -most supportive Western position, for Israel or the Zionist project. The problem does not lie in Orientalism, but rather in a system of liberal economic and political interests, as well as in the pressures exerted by the Zionist propaganda mechanisms, which are strong mechanisms that still dominate the decision -making and formulate public opinion in the West.
Hence, we must distinguish between the two. There are “orientalists”, who suffer a lot because they are explicit criticism of Zionism and Western policies supporting the regime Tel AvivAnd they are standing against these policies, but it is the culture founded in the West – that is, the Western cultural mechanism – that makes this biased vision.
However, I am optimistic. And I believe that this mechanism and this ideological industry are declining, and that Zionism It will gradually lose its strength and influence. This is very necessary, because Zionism does not only represent a calamity for the Palestinians, but also a calamity of human justice, and the stability of the entire world.