Controversial novel of early Christianity wins the 'Arabic Booker'
A controversial Egyptian novel has won the Arabic equivalent of the Booker prize despite being the subject of religious attacks in its native country.
Youssef Ziedan's Beelzebub, set in fifth-century Egypt and Syria and dealing with the early history of Christianity, was named as winner of the $60,000 International Prize for Arabic Fiction in Abu Dhabi today, beating another contentious writer Ibrahim Nasrallah, whose work has been banned in Jordan.
Beelzebub, which purports to be the autobiography of an Egyptian-born monk who witnesses early Christian disputes in Alexandria as the city adopts the new religion, has caused a storm of upset in Egypt, where it has been denounced by the Coptic church as offensive, and described as the Arabic version of The Da Vinci Code. Critics particularly object to Ziedan's violent portrait of one of the fathers of the Coptic church, St Cyril; one detractor said the novel attempted to "Islamise Christian beliefs and [take] the side of heretics".
Despite – or perhaps because of – the criticism, the book has been a bestseller in Egypt. In an interview with UAE press today, Ziedan, a philosophy professor, said he had been "surprised" by the "unsubstantiated" attacks on his book, but had not allowed himself to be "led into a confrontation". "I was as flexible as I could be, and I did not respond to the assumptions that these official church 'decrees' were based upon, since I am waiting for those who are angry at my novel to read it with open minds, or for them to turn the other cheek, if they are not capable of understanding it in any deep way," he said.
He added that those who compared his novel to Dan Brown's had either read neither book, or were "ignorant of the essential difference between an adventure novel based on historical fabrication like The Da Vinci Code, and a philosophical novel written with blood, sweat and tears".
The prize, won last year by Egyptian author Bahaa Taher for Sunset Oasis, brings with it a guaranteed English translation of the winning work as well as a $60,000 cheque. Funded by UAE philanthropic organisation the Emirates Foundation in association with the Booker Prize Foundation, it is intended to find a wider international readership for Arabic literature.
Youssef Ziedan's Beelzebub, set in fifth-century Egypt and Syria and dealing with the early history of Christianity, was named as winner of the $60,000 International Prize for Arabic Fiction in Abu Dhabi today, beating another contentious writer Ibrahim Nasrallah, whose work has been banned in Jordan.
Beelzebub, which purports to be the autobiography of an Egyptian-born monk who witnesses early Christian disputes in Alexandria as the city adopts the new religion, has caused a storm of upset in Egypt, where it has been denounced by the Coptic church as offensive, and described as the Arabic version of The Da Vinci Code. Critics particularly object to Ziedan's violent portrait of one of the fathers of the Coptic church, St Cyril; one detractor said the novel attempted to "Islamise Christian beliefs and [take] the side of heretics".
Despite – or perhaps because of – the criticism, the book has been a bestseller in Egypt. In an interview with UAE press today, Ziedan, a philosophy professor, said he had been "surprised" by the "unsubstantiated" attacks on his book, but had not allowed himself to be "led into a confrontation". "I was as flexible as I could be, and I did not respond to the assumptions that these official church 'decrees' were based upon, since I am waiting for those who are angry at my novel to read it with open minds, or for them to turn the other cheek, if they are not capable of understanding it in any deep way," he said.
He added that those who compared his novel to Dan Brown's had either read neither book, or were "ignorant of the essential difference between an adventure novel based on historical fabrication like The Da Vinci Code, and a philosophical novel written with blood, sweat and tears".
The prize, won last year by Egyptian author Bahaa Taher for Sunset Oasis, brings with it a guaranteed English translation of the winning work as well as a $60,000 cheque. Funded by UAE philanthropic organisation the Emirates Foundation in association with the Booker Prize Foundation, it is intended to find a wider international readership for Arabic literature.
posted by temporal at 3/18/2009
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