Reviving Arabic Poetry with Animation

Visual Poetry Reviving Arabic Poetry with Animation by Nissmah Roshdy ‫شعر‬ ‫عربي‬ Bachelor Thesis and Documentation Submitted by Nissmah Roshdy 8th Semester ID: 19-3607 Supervised by Mikala Hyldig Ahmed Saqf Al-Hait Media Design Department Faculty of Applied Sciences and Arts The German University in Cairo This is to certify that: 1- The thesis comprises only my original work towards the Bachelor Degree 2- Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used Signature ‫نبذة‬ ABSTRACT This research discusses how Arabic Poetry can be reenacted through the medium Poetry ilms. It gives an account the diferent movements of Arabic Poetry, and how the role they played in the Arab and Egyptian culture have changed over time. The research also discusses the new approach of Poetry ilms made with animation that visualize poems in various techniques, and attempts to see how these techniques can be incoporated to create an Animated Poetry Film that visualizes an Arabic poem. ‫فضال‬ ‫ا‬ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I dedicate this to members of my family for their continuous I would not have reached the inal result without his coopera- support and tolerance of my stress. First for my mother, who tion. In addition, my colleagues Seif El Din Khaled and Ner- passed her love for Arabic poems on to me, who always illed min Mohab for giving me the track that insipred this project, the house with its subtle verses, and who always encouraged me though they are not aware of the imapct they have made, I still to write poems when she knew they will be in English. Second owe them the mentioning of their names at least. to my elder sister who assisted me in gathering and analyzing Finally, I owe this to the wondrous mind and spirit of the poet the indings of this research, I am greatful for her time. Mahmoud Darwish, whose work touched me immensely that it I owe my thanks to profesor Ahmed Wahby from the Theory pushed me to conceive this whole project, and motivted me to Department, who encouraged me to take on this project when I show people what he, and the other generations of poets, have had my doubts and fears about it, and who was the only one to given us with their art. recognize the efort and extra work I did for my project. Also I would like to thank teaching assistant Ayman Abo el-Kheir for not hesitating to lend me his tools to help me with my design; ‫فهرس‬ INDEX I. Introduction 1. Poetry: The Art and its inluences 2. Aim of the project 3. Personal Motivation II. Arabic Poetry: Then and now 1. Movements 2. Shifts and problems III. Animated Poetry Films 1. Usage for Educational Purposes 2. Visual directions in Animation IV. Methodology 1. Research methods 2. Studying Arabic Poems 3. The poem La’eb Al-Nard 4. Finding the Aesthetics 11 11 13 15 17 17 24 33 33 34 41 41 45 49 54 5. Visual study of the Poem V. The Final Design 1. The Film 2. Limitations 3. Future Development VI. References 67 81 81 84 86 89 ‫مقدمة‬ INTRODUCTION 1. Poetry, the Art and its inluences From the dawn of time, Man has frequently developed did in his book Naqd al-shi’r ‘Evaluation of Poetry’, saying that a tendency to depict their emotional experiences through dif- it is a ‘discourse that is metered rhymed and conveys mean- ferent forms of Arts. With the evolution of language and its ing’. However because of the diferent styles and approaches of development into an essential part of the human identity (M. Arabic Poetry, various deinitions has fallen upon it by Poets Bucholtz, K. Hall, 2004), language as a result became another and inspired audience such as that of Muhammed al-Muway- medium for art expression. From this medium, the art of Poetry lihi in 1930 described it with ‘one of the conditions of the soul’, was born; a literary art that revealed the true beauty of human- dictating that it has profound and ambiguous mystical im- ity’s linguistic capacities. Whether it was English Poetry, Greek, pacts on the human emotions. These deinitions do not difer Medieval French, or Chinese, each culture’s approach in Poetry from the general understanding of English poets like William has its own characteristics, which testify to the aesthetics of Wordsworth and his famous deinition of poetry: ‘the sponta- each language. An apt example of this is the approach of Ara- neous overlow of powerful feelings’. bic Poetry. Many scientiic and practical deinitions of Arabic Poetry describe it the way the Arab scholar, Qudamah ibn Ja’far Being a strong and rich medium, Poetry has engaged and inspired works in several ields, formally in Literature, 11 then in Music and Dance. In the recent years however, with the ‘Poetry Films’, often combine the recitation of the poem (oral evolution of what is called ‘Media Art’, and the development of performance), the text of the poem (sometimes), and in many the human perception of both real and virtual imagery, Poetry cases Music with moving images whether ilmed, composited, seems to have spread its mystical inluence on yet another ield; or animated. Animation, a ield that has grown perpetually and which has 12 Animated Poetry ilms have been increasingly created to recently reshaped our experience of Poetry in return, creat- visualize various poems of diferent languages, however there ing ‘visual’ Poetry. The attempt to visualize the emotions and are hardly any attempts to visualize Arabic poems. There has meanings of a Poem had initially taken the form of calligraphy been a tendency to use the recitation of some poems in live and typography, creating a style known as Concrete Poetry1. action ilms or music videos, however as we will come to see, Later on, the visuals started to take the form of paintings, those ilms use the poems to merely serve a dramatic purpose photography and then short ilms. Now it has expanded into for the sake of a certain idea in the ilm. In other words, they do Animation, paving a way for more fascinating and engag- not essentially visualize the poems; thus we cannot categorize ing visuals of Poetry. The approach, generally given the name them as Poetry ilms. Furthermore, the attempts to visualize 2. Aim of the project Arabic poems with animation are very few and do not actually After the research and observation, it occurred there is a ofer visual imagery. It seems that the approach or the idea of lack of appreciation for Arabic Poetry spread between the elite ‘Animated Poetry Films’ is quite alien to the Arab and Egyptian classes of Egyptian youth. As part of a process of westernization animation artists and ilmmakers. When at the same time, it is that is making them develop less interest in their language and important to denote that the popularity of Arabic Poetry, with their culture, which is causing an ‘identity crisis’ in the grand all its types, has been very unstable and inconsistent, especially perspective (M. Taha et al., 2011). It is disappointing to realize when it come to the Egyptian youth. This leads us to the aim that this sector of the Egyptian society is facing an crisis where- of this research, which attempts to explore how some types of as those well-educated young people are the ones who should Arabic poetry can be revived and reenacted through Animated lead the uprising of Egypt. For this reason, the upper and Poetry Films. upper-middle class youth are the main subjects of this research. As we will come to discuss later, Arabic Poetry has long been a medium through which Arabs, including Egyptians, have expressed their culture and established their sense of Arab 1. Concrete Poetry: An attempt that uses the typographical arrangement of words to convey a certain idea or characteristic of the poem FasiH : Derived from fusHa, which is the formal language of Arabic as it was used in the early centuries. 13 identity. At the same time, the image that the world has of the of Arabic Poetry using animation. It should revive the taste for Arab persona nowadays remains, in a negative manner, quite it, make it easier on young people to understand, and refute ambiguous. Therefore, I ind it very relevant and important the misconception perpetuated around it _that it is always that in this particular period of time a certain revival of the too complex, boring and old-fashioned. The ilm should also ‘Arab’ identity should take place in Egypt. Due to the recent manage to make young people appreciate the formal or fusHa2 post-revolution atmosphere of chaos and disappointment, it is Arabic language more and/or recognize its aesthetics. important in this sense for Egyptians to reconnect not just with their unique ‘Egyptian’ identity, but with their ‘Arab’ identity as well. This stands as the ultimate goal of this project of reviving Arabic Poetry, as a means of reviving the Arabic language and the Arab Identity amongst Egyptian youth. The end result should be a poetry ilm that visualizes a modern Arabic poem, which mainly attempts to reenact a type 14 3. Personal Motivation Choosing a topic like this was personally challenging repetitive exposure to sensational Arabic Poems, before and af- for a number of reasons. First, as a person who is immensely in ter the January Revolution in Egypt. Even though it has struck love with the art of Poetry, I fully understand that it has always me nowadays after working on this project that English Poetry been a matter of taste, which varies from each person, and and Arabic Poetry are drastically diferent and that I can never certainly from each generation to the other. Apart from this, simply shift between both, I felt that, as a poet, I could still do the main challenge perhaps was the fact that my irst encoun- something with this glorious form of Art that I should have ter with poetry was in English language, and I started writing taken on years ago. For that reason, I can say that this project English poems at the age of 10, nourishing my admiration and is my personal tribute to my mother-tongue language, and to interest in English poetry more and more. However, whenever I Arabic Poetry. inish a poem, I had often experienced a feeling of incompleteness or imperfectness, thinking that I ought to have written my poem and expressed my emotions with my mother tongue language. What also reinforced this feeling was my recent and 2. FusHa: The formal Arabic language that is used in all Arab-speaking countries; it is known as the language of the Holy Quran. 15 ‫الشعر‬ ‫العربي‬ ARABIC POETRY, THEN AND NOW 1. Movements Arabic Poetry is evidently the irst form of Arabic litera- 1.1 Classical movement It started with the classic movement that introduced ture and is considered by many scholars to be, along with cal- the irst category of poems called FasiH 1 Arabic Poetry, which ligraphy, the most signiicant form of art nourished by the Arab produced lengthy and highly metrical Poems written in the world that represents its culture and depicts its heritage. Since fusHa Arabic and depended on very precise rhyme schemes, its birth around the 6th century, Arabic Poetry has always been sophisticated wordings and extensive igures of speech. There a means of expression through which Arabs with passionate are numerous accounts of how Arabs practiced this form of Po- articulation expressed their Arab identity, and it went through etry and how it was a part of their everyday lives. In pre-Islamic numerous radical changes that revolutionized the way it inlu- Arabia and after, Poetry was considered as both a Science and enced the Arab culture. However, the point most astonishing to an Art; it was an part of children’s basic education, making the declare is that, this art went from being a signiicant trait of the whole of society have a good understanding of Poetry and an Arab persona, to being hardly understood by many Arab gen- appreciation for it2. Arab Poets of this movement like Imro’ El erations in the present time, speciically in Egypt. Kays, Abu Nawas and Al-Mutanabbi were highly regarded and given a kind of celebrity admiration. In the book 17 An Introduction to Arabic Literature by Roger Allen, it is de- how signiicant the role of poetry was in the lives of Arabs, and scribed how the poems adopted the characteristics of the Arab how it should still have the same importance to the millions of persona and the “accepted codes” that the society was built Arabs who still read and practice the teachings of the Qur’an. upon, transcending “the individual level to become an intrinsic part of the society’s political and social fabric”. The way they were composed and performed helped in “the establishment of the sense of cultural identity and maintenance of its core values” within the Arab society (p.85). An important fact worth mentioning is that the holy scripture of Islam that irst appeared in the Arab region was evidently inluenced by the Arabs’ mastery of Poetry. The Holy Qur’an as a text was written in a complex form of believably ‘divine poetry’ that was sent speciically to bewilder its irst recipients, Arabs (p.69). This proves Fig.1 “Al-Mutannabi” 18 1.2 The Modern Movement The modern movement of Poetry also played an inluential region that their identity was being threatened by the West- role in Arabs lives, but perhaps not as regular as that of the ern other. On the count of this, Arabic Poetry in Egypt and classical movement. It started in the 19th century during the the Arab region started to adopt National and Political causes. period of Al-Nahda ‘The Renaissance’, when poets started to The works of poets like Ahmed Shawqi, Haiz Ibrahim, Nezar gradually abandon the precise metrics of the classical move- Qabbani and Mahmoud Darwish, who all contributed to the ment, and write in the fusHa Arabic but more freely (p.75). national identity that people developed during the hardships This introduced a new type of Prose Poetry _a one which does of warfare. Since that time, Arabic Poetry in Egypt has been not depend on measured rhyme schemes, however it still fell imbued with themes of patriotism. under the category of FasiH Arabic Poetry. As discussed in the book Modern Arabic Poetry by Soraj Moreh, it was a result of a foreign inluence (p.11), which did not just afect the Arabs’ way of expression, the usage of rhyme schemes and the igures of speech, but also caused a general feeling around the Arab 1. FasiH: adjective derived from fusHa 2. From the article Ahameyet Al-She’r Al Mo’aser ‘The importance of Contemporary Poetry’ by the poet Faleh El-Hogaya Al-Kilany, 2010 19 1.3 Revolutions and Egyptian Poetry After the Second World War and the 1952 Egyptian revolution, Egyptian poets like Salah Jahin, Abd El-Rahman El Abnoody and Fu’ad Haddad, introduced a new category of Arabic Poetry written in the ‘slang’ Egyptian language3 instead of the fusHa Arabic. On the count of this, Egyptian Slang Poetry seemed to completely transform the aesthetics and traits of the Arabic Poem as it has been for centuries when it adopted an obvious Egyptian characteristic that only Egyptians might connect with. For this reason, it is rarely identiied as ‘Arabic’ Poetry, but is commonly classiied as just ‘Egyptian’ or ‘slang’ poetry. Despite this new movement, FasiH Arabic Poetry, both Prose and Classical, was still being written and appreciated, like the works of poets like Ahmed Shawqi and Mohammed Fig.2 “Abd-El-Rahman El-Abnoudy” 20 Ibrahim Abu Senna and Amal Donqol. Nonetheless, this movement in particular seemed to unite the Egyptian public in one Ali Salama and Eman El Bakry. As history repeats itself, the revolution of January 2011 emotional experience and one political cause like they never changed the case. During and after the 18 dramatic days in the had before. Poems like this were used in the music movement Tahrir Square, a rapturous revival of poetry was again witnessed ignited by artists like Abdel Halim Hafez, Om Kulthum and with a new generation of poets like Hesham El Gakh, Farouk Nagat, who collaborated with these poets for the same cause. Goweda, Amr Katamesh and Zap Tharwat, uniting Egyptians In time, with the deterioration of the country’s once more and reviving their taste in Arts with poems in both economic status, another type of Poetry was produced with a Egyptian slang and FusHa Arabic as well, this time it was spe- satirical style. Satirical Poetry can be in FusHa Arabic or Egyp- ciically amongst the youth. Hesham El Gakh became instantly tian slang, or a combination of both. Since the Egyptian society admirable because of his subtle slang Egyptian poems, and is known to have a tendency to mock their ill fates and turn it many Egyptians routed for him when he also recited FasiH into humor, satirical poems were received well by the Egyptian Arabic Poetry in the Emirati show Amir Al-Sho’araa’ ‘Prince of audience, some popular works of this style are of poets like Poets’ for poetry contests. Another poetry sensation was 3. The slang Egyptian language is Arabic but its usage of vocabulary and grammar is drastically altered and inluenced by other foreign languages of colonies that had occupied Egypt, like French, Turkish and English. 21 Fig.3 “Hesham El Gakh in The Prince of Poets” 22 Fig.4 “Amr Katamesh in Arabs Got Talent” Amr Katamesh, who wrote and recited a unique style of satiri- Music, and TV shows. Nowadays, with the disappointment cal-fusHa-Arabic poetry called Halamantishi. During the days of many Egyptians after the revolution, it is hard to say if the in Tahrir, Katamesh competed in the irst season of the show youth’s regard for Arabic Poetry with all its styles has dimin- Arab’s Got Talent, and surprisingly won the competition. Abd ished, for it depends on the timings and situations in which El Rahman El Abnoudy returned with his poem Al-Midan ‘The poets and poetry works reveal themselves. However, the poetry Square’, which became the most recognized poem of the revo- style that is rather becoming the least popular and appreciated lution and was featured in the most popular song about the is the FasiH Arabic Poetry. Along many years many negative Tahrir Square, Sout El-Horeya ‘Sound of Freedom’ by the band stereotypes have been developed around FasiH Arabic Poetry, Cairokee4. and even now after the second revolution and the second and Despite all of this, it was a kind of swift celebration brief revival of the Egyptian identity, it is still receiving miscon- of poetry. We can deduce that it was only encouraged by the ceptions. This lack of interest in poems in fusHa Arabic is evi- Egyptian’s new vigorous feelings after the revolution. Moreover, dently present in Egypt more than it is in other Arab countries, similarly to the prior revolution, it was again ignited through as it has been presumably encouraged by diferent factors. 4. The music video of the song Sout El-Horeya http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgw_zfLLvh8) 23 2. Shifts and Problems 2.1 From Oral to written Learning to write Arabic poems is one thing, and learning to recite them is another thing. Reciting Arabic Poetry is an lar to the competition known as ‘Poetry Slam’ that has spread over many American, European and even Asian countries. However, the tradition is comparatively less practiced in Egypt. art by itself, and a tradition that has been carried out since the birth of the Arabic poem. It is considerably the original form through which Arabic Poems came to exist, in other words, its initial mode of communication (Zwettler, 1978). The Oral Tradition of Classical Arabic Poetry: its Character Implications. Ohio State University Press. However, this tradition has become decreasingly popular since the evolution of modern print technology. The oral tradition of Arabic Poetry is still popular in Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region, as they still conduct activities, festivals and shows for reciting poetry, simiFig.5 “Tamim El-Barghouty” 24 Except for the times of the revolution, there are only few occa- standing the hidden poetic messages more exciting and easier sions and places known to still organize cultural events for re- on the poet to communicate. On the other hand, this efect is citing poetry like the Opera house or El-Saway Culture Wheel. not found upon the act of reading an Arabic poem. Even if it Converting from the oral tradition to the reading tradi- gives a space for relection and interpretation, it has diminished tion has inluenced the way the Egyptian audience experience a trait or a kind of amusement the Arabic poem always had. the Arabic poem. Since the oral tradition depends on speciic Moreover, If we come to analyze all the occasions we discussed rules of utterance and rhythm that produces a musical efect, in which there was a poetry ‘mania’ in Egypt, we will ind that it controls the way the audience understands and perceives the they all had poems that were ‘heard’ in television shows or poem. The poet Mahmoud Qahtan described in an article the music videos, in other words, the poems were recited, per- basics of reciting poems and how the poet or performer stresses formed out loud, not printed. on certain words, repeats certain verses, expresses the meaning with his body movements, and above all interacts with and engages the audience 5, which makes the experience of under- 5. http://mahmoudqahtan.com/?p=5264 May, 19, 2013 25 2.3 Education School Education represents most people’s irst source of knowledge of Arabic Poetry. In the beginning of the re- creative attempt to describe the movement of an Arabian horse, search, I attempted to ask some people from the youth genera- but rather because of the general distaste of its obsolete usage tion, ‘How much do you know about Arabic Poetry?’ and I did of language and nearly-impossible-to-grab metaphors. In fact, not use the words ‘fusHa’, nor ‘Egyptian’ nor ‘slang’. In spite students in Egyptian high schools for some time were actually of that, among the frequent answers I heard were ones that obliged to memorize parts of Al-Mu’allaqa, and being a very so- referred to the poems of Imro’ El Kays or A’ntara Ibn Shaddad; phisticated poem and outdated, I ind the task very hectic and the irst Poets from the classical movement who wrote long unreasonable. This is not a criticism of the poem Al-Mu’allaqa, romantic poems, which happened to be included in the Egyp- but of the method by which it is taught and its possible cause tian high school syllabus of Arabic literature. In many occa- for the incorrect stereotype developed around FasiH Arabic Po- sions, people even sarcastically recited the poem Al-Mu’allaqa etry; that it is all about sophisticated, heavy and archaic expres- by Imro’ El Kays going “Mekaren, mefaren, moqbelen”, which sions and metaphors. is one of the most identiied verses of FasiH Arabic Poetry, 26 however, it seems that the verse is not famous because of its Another important fact to mention, the study of the Arabic Language and Arabic Literature in Schools is becom- formation of their cultural identity, and so if they are studied ing widely disliked and considered as a heavy burden for many in a foreign language, it afects their appreciation of their own students, especially in international and foreign private schools culture. Accordingly, upon this phenomenon the disregard for that exist in Egypt, where the English language is prominently Arabic Poetry and the inability to comprehend and recognize used. In the book Mkhatr Alta’lim Ala’jnba a’la Houitna Al- its beauty was generated. Thkaiah, ‘The Dangerous Impacts of Foriegn Education on our Cultural Identity’ by Bothaina Abd El Ra’of (2007), an expert in educational research, it is described how some foreign schools 2.4 Foreign inluence Similarly to the efects of foreign education, there is in Egypt neglect teaching the Arabic Language and Arabic another factor that also contributed to the dominance of the literature to its students, as all of the curriculum subjects are English language. In the postcolonial period of the British oc- devised in the English and other foreign languages. According cupation, a gradual phase of westernization took place in the to the researcher, subjects like History, Literature, and Poetry Egyptian society6. This transformation rapidly evolved in Egypt have an impact on a student’s or a child’s personality, and the after the new millennium with the arrival of the satellite, and 6. From the essay Westernization of Egypt by Muhammad Umer Toor, http://www.studymode.com/essays/Westernization-Of-Egypt-977770.html 27 the Internet later on. The Globalization that occurred in the surprise nowadays to ind that young people neither under- process has led to a sudden exposure of the Egyptian society, stand fusHa Arabic Poems, nor are interested in exploring the especially its youth, to western media and western culture, aesthetics of their own language and literature, when they are which has afected both their usage of the Arabic language constantly immersed in another culture. as well as their appreciation for their culture’s artifacts (Film, Series, Music, Literature, Art works, etc.) (M. Taha et al., 2011). If we come to relate how this inluenced the public’s regard 28 2.5 The iconic turn In a broader sense, Arabic Poetry has been inluenced for Arabic Poetry whether fusHa or slang, we will ind that it by another global phenomenon. Nowadays, with the evolution is highly relevant. Globalization and Westernization were key of Mass Media, visuals and images have become a consistent factors that contributed to the repulsion of the Arabic lan- part of our everyday live. The shifting from ‘The linguistic turn’ guage and the dominance of the English Language (M. Taha et that focused on philosophy and language, to ‘The iconic turn’ al., 2011), and this directly afects the youth’s appreciation for that focuses on images, has clearly afected the way people ap- Arabic Poetry, and especially in fusHa Arabic. It comes as no preciate not just Poetry but literature over all. In his study on 2.6 Usage in Egyptian Films the Iconic turn, Keith Moxey wrote how some radical theories There have been some recent short ilms that use slang argue that the perception of visuals “allows us to ‘know’ the Egyptian Poetry, taking the recitation and correlating it some world in a way that may side-step the function of Language”. footage or images, however not animated. One of the very few If this theory was true, it means that the value and sensation poetry ilm made is Ya sha’b Masr ‘Oh People of Egypt’ (2012), of Poetry can be replaced by other mediums. This concern is directed by Mohamed Refat and made by the media company evident when it comes to Egypt. In an article by Rasha Fa’eq in ‘Qabila’ 7, it features the Poet Tamim El Barghouty sitting in a Zoom magazine, it is investigated how the Egyptian youth have dark room and reciting his slang Egyptian poem, with cuts to become heavily occupied with Foreign television, cinema and found footage of the struggles of people in Tahrir square. The new diferent technologies like the internet, smart phones and poem, which is a depiction of Egyptian feelings and reactions interactive games, which are considered highly visual mediums, towards tyranny and oppression, is not actually visualized but unlike poetry which relies on the power of imagination and just recited and reinforced with dramatic footage that relates to relection. Hopefully, this research can solve a problem like this its context. and link the medium of poetry with that of visuals. 7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYN5GcA7XxY 29 On the other hand, There has been a number of Egyptian ilms and songs that feature FasiH Arabic Poetry, how- 30 and Poetry because of the westernization phenomenon. In other cases, ilms mock poetry verses through singing. ever in a sarcastic context. The comedy ilm El Nazer (The In the blockbuster comedy El Limby (2002) by Wael Ehsan as Headmaster) (2000) by Sherif A’rafa has a scene where an well, the main character is irst seen singing one of the celebrat- Arabic teacher is portrayed as a grumpy old man irmly recit- ed songs of the Golden Age of Music Masr Tatahadath A’n Naf- ing verses from an Arabic poem to puzzled-looking students seha (Egypt speaks for itself) written by the poet Haiz Ibrahim in an elementary school, the scene implies that FasiH Arabic and sung by Um Kalthum in 1951. Instead of giving homage to poetry is impossible to understand and that Arabic teachers are the renowned poem, the main character is heavily drunk while old-fashioned. Similarly, in the ilm Ramadan Mabrouk Abu- singing it and keeps stuttering and pathetically repeating only El-Alamen Hamouda (2008) by Wael Ehsan, not only does it one line. Likewise, the movie Saye’ Bahr (A Punk by the Sea) portray Arabic professors as not ‘cool’ in the eyes of youth and (2004) by Ali Ragab features the song Khally El Sha’b Ya’eesh make fun of how they recite poetry, but it also shows the lack of ‘Let the People live’ sung by Riko and Ahmed Helmy, the song interest high school students have for both the Arabic language uses the famous verse previously mentioned of Al Mu’allaqa, singing it in a sarcastic and chaotic manner. Also the disastrous movie A’yazonno (Does he think so) (2006) by Akram Fareed, features a sha’bi song 8 by the same name, which is actually the name of a famous poem written by Nizar Qabbani in 1960 and sung by Najat Al-Saghira. All in all, the message conveyed in all these movies generates two negative and false stereotypes: that FasiH Arabic poetry is all about the classical heavy and archaic usage of words that are impossible to understand, and that it is dull, boring and not ‘hip’. This message can distort the public’s deinition of FasiH Arabic Poetry, which in the process makes the public unfairly overlook the works of the Modern movement of Arabic Fig.6 The ilm “Ramadan Mabruk” Poetry or Prose Poetry. 8. Sha’bi: a genre of Egyptian music that is mainly popular in the poor and urban sector of the Egyptian society 31 ‫ر‬ ‫‪32‬‬ ‫فا‬ ‫ا‬ ‫م‬ ANIMATED POETRY FILMS 1. Usage for Educational Purposes Poems generally, in all languages, are not typically has been proven to be useful to teachers and learners in Poetry straightforward; they have a lot of underlying meanings be- studies. Visualized Poems, or Poetry Films proved to encourage tween the lines, and in the educational sense, this forms a reluctant learners to better understand poems when subjected common challenge and obstacle for most students. On a similar to visual-audio stimuli (Norliana 2008). They were found to en- note, as we mentioned that the study of Poetry and literature hance visual literacy2 of the mother-tongue language (Schwarz, worldwide has been quite threatened by the overpowering ef- 2002, 2008; Derrick, 2008), and emotional literacy3 (Goleman, fect of the iconic turn. Accordingly, when mediums like Po- 1995; Upadhyaya, 2008). In addition, visualized poems can also etry ilms emerged, mixing the literary ield with the grabbing stimulate students’ imaginative skills and their multiple intel- efects of ilmmaking, a remarkably convenient solution was ligences (Puchta & Rinvolucri, 2005; Gardner, 1999), making created to the educational practice. them comprehend reality in better ways through the prism of Since their beginning, Poetry ilms have been found to fantasy (Wagner, 1999). Bill Templer, a researcher and edu- be highly imaginative and intriguing, creating a phenomenon cator, describes how the task of visualizing poetry has been related to Multimodality1. The approach of visualizing poetry a method used by diferent teachers in diferent educational 33 2. Visual directions in Animation institutes to treat the certain repulsion that students might feel There have been several attempts to visualize Poetry towards studying poetry. Hopefully, this research will prove this with live action ilms, but the approach of animation has been method to be a practical solution when it comes to studying a better choice for many artists, perhaps for its ability to convey Arabic Poetry as well. Since there is no record until now of this the fantasy-like imageries in the world of a poem. The anima- solution being carried out in educational institutes in Egypt tion techniques used vary from each poetry ilm. Most of the or the Arab region, despite the fact that the problem might be times, the technique controls the way in which the ilmmaker relatively more present amongst Egyptian students. sets the scene for the poem and determines how the audience will understand and connect with the poem. In a fair sense, a Poetry Film is not intended to give an audience the full meaning of a particular poem, but to rather set the stage for the poem’s story, to represent the atmosphere in which the words revolve around, or give the audience an idea of the kind of images the poet might have had in mind while writing. 34 2.1 Direct visuals vs. Indirect The direction of the methods used for visualizing can tion of images would be a suitable choice. For example, one of the poetry ilms based on the famous poem The Love song of J. be divided in two. Sometimes ilmmakers choose to visual- Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot made by Everett Wilson (2007)4, ize the words in vivid clear images that illustrate the imagery the artist represents the images in the form of fast sketches or of the poem, and some choose to visualize the images in an illustration, which transform or morph into one another when- indirect way to create the atmosphere or the emotion of the ever a new image is described. poem, which opens the door for diferent interpretations, just In other types of poetry the words tend to have a cumu- like a poem normally does. However, choosing the direction lative meaning, as the lines or a stanza5 as a whole might con- of the visuals depends on each poem. In some types of poems, vey a meaning totally diferent from the meanings of the words through the usage of kinetic verbs or descriptive words, each if separated. Accordingly some animated ilms focus on convey- line represents a certain vivid image that is hard to ignore in ing the purpose or the meaning behind the lines. For instance the process of visualizing, and these images tell the story by in the poetry ilm Anna Blume (2009) by Ivan Bogdanov and themselves, in this case the irst direction of a clear representa- Vessela Dantcheva6, the poem was visualized in the form of a 1. Multimodality: a research focus that studies social semiosis and how it takes place through multiple modes (spoken, written, digital media) (O’Halloran, 2006, p. 7; Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006) 2. Visual Literacy: The ability to read understand and interpret the information conveyed through a visual medium, such as images 3. Emotional Literacy: An ability related to emotional intelligence and understanding one’s emotions 35 small storyline with character animation that conveys the idea of the poem rather than the literate meaning of the words, for this reason it had a lot of pauses and special character design. A diferent technique is found in the ilm Fire and Ice Song by Tara Peak, which depended on the idea of abstract visualizing, using a mixture of both Motion Graphics and Digital Compositing of real footage, this managed to capture more the recitation of the poem and give a sense of the rhythm more vividly. In other times, there are artists who visualize the words using dance routines, which combine the indirect visual 36 Fig. 7 the ilm “Anna Blume” language with the direct literate visuals. In the music video Thought of You by Ryan Woodward (2010) the lyrics of the song is visualized through a routine of Contemporary Dance6. It is not actually a poetry ilm, but the approach of visualizing a poem with Dance is visually appealing, as Dance is essentially a visualization of words and rhythm, however the approach depends heavily on music. Another ilm that combines both visual directions is the recent collaborative project To This day by a number of artists. The ilm visualizes a poem by combining and clustering many diferent techniques and presenting them in fast cuts. Fig. 8 the music video “Thought of You” 4. http://movingpoems.com/2009/02/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock/ 6. Stanza: a number of verses that form a unit within a poem 5. https://vimeo.com/46530945 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBk3ynRbtsw 37 2.2 Typography As much as the images are important, the text of the poem is just as important for the comprehension of the poem. ized the literate meaning of the words using only typography, Speaking of typography and animation will directly lead us to creating images with the structure of the letters. the term ‘kinetic typography’, a technique in animated ilms Concerning ilm attempts made with Arabic typography, there that have become increasing popular and have evolved rapidly is none that visualize poems per se but rather Religious songs in the last couple of years. In a way, Kinetic typography ilms and verses. El Hekaya El-Muhamadeya is series of music vid- have the same purpose of Poetry ilms _ homage or a tribute eos produced by ‘Arabica Music’ that use motion graphics and to the text of a certain speech, ilm monologue, song or poem. illustrations of Arabic calligraphy for diferent songs/poems. Accordingly many poetry ilms have used kinetic typography as However, they do not visualize the words into images. There a technique, but in this case it would be hard to say that they are hardly any ilms made that actually graphically visualize the are ‘visualizing’ poetry, for they do not present images. One of words, and there have not been any attempts to visualize FasiH the rare examples that manipulate typography as graphical ele- Arabic Poetry with animation. ments to present images is the ilm/poem 38 What’s He Building In There (2010) by Stephen Elliget; it visual- 2.5 The Gap I shall ill After reviewing most of the animated poetry ilms, and seeing how FasiH Arabic Poetry is used today, I can deduce that what is mainly needed to reenact the literary art is a ilm that brings back the oral tradition, as well as convey the imagery of the Arabic poem. The inal ilm shall connect contemporary motion graphics and character design with Arabic calligraphy, it shall also experiment with the diferent directions of visualizing, combine together to produce true and easily comprehended visuals that still leaves room for interpretation and communicates the emotion of the poem above all. The ilm will also experiment how music can be visualized along with the words, and introduce a poetry ilm where music can complement the recitation of a poem. Fig. 9 the album “Al Hekaya Al-Muhamadeya” 39 ‫ب‬ ‫‪40‬‬ ‫المنهجية‬ METHODOLOGY 1. Research Methods 1.1 The Survey The issue of the low appreciation for FasiH Arabic Poet- in Egyptian slang; it contained 9 questions (4 multiple choice, 2 scale, 2 open ended and 1 yes/no). The irst 2 questions meas- ry has not been thoroughly investigated before in Egypt; there ured how frequent does the subject speak in English and get is no actual record of how many of the Egyptian youth are still exposed to western media, the 3 following questions measured interested in this form of Art. Accordingly, to get a deeper and the subject’s interest in Arabic Poetry and in Poetry in general. proper insight of the problem, I compiled a survey to measure One question in particular measured the interest in FasiH Ara- the interest of the upper/middle class Egyptian youth in FasiH bic Poetry by asking the subject to read a verse from the poem Arabic Poetry, and to see if it is related to the signs of westerni- Betaqet Howeya5 ‘Identity Card’ by Mahmoud Darwish, and zation that include their usage of the English language and the to rate it. Another 2 questions measured the subject’s opinion amount of exposure to western media. It also investigates the about the importance of Arabic poetry, and why they think it is reasons behind the decreasing popularity of Arabic Poetry and diminishing. Finally, there was one question that tested wheth- the lack of interest in it. er or not the idea of watching a Poetry Film is appealing to the The survey was made in both the English language and subject. 41 42 1.2 Results The survey was collected a total of 116 respondents, 60 When asked about the reason why they think Arabic from the campus of the German University in Cairo and 56 Poetry is not popular, the majority of the subjects reported that respondents online. The subjects ages varied from 17 to 25 years it was because of the deterioration of the Arabic Language, and old, and were all from middle and upper classes. Out of the 116 because of the public’s interest in foreign Media and technol- subjects, 38% reported that they get exposed to English and ogy. One subject wrote: “even the slang is becoming “slangier” foreign Media and Arts ‘constantly’. Then when asked about than before and franco-arab as well, plus with technologi- their interest in Arabic Poetry, the majority of the subjects had cal advancement, some prefer other new ways of expression a neutral attitude. through motion pictures and so on”, which supports the idea of The same neutral attitude was found towards the verse the iconic turn previously mentioned. Other subjects blamed it of the poem ‘Identity Card’, but the percentage of people who on the overall cultural taste of people and how it changed over- loved the verse was more than those who did not like it. When time, while very few blamed it on Poetry itself, and how it is no asked if they would like to watch a ilm that ‘visualizes’ a poem, longer interesting. the majority of the subjects responded positively. 43 1.3 Discussion and limitation The survey results did not prove that most of the Egyp- The last question posted the statement: “Poetry is important for our cultural Identity” tian youth are not interested in Arabic Poetry, but are just and asked the subjects to say whether they agree or disagree. not knowledgeable or well acquainted with it. This cannot be Surprisingly 72 % of the subjects reported that they do agree for validated on the count of the fact that I did not use the word various reasons among the most common were because of how ‘FasiH’ before Arabic Poetry. Another major limitation is, I did poetry is a ‘mixture of language, society, culture’. One of the not inquire about the degree of education of the subjects, so very interesting answers said that Poetry is important because the 56 people who answered online might not all have received of the constant development the poets bring to the language; priviledged foreign education; the probability is small but is “each poet will want to gain handicaps over the others. As a still present. Last but not least, I did not ask the subjects what result, each poet will tend to develop the language and the con- is their deinition of Arabic Poetry, as we know by now how tent of the poems. Eventually, with the development of poems, various the types and movements are, thus the image that the the audience will develop their consciousness”. Egyptian Youth has of Arabic Poetry is still not exactly delineated. 44 2. Studying Arabic Poems 2.1 Choosing poems There are numerous works in the modern movement of Arabic Poetry that are highly acclaimed and renowned for their C. The embodiment of the Arab identity D. The creative yet simple usage of the fusHa Arabic vocabulary inluence on public. Each poet and each poem have their own These classiications were found in several poems that were not way of tackling human emotions, and so the scale on which essentially popular. The initial idea was to visualize 3 or 4 fusHa one can decide how good a poem is, in terms of literature, will Arabic poems with diferent styles and subject matters. Among always be subjective and inaccurate. It would be easy to merely the irst choices were the poems: Rosoom Fawq Wagh El Rih select the popular poems of high proile poets and attempt to ‘Paintings Facing the Wind’ by Farouk Goweda, La’eb Al-Nard visualize them, but instead the selection by which the follow- ‘The Dice Player’ by Mahmoud Darwish, and Entezar ‘Waiting’ ing poems were chosen was according to the factors that aid the by Lina El Tayeby. However due to time factors, only one poem visualization process itself, which are: was used for the inal ilm. A. The richness in poetic imagery B. The dynamic articulation of emotions 45 2.2 Translation After the selection, for the purposes of the paper, I went through a process of translation for all 3 poems from fusHa Arabic to English. It was a diicult task; translating works of literature and especially poems is very tricky as the usage of diferent igures of speech difers from each language, also the characteristics of the language forms a part of the personality and the sensation of the poem, not to mention the rhyme scheme is another dilemma. Often lots of meanings can be lost or distorted when passing from a language to another. For example in my attempt to translate some of the verses of ‘Paintings Facing the Wind’ by Farouk Goweda, I was determined to translate the rhyme scheme even though it meant that I would have to add some expressions or change certain words. I was also caught 46 between the literate meaning of the words, and the meanings the poet wants to convey: ‫رمينا فوق ظهر الريح‬ ‫أشاء مبعثرة من التيجان‬ ‫وقلنا نشتري زمنا‬ ‫ با زيف‬.. ‫ با كذب‬.. ‫با أحزان‬ ‫وقلنا نشتري وطنا‬ ‫ با قهر‬.. ‫ با دجل‬.. ‫با سجان‬ The literate translation would be: while my own translation was: We threw on the back of the wind Behind the wind we threw shreds scattered from crowns Dispersed shreds of glorious gleams and we said we’ll buy a time And we thought we were buying a time without fraud Without phonies without lies Without lies without sorrows Without sorrowful screams And we said, we’ll buy a country And we thought we were buying a country without oppression Without cruelty without deviousness Without trickery without a prison guard Without an imperious regime 47 Fig. 10 “Mahmoud Darwish, In the Shade of Words” 48 Fig. 11 “Trio Joubran in the event” 3. The Poem La’eb Al-Nard Written in 2008, La’eb Al-Nard ‘The Dice Player’ is one Not only is the poem itself, as we’ll discuss, already packed with of the last poems written by the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud strong imagery and symbolism, but also the live recording of Darwish, who is considered one of the most inluential poets the event has an interesting combination of both musical and of modern Arabic Poetry. He is known for his unique style poetic rhythm, which intensiies the articulation of the words that creatively combines the freedom of prose poetry, and the and the emotional experience of the poem. This, I decided will beautiful rhythmic efect of classic poetry. The recitation of the help in creating a strong visual tale of the poem that can appeal poem ‘The Dice Player’ was played in the event Fi Zel El Kalam to any audience whether Egyptian or not. Furthermore, since ‘In the Shade of Words’ in 2008, along with harmonies played the main aim of the ilm is initially to make the Egyptian youth by the band Trio Joubran as a tribute to the poet 1. reconnect with their ‘Arab Identity’ through recognizing the Of course it was a critical decision to choose to visualize the work of a Palestinian poet instead of Egyptian. However, in beauty of FasiH Arabic Poetry and the fusHa Arabic language, this poem should generously serve the purpose. this case, an exception had to be made because of the live recording I found of the poem and the band, which is truly rich. 1. The event of ‘In the Shade of Words’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXBMA5croUo 49 ‫)‪3.1 A portion of the poem (used for visuals‬‬ ‫َمنْ أنا أقول لكم‬ ‫ما أقول لكم‬ ‫ربحت مزيدا ً من الصحو‬ ‫ا أكون سعيدا ً‬ ‫بليلتي امقمرة ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫بل لكي أَشهد اجزرة ْ‬ ‫ت أَصغر َ من َه َدف عسكر ّي‬ ‫جوت مصادف ًة ‪ :‬كُنْ ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫السياج‬ ‫زهور‬ ‫بن‬ ‫تتنقل‬ ‫نحلة‬ ‫من‬ ‫وأكبر‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫وخفت كثيرا ً على إخوتي وأَبي‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫زجاج‬ ‫وخفت على ز َ َمن ٍ من‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ومشى‬ ‫اخوف بي ومشيت بهِ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫حافيا ً ‪ ،‬ناسيا ً ذكرياتي الصغيرة عما أري ُد‬ ‫ من الغد ‪ -‬ا وقت للغد‬‫أصرخ ‪ /‬أولولُ ‪ /‬أُسر ُع ‪ /‬أُبطئ ‪ /‬أهوي‬ ‫أركض ‪ /‬أصع ُد ‪ /‬أنزلُ ‪/‬‬ ‫أَمشي ‪ /‬أهرولُ ‪/‬‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫أركض ‪ /‬أنسى ‪ /‬أرى ‪ /‬ا أرى ‪ /‬أتذكّر ُ ‪ /‬أَسم ُع ‪/‬‬ ‫أجف ‪ /‬أسير ُ ‪ /‬أطير ُ ‪/‬‬ ‫أخف ‪ّ /‬‬ ‫‪ّ /‬‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫أصرخ ‪ /‬ا أستطيع ‪ /‬أسقط ‪ /‬أعلو ‪ /‬وأهبط ‪/‬‬ ‫أهمس ‪/‬‬ ‫أُبصر ُ ‪ /‬أهذي ‪ /‬أ َهل ِْوس ‪/‬‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫علي‬ ‫‪ /‬أُد ْ َمى ‪ /‬ويغمى‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫اعب النرد‬ ‫بقلم‪ :‬محمود درويش‬ ‫لكم‬ ‫َمنْ أَنا أقول‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫لكم ؟‬ ‫ما أَقول‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫صقَ َلتْ ُه اميا ُه‬ ‫وأَنا لم أكُنْ حجرا ً َ‬ ‫فأصبح وجها ً‬ ‫الرياح‬ ‫صبا ً ثقَ بتْ ُه‬ ‫وا ق َ َ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫‪ ،‬فأصبح نايا ً ‪...‬أَنا اعب ال َنر ْ ِد‬ ‫أَربح حينا ً وأَخسر حينا ً‬ ‫مثلكم‬ ‫أَنا‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫‪ ...‬أَو أَقلّ قليا ً‬ ‫كنت‬ ‫ليس لي أ َ ّي دورٍ ما‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫لو أَن ذاك امكان الزراعيّ لم ينكسر ْ‬ ‫صرت زيتون ًة‬ ‫ر ُ ّما‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫أو ُم َعلّم جغرافيا‬ ‫أو خبيرا ً مملكة النمل‬ ‫أو حارسا ً للصدى‬ ‫‪50‬‬ (The translation) Who am I to tell you this? Maybe I would’ve turned into an olive I was never a drenched rock Or a professor of geography Reined to become a face Or an expert in an ant colony Nor a cane that has been Or a guardian of echoes Perforated by the winds To become a lute Who am I to tell you this? I am the dice player I was rewarded more awakenings At times I win, at times I lose Not to relish my moony nights I’m the same as all of you But to witness the butchering Maybe a little less I survived coincidentally Not a role I played in what I’ve become Too small for a shooting target If this farm hadn’t been ravaged But bigger than a bee, 51 Fluttering amid the fence grass I walk, I scamper, I run, I go up and down, And I worried and worried I scream, I wail, I rush, slow down and inhale About my father I feel lighter, drier, I stride and ly, About my brothers I run, I forget, I see, I don’t see And I worried about a time made of glass I remember, hear and behold And so the fear strolled within me I fantasize, I hallucinate, And I strolled in its path I whisper and scream Barefoot … hollow I can’t Leaving behind my childhood memories I fall, I rise, then collapse, And the dreams I had for tomorrow bleed, There is no tomorrow and black out. There is no tomorrow 52 3.2 Paraphrase Among the people who attempted to paraphrase the then goes on to comparing himself to the dice player who lived poem was the writer Fat’hia Ka’hlosh, she wrote in the maga- a life of coincidences, before creatively suggesting several pos- zine Nizwa that the poem’s idea is similar to that of another sibilities of who and what he may have become, if the events French poem called Un coup de dés jamais n’abolira le hazard of his life had been diferent. Afterwards, he returns to reality ‘The throw of the dice will nver abolish chance’ by Stéphane by describing his current situation after he survived the at- Mallarmé, adopting the idea of coincidences in life and Man’s tack on his hometown, and inally expresses his fear and worry lack of control over destiny. In Darwish’s poem, it is correlated about everything that remained. In the last part, he creates a with war and growing up with its unpredictable hardships, as a bridge between the irst and second sections of the poem, using depiction of his childhood experiences during the 1940’s in his several dynamic verbs by which he symbolically illustrates the hometown Galil in Palestine under the Israeli occupation. violent struggle of a survivor of war. In the poem, Darwish begins by humbling himself with The entire poem is originally more than 200 lines, but the ever-so-philosophical question “Who am I”, conveying the due to the purpose of the ilm, I summarized the irst section unworthiness and insigniicance of the ‘I’ or the human ego. He of it and only visualized 32 lines. It was a tricky task since the 53 4. Finding the Aesthetics summery could afect the sensation of the poem and/or afect The irst step was to translate all the poetic imagery into the meaning understood, so I tried to make sure that the lines visuals. After reading the poem numerous times and listening I choose would maintain the feelings and the powerful imagery to the recitation, I started by writing down all the ideas of the that Darwish wanted to convey, as well as seem logical in terms images that came to my mind during the process, as well as the of the narrative aspect. transition that would transform each image to the other. After that came the phase of creating concrete visuals from the ideas. 4.1 Character design Since the poem is written in irst person starting with “Who am I” and continuing with a kind of narrative style where Darwish describes the coincidences that shaped his life, I was very compelled to imagine a character from the beginning. Originally, the character I visualized is inspired by an early fast 54 sketch I had made before the project, who portrays an image of the Egyptian or Arab youth_ lost, disappointed and in simple clothing. To take advantage of this sketch in my ilm, I had to bear in mind that it will be animated at some point, which is why I decided to work with Silhouette Art, not only to make it simple to animate but to present an aesthetic that is not too illustrative or clear, plus it serves the idea of ink on paper that I developed later. After designing the silhouette version of the character, I made the decision that it should be a proile view to make the images communicated better and faster. “the irst sketch” 55 I started to design diferent versions of this character according to the stages of the poem. When the poet says “Not a role I played in what I’ve become” it gives a sense of an early phase of the poets life, the word ‘become’ meaning ‘come into being’ generated in my mind an image of a child that has just developed a sense of self and an identity. Following this line the poet continues the verse with “I would’ve turned into an olive, or a professor of geography, or an expert in an ant colony, or a guardian of echoes”, as a creative prediction of what he may have become. I could not design all the characters with a proile view, but it was not a limitation as I designed other elements that can communicate the image of the characters eiciently. “the child character” 56 ‘I would have turned into an olive’ 57 ‘a professor of Geography’ 58 ‘an expert in an ant colony’ 59 ‘a gaurdian of echoes’ 60 This part marks the end of the prediction of possibilities in the poem that was inspired by the dice. Darwish then repeats: “Who am I” and starts drawing the image of his condition in reality by saying: “I was awarded more awakenings …to witness the butchering” The word ‘awakenings’ in this context presents time, as the poet takes the core meaning of mornings or days and turns them into years by saying ‘awarded more’. Accordingly, I visualized it in the form of the child character growing up, which introduced the adult character that resembles the irst sketch and that represents the youth image of Darwish. “the adult character” 61 This line is a kind preview that sets the stage for the coming verses, which describe the reality of his situation and draw the conclusion. However, there was another line that provided an image of other characters which is “I worried and worried about my father, about my brothers” It is the poet’s irst account of other people in the summarized version, which had to be visualized into characters or else the hardships described in the poem might seem to have happened to one person only. At this point, I decided to introduce a female character as a little girl. This does not challenge the word “brothers” because in the Arabic poem the poet actually uses the word ‘‫ ’اخوتي‬which means siblings in general. 62 4.2 Font trials Originally, I was going to work with hand written Arabic calligraphy and scan to be animated, however upon realizing that the rules and styles of calligraphy are too rich and need extensive study on their own, I discarded the idea and set out to search for an Arabic script typeface instead. At irst I experimented with diferent fonts to ind a suitable one that has the script style yet is still readable and not too illustrative. Among my irst choices were AXt-Karawouin, AXt-LEna, AXt-Karim, AXt-AlKhalij and B-Davat. Ultimately I settled on the font AXtThuluthMubassat, which is a simpliied version of the thuluth font, one of the old and famous writing styles of Arabic Calligraphy. The font ‘AlKhalij’ 63 The font ‘Karawouin’ 64 The font ‘ThuluthMubassat’ 4.3 Backgrounds To set the atmosphere for the literary aspect of the ilm, I decided to use a textured background of old-like paper, but I was worried that it would seem like the texture of ancient paper. I collected diferent images of paper texture. One choice was a rough and dirty like paper texture which was distracting from the animation and which forced me to apply a blur efect to make it look smoother, but it was a failed attempt. Then I searched for many more textures, which led me to my inal choice. Even though it still needed some modiications and editing, it was better than my former choice. 1st background trial 65 2nd background trial 66 The inal choice 5. Visual study of the poem My approach of visualizing essentially is to combine between the diferent directions discussed above; using direct and I still tried to visualize the rhythm in terms of the speed of the words and the sound volume. indirect visualizing with typography, Dance routine and character design. In addition, it correlates two other directions, one that manipulates the characteristics of the Arabic typography 5.1 Storyboard Once I settled on a font and had an idea of how the (sign system, letters, dots and the various stroke thicknesses), characters shall look like, I started making both a digital and and one than visualizes the background music: the melodies a hand-drawn storyboard. The main purpose of it is to irst 2 played on the Lute by Tri Joubran. Initially, I was planning on imagine the storyline of the visuals and more importantly the visualizing the rhythm of the recitation, however it was diicult transitions between them. Several things have changed from to do so since the oral performance of Darwish did not have a the initial versions of the storyboards, as when implementing certain sequential rhythm that can give some consistency to the the visuals in animation, some transition were too diicult or visuals, also I realized that this direction would completely con- seemed very opposing to the general aesthetic. tradict the other directions and aesthetics used. All the same, 2. Lute: an instrument like the guitar but with more strings, it is used in eastern music genres 67 68 5.2 Between Direct and indirect It was important to know which parts of the poem need- Another condition I made is, when a verse uses a descriptive image in a very vivid way, or when it uses kinetic or dynamic ed to be visualized directly, which needed an indirect represen- verbs, I will have to comply and visualize them the way they are tation, and which needed typography. Accordingly, I put some described, for if I did not do so, I felt the visuals might confuse conditions to the three directions for myself to try to follow. the audience or disconnect them, especially if the imagery is For instance, in lines with long pauses and with no imagery or hard NOT to imagine. This is what I did when it came to the igures of speech, I decided to use only typography, following verse. like in the lines: I was never a drenched rock Who am I to tell you this? Reined to become a face I’m the same as all of you Nor a cane that has been I survived coincidently Perforated by the winds To become a lute 69 If I were to visualize this verse in an abstract way, I would try to convey the feelings of unworthiness the poet intends to communicate, or show how the poet belittles himself, but I found it very diicult to visualize the feelings of unworthiness especially when the verse contains kinetic verbs like ‘drenched’ and ‘perforated’. Thus, I visualized it in both a kind direct and indirect way, for I did not design images of the ‘rock’ and the ‘lute’ but rather used the graphical elements of the tashkeel (the sign system) of the typography, to leave room for the audience interpretation of the verse and as a gradual preview of the visualized images in the rest of the poem. On the other hand, in the verses that do not use kinetic verbs, there was a room to visualize them in an indirect way. 70 For example, following this line Darwish says: “I’m the Dice Player At times I win, At times I lose” As his irst attempt to convey the idea of chance and coincidence, the visuals had to present this idea. That is why I visualized the dice bouncing down some stair steps and falls when one of the steps is incomplete, conveying the verb ‘lose’. Another image of the stairs was used in: “I was awarded more awakenings” As discussed before, the line indicates a passage of years and growing up, so I visualized it in the form of the stroke character ascending the stairs which I designed using the letter “‫ ”د‬and included numbers of years progressively on each step. This is an 71 attempt to translate and visualize the grand metophors in the poem and the ideas they propose, rather than visualize a cer- to visualize, there was also some describtions of certain scenery tain image. I followed the same concept with this verse: in the poem. For example in the second stanza, he says: “Leaving behind my childhood memories And the dreams I had for tomorrow” “If this farm hadn’t been ravaged” This I visualized by designing an actual landscape scenary. It Since he implies that he lost his ambitions or childhood dreams was not exactly a farm, but more of a garden place, which does more or less, I conveyed it with a lying kite that is formed from not oppose the imagery of the poem since in the original ver- the sign system and which falls in the end. sion of the arabic language, Darwish does not use the word As a transition between stanzas and visuals, or between typography and images, I used a moving ‘3D stroke’ efect to create an ‘ink and paper’ impression. It sometimes served as a representation of the character in motion, and as a visualization of the strings’ harmonies of the background music. 72 Verbs were not the only things that made me decide how ‘farm’ per se, but says ‘‫ ’امكان الزراعي‬which literally means ‘a place to cultivate’. 73 One of the challenging verses with both sceneray and grand metaphors is the verse: a bee, instead the war made him become more mature despite “Too small for a shooting target his young age. This explanation cannot actually be communi- But bigger than a bee, cated or visualized thoroughly. It is one of those images that Fluttering amid the fence grass” need time and repetition to be fully grasped, so I visualized In the irst line, ‘shooting target’ is a kind of a kinetic verb, the scene as the child character standing in the graveyard then however I could not visualize it literally as then it would refute fades out to the adult character sitting, while a small bee lut- the meaning intended; Darwish is saying that he was not shot ters around, and the word ‘bigger’ appears gradually in diferent because he was too young and was not a threat to anyone. The places around the graves. next kinetic verb was, ‘luttering’, and visualizing it would not refute anything, however it would still not convey the intended meaning. When Darwish compared himself to a ‘luttering bee’ and says that he is bigger, he is denoting that he no longer has 74 the free joyous spirit of a child playing and jumping around like 75 5.3 Dance Routine The last 30 seconds of the poem is a succession of different dynamic verbs by which Darwish conveys the physical been associated with Dance before like in other cultures, and and emotional struggle the war has put him through. It is the since Dance is a very dynamic and grabbing medium of visual climax of the poem as he recites the verbs fervently and speed- expression, the Egyptian audience might ind it appealing if ily while the harmonies of the strings elevating and reaching they were introduced to such a combination. their peak volume. Since this part has a strong sound to it, I 76 encouraged me to do this is the fact that Arabic Poetry has not After choreographing the last verse came the step of could not visualize it with the same direction I used throughout realizing how to convert it to animation like in the prior men- the entire poem. Accordingly, I decided to use a diferent visual tioned music video Thought of you. Due to the time factor, I direction that incorporates a dance routine I choreographed. could not animate the character I designed frame by frame The routine was not inspired from a speciic dance as I did and make him dance the routine, as it would be a very lengthy not study certain dance videos in order to choreograph it, but process. Instead, I decided to shoot the routine and trace it as a rather depended on my personal improvisation while applying rotoscoping technique, which was not a fast alternative but just some styles of Contemporary dance and lyrical Jazz3. What less time-consuming. Therefore, I videotaped the routine while creating the silhouette atmosphere for shooting. After taking the footage, I selected snapshots from it to make the frames for the animation, and then edited them to look like true silhouettes. At this point, I found that the silhouette made from the igure in the video does not totally resemble the character I designed for the poem, so I adjusted and modiied each and every frame to make it have the same wacky hair of the character, and to make its lines more reined. Overall, around 350 frames were created. The choreography was basically an expression of the verbs in the poem (scamper, run, scream, halucinate, etc.) in a symbolic way. “Snapshot from the video footage” 3. Lyrical Jazz: a type of dance that resembles Ballet but has a lot of luidity and freedom in its movements 77 Converting silhouettes 78 Dance moves 79 80 ‫التصميم‬ THE FINAL DESIGN 1. The Film The design produced is an anmated ilm that visualizes witness the butchering”. It carries on the fourth stanza in the a part of the poem ‘The Dice Player’ by Mahmoud Darwish. It same style as the second stanza, then inally the ilm wraps up begins with a stroke efect revolving on the beats of the intro with the dance routine in the ifth stanza, with extensive char- music, then it visualizes the irst stanza using mainly the typog- acter animation and some usage of typography. Before the inal raphy elements of the sign system and the letter’s dots, starting credits, a small tribute is payed to Mahmoud Darwish with his from “Who am I to tell you this” till “Maybe a little less”. Then picture. the ilm moves on to the next verse with a transition created by the stroke efect, which creates the irst image: the child character, and continues to visualize the rest of the stanza using character design, and visual scenary with incoported Arabic letters, it ends with the line “a guardian of echoes”. In the third stanza, the ilm combines the typography with character design and visual scenery, ending with an explosion efect after the line “to 81 From the earliest of centuries, Man has frequently developed a tendency to depict their emotional experiences through diferent forms of Arts. With the cognitive evolution of language and its development into an essential part of the human identity, words as a result became another medium for art expression, and from this medium, the art of Poetry was born, an art which revealed the true beauty of humanity’s linguistic capabilities. Many scientiic and practical deinitions of Poetry describe it as a piece of literature written in a metrical form, however across time various deinitions has fallen upon Poetry by Poets and inspired audience, which went beyond the mere deinition of the ‘art of using words’. In many occasions, Poetry has been described as having profound and inexplicable relections on the 82 A. Poetry, the Art and its inluences From the earliest of centuries, Man has frequently developed a From the earliest of centuries, Man has frequently developed a tendency to depict their emotional experiences through difer- tendency to depict their emotional experiences through difer- ent forms of Arts. With the cognitive evolution of language and ent forms of Arts. With the cognitive evolution of language and its development into an essential part of the human identity, its development into an essential part of the human identity, words as a result became another medium for art expression, words as a result became another medium for art expression, and from this medium, the art of Poetry was born, an art which and from this medium, the art of Poetry was born, an art which revealed the true beauty of humanity’s linguistic capabilities. revealed the true beauty of humanity’s linguistic capabilities. Many scientiic and practical deinitions of Poetry describe it as Many scientiic and practical deinitions of Poetry describe it as a piece of literature written in a metrical form, however across a piece of literature written in a metrical form, however across time various deinitions has fallen upon Poetry by Poets and time various deinitions has fallen upon Poetry by Poets and inspired audience, which went beyond the mere deinition of inspired audience, which went beyond the mere deinition of the ‘art of using words’. In many occasions, Poetry has been de- the ‘art of using words’. In many occasions, Poetry has been de- scribed as having profound and inexplicable relections on the scribed as having profound and inexplicable relections on the 83 2. Limitaions The irst problem I realised was before I started animating when I chose a typeface. My initial intention was to use hard to animate was the scenary of the garden; it did not just the art of Arabic Caligraphy in the ilm, and had I done that seem too still with the grass and the tree leaves not moving the it would have complemented the aesthetic a great deal, or at wind, it also looked odd somehow because the character’s hair atleast would make it sensible to use the stroke efect and make and shirt were actually moving with wind. Ironically, the char- it appear as if it is being written. The choice of the font “Thu- acter in this case was easier to animate than the grass. luthMubassat” as an alternative was not the best choice from Concerning the dance routine in the end, a lot of prob- my perspective. Furthermore, it did not make it easy to manip- lems faced me while making it, as I could not rotoscope all the ulate the arabic letters and incoporate them inside the visuals. frames of the video footage, so as I skipped frames, the move- There were some objects that I could not animate, like 84 in a simple way using the stroke efect. Another thing that was ment eventually seemed rough sometimes. In addition, using a in the beginning when the stroke line forms the word ‘face’, I technique like this would essentially complement the aesthetic wanted to make it seem more lowy or maybe with a splash like of the ilm if it was animated creatively, as in adding animation a waterfall, but I was unable to animate water, so I was did it principles of stretching the character or exaggerating in his dance moves, which is what the ilm Thought of you did, real- Another thing that might disconnect the audience is the izing that by using animation, alot of creativity and fantasy-like overall understanding of the summerized version of the poem. aspects can be added to the movements. Often summerized texts, and especially poems, really afect What concerened me the most is the fact that the ilm the meaning understood and the sensation of it. Even though might not communicate the poem to the audience efectively. I dedicated a lot of time in the process of translating and sum- Though I can not know for sure if it succeeded, I can still merizing, I am still not quite sure if the version I produced for speculate a number of problems that can disconnect the audi- my visuals communicates the idea of chances and possibilities ence from the poem. First, the speed of the ilm, it might not and the metaphor of the Dice that the poem is mainly built give time for relection or interpretation. What is so ironic is upon, I actually kept one or two stanzas from many more that that I had noticed this problem in other Poetry ilms that I have convey this theme. Moreover, my visuals might not make it watched and had intended to avoid falling in the same trap, clear that Darwish is talking about possibilties that never hap- however I realise now that its not an easy thing to integrate pened, as for example when I visualized the line “If this farm pauses in a poetry ilm. hadn’t been ravaged, maybe I would have turned into....” I could 85 not show that Darwish is depicting a sequence of possibiliteis be immersed in social networking sites, then the duration of that result from one another, meaning that the ‘farm’ must not the ilm should be at most one minute or less. In this case, the be ‘ravaged’ in order for him to turn into all the other character. project should go in the direction of a campaign and produce a What I did instead is that I destroyed the farm and still turned series of animated poetry ilms. This development can give us him into these characters. a chance to visualize diferent poems from diferent styles and movements, and make a tribute to several poets not just one. 3. Future Developments There a number of ways in which the project can be ing a truly efective design that reaches many people and inlu- developed to fulil its purpose. If we consider thoroughly how it ence them without taking too much time, and if becomes viral, can be efective when it comes to the audience from the Egyp- then the revival of Arabic Poetry and the Arabic language will tian youth, the irst thing we would do is to make it shorter. be achieved. This ilm is around three minutes, so for instance, if we want it to reach a great number of internet users who might always 86 An Animated Poetry Series is very suitable in the sense of creat- It is hard to say if the Poetry scene in Egypt can regain the same old power and beauty of expression that was aided by the appreciation of the fusHa Arabic language. Nowadays, themes of poetry like romanticism perhaps. In this way, we can in the light of the recent poetry revival after the revolution, it make it more about the art itself, as a medium that has long seems that Arabic Poetry has always been a resort used in times had its exquisite inluences on the human soul; we can make it of political instabilities and national uprising, whereas whenev- more about the beauty of language and expression. And in all er the people are stable and peaceful, it does not seem to reckon cases, it would still ingnite the Arab persona as well, for once with anyone. I cannot claim that the consistent assiociation of people recognize the beauty of their mother-toungue language Arabic Poetry with themes of politics, patriotism and national without the aid of any patriotic feelings, they will continue to identity is typically healthy, for there are Arabic poems that can appreciate and enjoy Arabic Poetry, and in the most optimum be merely an exploration of human emotions, imagination and scenarios, strive to nourish it as long as they live. the aethetics of the Arabic language with its rich vocabulary. Accordingly, if we intend to revive Arabic Poetry and make it resignate in the eyes of poeple as a beautiful and powerful form of art, then we should cast the light on diferent types and 87 ‫المراجع‬ REFERENCES 1. Books Mary, B., & Kira, H. (ND). Language and identity. M. Taha, Y., Nasser, A., Tawic, D., Khashaba, K., El-Rashidi, S., & Metwally, S. (2011). Identity in egypt: Snapshots of egyptian youth. Allen, R. (2000). 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Ya sha’b masr [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=TYN5GcA7XxY ‘Arafa, S. (Director) (2000). El-nazer [Theater]. Ehsan, W. (Director) (2008). Ramadan Mabrouk Abu-el-alamen Hamouda [Theater]. Ehsan, W. (Director) (2002). El limby [Theater]. Fareed, A. (Director) (2006). A’yazonno. Available from http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=th4fdAkB31I Qabbani, N. (Writer), & Najat Al-Saghira, (Performer) (1960). A’yazonno. Available from http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=a0k6FcKMigE Wilson, E. (Artist) (2009). Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock Rev. Animation [Web]. Retrieved from http://movingpoems. com/2009/02/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock/ Bogdanov, I. & Dantcheva, V. (Artist) (2009). Anna Blume [Web Video]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/46530945 Peak, T. (Artist). (2012, February 2). Fire and Ice- Audio/visual poem [Web Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=PSQAgZdNfek Woodward, R. (Artist). (2010, December 4). Thought of You [Web Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=OBk3ynRbtsw Koyczan, S. (Performer). (2013). To This Day [Web Video]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/59956490 Elliget, S. (Artist). (2010). What’s He Building in There [Web Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zEIm9pxr5_E Angham. (Performer) (n.d.). Al-Hekaya Al-Muhammadeya [Web]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=jC8TwKk5Z8U Darwish, M. (Writer), & Tro Joubran, (Artist) (2008). Mahmoud darwish and trio joubran, la’eb al-nard [Theater]. Available from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=IXBMA5croUo 3.Images Fig.1 : Al-Mutanabbi [Print Drawing]. Retrieved from http:// www.khaldia-library.com/2010/07/blog-post_20.html Fig.2 : Abd Al-Rahman El-Abnoudy [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.ofann.com/ar/proile/personal/3128 Fig.3 : Hesham El Gakh [Web Photo] Retrieved from http:// nile.eg/ Fig.4 : Amr Katamesh [Web Photo] Retrieved from http://plenty-girls.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-post_2412.html Fig.5 : Tamim El-Barghouty [Web Photo] Retrieved from http:// mazltana.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-post_20.html Fig.6 : The ilm Ramadan Mabrouk [Web Photo] Retrieved from http://www.d1g.com/gallery/show/2571013 Fig. 10 : In the Shade of Words [Web Photo] Retrieved from http://www.alsdaqa.com/vb/showthread.php?t=36587&page=1 Fig 11 : Trio Joubran [Web Photo] Retrieved from http://www. hchicha.net/2009/04/26/