Saadah and Literature

Sa'adeh and literature

Dr Edmund Melhem

Sa'adeh's Intellectual Struggle in Syrian Literature is a comprehensive literary study that includes the author's thoughts on literature and his discussions of various ideas of prominent poets and men of letters. The study aimed to lay down the foundations of a literary revival that would contribute towards national resurgence in all its aspects. It contains the author's new definition and theory of literature, (1), including poetry, and invites all Syrian writers and poets to regenerate Syrian literature in all its forms and to produce the "literature of life" that elevates the human soul towards lofty aims and aspirations.

Sa´adeh's Definition of Literature

"Literature, exclusively, in its poetic and prose styles", Sa´adeh states, "is a skill intended to reveal the thought and consciousness as much precisely and magnificently as it could be."(2). Sa´adeh emphasized though that literature is not exactly the thought or the consciousness. Thus, it cannot cause innovation spontaneously. "Innovation in literature is a development caused by a renewal or transformation in thought and consciousness as well as in life and the attitude towards it. It is the outcome of spiritual, materialistic and socio-political revolution taking place; and changing the life of an entire people, its living circumstances and opening new horizons for the intellect and its methods and for the consciousness and its trends."(3) Thus, literature is not independent from the process of national revival; rather, it is very linked to it. It is an expression of a national revival. As Sa´adeh conceptualized, literature "seeks the foremost fundamental reality of a better life in a world of beauty and higher values."(4)

Generally speaking, literature, according to Sa´adeh, accompanies life by expressing its fundamental nature and disclosing its facts as well as its mysteries. Moreover, literature can serve the nation's interests and fulfill its needs by expressing its aspirations and lofty ideals and by revealing its talents and capabilities. It can be, as he says, "a lighthouse for peoples", not a mirror for them.(5) From this it follows that the scholar must be committed to his people and their causes, articulating their aspirations and striving to transform their present circumstances into a better future. It can be seen, accordingly, that Sa´adeh's views of literature reflected the national sentiment, which swept the Arab World throughout the second decade of the twentieth century, and the fervent quest for national and political identity.

Literature, according to Sa´adeh, is not an irresponsible game or a hobby produced for personal enjoyment. Rather, it is an art that can be used to arrive at a new understanding of life, an understanding that would elevate the souls to a higher level. Moreover, literature plays an important role in the process of national education and socialization. It strives to be a universal literature carrying a mission to the whole world and attracting its attention. How can literature be of a universal nature? Simply stated, to function as a means to convey the thought and consciousness that emanate from the "new outlook" to the sentiment of society and its comprehension and to the hearing of the whole world and its eyesight.(6)

The Literature of Life and the Literature of Books

Sa´adeh distinguished between the literature of life and the literature of books. The first, according to him, is "modern" and "expressive". The second is "out of fashion" and "representative".(7)

The "expressive" literature aims to generate a renaissance and to awaken the entire nation. It seeks success, progress and glory on the national level. The "representative" literature, on the other hand, represents doubt, ambiguity, imitation and inaction. It seeks success, fame and glory on the individual level.(8)

The "expressive" literature of life aims to build up people's confidence and self-esteem and to strengthen social unity and national independence. It seeks to improve the life of the whole society in all its aspects. The "representative" literature, on the other hand, is a degrading literature that reflects shame, humiliation and crying. It seeks to maintain corruption, fragmentation and decadence in society.

The literature of life contains all factors and motives that may lead to national revival and resurgence. It is the literature of "geniuses and brilliants", those talented who can reveal the major aspirations of a lofty psyche and comprehend the new philosophy and outlook to life. It is this literature of life, and only this literature, Sa´adeh believed, could serve the social nationalist aim of his party, or any similar aim, which embraced a comprehensive view of the roots of national life in all its aspects.(9)

Notes

(1) H. H. Isma´il, The History of the Party [SSNP] Through the Sufferings of Sa´adeh: Part II, op. cit., pp. 75-109.

(2)Sa´adeh, Antun. al-Sira' al-Fikri fi al-Adab al-Suri (Intellectual Struggle in Syrian Literature), op. cit., p. 29.

(3) Ibid., p. 29.

(4) Ibid., p. 69.

(5) Ibid., p. 45.

(6) Ibid., p. 66.

(7) Hayder Hajj Isma'il, op. cit., pp. 98-99.

(8) Ibid., p. 109.

(9) Sa´adeh, Antun, op. cit., p. 45.