According to the main studies of the Qatari scholarly literature devoted to theatre (amongst others, Kāfūd 1982, 1988, 1998, 2008; Rašīd 1997, 2004, 2014, 2022), ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mannāʿī (1948) is accounted among the founders of Qatar’s theatre movement. His first work, Umm il-zēn1, brought on stage in 1975 and written in Qatari dialect, has marked a milestone in the Qatari history of theatre as it portrays the crisis of traditional cultural values, when the economic boom, following the start of large-scale exploitation of the region’s hydrocarbon resources in the fifties, led to massive social transformations in Gulf societies. Umm il-zēn presents the impact of progress on the tradition as seen through the tormented love story – a metaphor for the dialectical relationship between the old and the new – of Umm il-zēn, the daughter of the village’s captain, and a young man, Ḥamad, who was adopted by the girl’s father, as he and his sister Šarīfah were orphaned at an early age. By the means of the textual analysis of the pièce, the aim of this article is both to show how ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mannāʿī interweaves folk heritage related to the sea and social criticism in the play and to discuss the reasons why this latter is considered so pioneering in the light of existing critical studies on Qatari theatre.
In a Sea of Pearls and Oil: Folk Heritage and Social Issues in the Qatari Arabic Play Umm il-zēn (1975) by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mannāʿī
Najla Kalach
2024-01-01
Abstract
According to the main studies of the Qatari scholarly literature devoted to theatre (amongst others, Kāfūd 1982, 1988, 1998, 2008; Rašīd 1997, 2004, 2014, 2022), ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mannāʿī (1948) is accounted among the founders of Qatar’s theatre movement. His first work, Umm il-zēn1, brought on stage in 1975 and written in Qatari dialect, has marked a milestone in the Qatari history of theatre as it portrays the crisis of traditional cultural values, when the economic boom, following the start of large-scale exploitation of the region’s hydrocarbon resources in the fifties, led to massive social transformations in Gulf societies. Umm il-zēn presents the impact of progress on the tradition as seen through the tormented love story – a metaphor for the dialectical relationship between the old and the new – of Umm il-zēn, the daughter of the village’s captain, and a young man, Ḥamad, who was adopted by the girl’s father, as he and his sister Šarīfah were orphaned at an early age. By the means of the textual analysis of the pièce, the aim of this article is both to show how ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mannāʿī interweaves folk heritage related to the sea and social criticism in the play and to discuss the reasons why this latter is considered so pioneering in the light of existing critical studies on Qatari theatre.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
