Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Amin Rihani came back from the grave

"The University of Michigan-Detroit is offering a new course to teach the English literature of Ameen Rihani as the founding father of the Arab-American literature during the 20th century, Rihani told The Daily Star in a statement." Well, first Ameen Rihani is dead and I am sure that Rihani did not tell the Daily Star anything. You confused Rihani with his nephew who is in charge of PR on behalf Amin. Secondly, why is this news? Why is the Lebanese press so desperate to get any recognition, no matter how slight and flimsy, from the White Man. If this course was being taught at the University of Ghana, would it be news? Would it be mentioned in Lebanese media? Of course not. Thirdly, I have explained this to people in Lebanon and would explain it again: no Department of English or Comparative literature in the US or UK consider the writings of Kahlil Gibran or Mikha'il Nu`aymah or Amin Rihani to be literature. There writings are considered part of the English belle lettre. You need to know that: you may enjoy their writings all you want, but they don't amount to "adab" from the standpoint of your beloved English speaking White Man. And since the Daily Star is capable of communicating with the dead, can you check on Karl Marx? How is he doing? Is he still suffering from those nasty boils on sensitive parts of his body?