Half-century of Sociopolitical Transformations in Yemen in HabibSaruri’s Columnist Style Novels

The insidious attack of the clique, and then the retaliatory brutal purges by the gang (on the sole basis that a man was born, according to the information on his identity card, in the same area as any of the clique's leaders) revealed the hideous tribal and parochial face of those who had previously worn the mask of Marxism-Leninism. That treachery and those purges were not usual ones that can be forgotten. People who seemed to have been connected by close, friendly relationships until the night of the massacre, or rather until its morning, suddenly tore off their masks and began to kill each other with rage and madness.

What the devil helped the clique's supporters, working in this or that institution, to conceal their evil intentions so skillfully, and then capture and shoot dead the supporters of the gang, at the same moment when the first shots were fired at the meeting that began with the thermos of tea?” [18, p. 169-170].

“After that,” Ghassan goes on, “the experiment with scientific socialism in Yemen ended. All social achievements went to waste, the state of order and law disappeared into oblivion. The Higher school of Marxism-Leninism closed its doors forever and everyone forgot their favorite word `dialectics'. The ground was ready for the transition from one type of radicalism to another -- to the radicalism of Salafism and obscurantism. It was planted by jihadists returning from Afghanistan, who were allied with the worst tyrant who ruled North Yemen and later took over all of Yemen (as a result of the Unification) and then turned its southern part into war booty for himself, his tribe, and his henchmen -- especially after the war of 1994, when his army and his tribes took over South Yemen and completely trampled it” [18, p. 170-171].

Ghassan also touches upon the war between the regime and the Houthis in 20042010, the revolution of 2011, and the current military conflict between the Houthis and the Arab coalition [18, p. 210-212].

As if summarizing the sociopolitical transformations that Yemen has undergone over the past fifty years, the writer says:

“The whole public lexicon has changed: the place of `dialectics, `superstructure and basis, `transformation of one's class origin, `proletarian internationalism,..occupied `Ansar Allah' (i. e. the companions of the `wacky preacher'), `Squads of the followers of Sunna, `Squads of the followers of Zaynab, `Squads of Abu Hafs al-Shabwani, groups of `Soldiers of Jihad, `Squads of martyrs of Husaym..” [18, p. 213].

***

The criticism of the sociopolitical situation in Yemen, in its recent past and in present, realistic depiction of political conflicts, especially armed ones and especially those with inter-confessional bias, criticism of Arabs' cultural and religious traditions from the perspective of the Western conception of human rights in general and women's rights in particular -- all these things appear in Yemeni novel not very often. The reason for this is that these things cannot but undermine the “trio of taboos” known in Arabic literature: “sex, religion and politics” [19]. Moreover, an author who decides to touch on these dangerous topics always runs the risk of being accused of either immorality or distortion of historical reality -- since the mentality of the population of Arab countries like Yemen is still alien to the idea of “fiction” and tend to perceive the personality of the protagonist as identical to that of the author. As Wajdi al-Ahdal, a popular Yemeni novelist, once wrote, “the Arab mind takes fiction too directly, as if the author were writing a journalistic report or historical research”.

Nevertheless, there is number of Yemeni writers who are not afraid of touching on these dangerous sociopolitical topics. The civil war of 1986 in PDRY, its consequences for the losing side, the subsequent process of rapprochement and unification of the two parts of Yemen, then the civil war of 1994 in the united Yemen and its consequences for the South -- all this forms the historical and sociopolitical background in such Yemeni novels as The Last Qarmatian (Akhir al-qaramita, 2003) and Yemen and Seasons of Hell (Al-Yamanwa-fusul al-jahim, 2010) by Ahmad al-Sayyad, To No-Man's Land (Khalf al- shams, 2012) by Bushra al-Maqtari, and Fruit for the Crows (Fakiha li-l-ghurban, 2020) by Ahmad Zayn [20-23]. Political hostilities between conservative North and leftist South before the unification form a significant part of the background in Muhammad al-GharbiAmran's novel Red Manuscript (Mushafahmar, 2010) [24].

The situation in the united Yemen before the revolution of 2011, characterized by total corruption, the violence on the part of state power structures and armed tribal units, the spread of radical Islamist ideology, the suppression of civil liberties, the blatant female discrimination, the decline in health services and education, and an unprecedented increase in poverty, is reflected in one way or another in the novels Nothing but Love (Hubblaysailla, 2006) and Submissive Wives (`Aqilat, 2009) by Nadiya al-Kawkabani, American Coffee (Qahwaamirkiyya, 2007) and War under the Skin (Harbtaht al-jild, 2010) by

Ahmad Zayn, A Land without Sky (BiladbilaSama', 2008) and Happy Land of Intrigues (Ard al-mu'amarat al-sa`Ida, 2018) by Wajdi al-Ahdal, and Saada's Braids (Jada'ilSa`da, 2014) by Marwan Al-Ghafuri [25-31].

As for HabibSaruri, his work in this regard stands somewhat apart for two reasons.

First, as a citizen of France, he is not exposed to any danger that may be caused by possible dissatisfaction with his work from any Yemeni influential forces: the current authorities, former authorities, Islamists of any kind, tribal leaders, etc. Therefore, he does not risk anything when he openly discusses in his novels absolutely all episodes of the recent sociopolitical history of Yemen, which he has sufficient understanding of. With equal irony, he writes about the Party functionaries in PDRY and the lawless regime of Ali Abdullah Saleh, about the spiritual leaders of the Salafis and the spiritual leaders of the Houthis, who now control a large part of North Yemen. As for the realistic depiction of the social atmosphere in the first years of building socialism in PDRY, it is generally found in Yemeni literature only in Saruri's works.

Secondly, sociopolitical transformations in the recent history of Yemen are the main theme that feeds all of Saruri's work and to which he returns in his novels at every opportunity. It can be said that unlike other Yemeni authors who depict the twists of human destinies in the context of the sociopolitical history of Yemen, Saruri writes about this history as a columnist, giving his columnistic texts, though, a certain degree of artistry by introducing in them some fictional or semi-fictional characters with their plausible and implausible personal stories.

References

yemen history novel columnist

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2. Ishaq Ibrahim. Another Face of Sanaa. Cairo, Dar al-Hilal, 2004. 179 p. (In Arabic)

3. `AwlaqiSa`Id. Three Midnighters.Sanaa, Markaz `Ubadi li-l-dirasatwa-l-nashr, 1993. 112 p. (In Arabic)

4. Bawazir `Abdullah Salim. Soaring into the Sky.Sanaa, Markaz `Ubadi li-l-dirasatwa-l-nashr, 1995. 80 p. (In Arabic)

5. AbdulrabHabib. La reineetripee. Paris, L'Harmattanlitteratures, 1998. 236 p.

6. SaruriHabib. The Ruined Queen.Sanaa, Dar al-Muhajir, 2002. 263 p. (In Arabic)

7. SaruriHabib. Surprise, knots and main lines that formed my literary experience. (ms.) (In Arabic)

8. SaruriHabib. About Yemen, Known and Unknown.Sanaa, Mu'assasat al-`Afif al-thaqafiyya, 2005. 171 p. (In Arabic)

9. SaruriHabib. Damlan.Sanaa, Mu'assasat al-`Afif al-thaqafiyya, 2004. 467 p. (In Arabic)

10. SaruriHabib. The Bird of Destruction.Sanaa, Mu'assasat al-`Afif al-thaqafiyya, 2005. 247 p. (In Arabic)

11. SaruriHabib. The Sweat of Gods. Beirut, Riad El-Rayyes Books S. A. R. L., 2008. 189 p. (In Arabic)

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13. SaruriHabib. Arwa. Beirut, Dar al-saqi, 2013. 286 p. (In Arabic)

14. SaroriHabibAbdulrab. La Fille de Souslov. Paris, ActesSud, 2017. 192 p.

15. SaroriHabibAbdulrab. Suslovs Daughter. London, Darf Publishers Ltd, 2017. 198 p.

16. SaruriHabib. Suslovs Daughter. Beirut, Dar al-saqi, 2014. 220 p. (In Arabic)

17. SaruriHabib. The Grandson of Sinbad. Beirut, Dar al-saqi, 2016. 222 p. (In Arabic)

18. SaruriHabib. Revelation. Beirut, Dar al-saqi, 2018. 255 p. (In Arabic)

19. Jaggi Maya. Is the Arab world ready for a reading revolution? Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2010/apr/16/arab-world-reading-revolution(accessed: 25.04.2020).

20. al-Sayyad Ahmad. The Last Qarmatian. Beirut, Al-Mu'assasa al-`arabiyya li-l-dirasatwa-l-nashr, 2004. 219 p. '(In Arabic)

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23. Zayn Ahmad. Fruit for the Crows. Milan, Manshurat al-Mutawassit, 2020. 239 p. (In Arabic)

24. Amran Muhammad al-Gharbi. Red Manuscript. Beirut, Dar al-Kawkab, 2010. 348 p. (In Arabic)

25. al-KawkabaniNadiya. Nothing but Love. Cairo, Dar Mirit li-l-nashr, 2006. 195 p. (In Arabic)

26. al-KawkabaniNadiya. Submissive Wives.Sanaa, Markaz `Ubadi li-l-dirasatwa-l-nashr, 2009. 307 p. (In Arabic)

27. Zayn Ahmad. American Coffee. Casablanca, al-Markaz al-thaqafi al-`arabi, 2007. 160 p. (In Arabic)

28. Zayn Ahmad. War under the Skin. Beirut, Dar al-adab, 2010. 192 p. (In Arabic)

29. al-AhdalWajdi. A Land without Sky.Sanaa, Markaz `Ubadi li-l-dirasatwa-l-nashr, 2008. 172 p. (In Arabic)

30. al-AhdalWajdi. Happy Land of Intrigues. Beirut, Dar Nawfal, 2018. 310 p. (In Arabic)

31. al-Ghafuri Marwan. Saadas Braids. Beirut, Dar al-adab, 2014. 239 p. (In Arabic)

32. Suvorov M. New Novels from Yemen: Between Revelation and Epatage. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Ser. 13, 2013, issue 4, pp. 68-78. (In Russian)

33. Suvorov M. Two Novels about the Information War in Yemen on the Eve of the Revolution of 2011. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Ser. 13, 2019, issue 3, pp. 298-310.

34. Suvorov M. Yemen and the Arab World in Wajdi al-Ahdal's novels: from Parody to Realism. Eurasian Arabic Studies, 2020, no. 9, pp. 51-64.

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