Paradise, by 2021 Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, is the coming-of-age story of Yusuf, a Tanzanian boy sent into debt servitude when his father can’t pay back an Arab merchant. Yusuf travels into the interior with “Uncle Aziz” and other vivid characters, to trade with the “savages” there. The story takes place on the cusp of World War I, set in the wake of mass enslavement and the advent of European colonialism and interwoven with Yusuf’s story from the Quran. Gurnah himself belonged to the Arab elite of Zanzibar, and fled to the UK after a revolution there in the 1960s.

Show Notes

In Episode 84, we discussed the colonial relationship between Oman and East Africa in Jokha Alharthi’s The Bitter Orange Tree. 

Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Nobel lecture

Excerpt on Kilwa from Ibn Battuta’s RihlatTanzania-Oman Historic Ties: The Past and Present, by Oswald Masebo

Paradise, by 2021 Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, is the coming-of-age story of Yusuf, a Tanzanian boy sent into debt servitude when his father can&rsquo;t pay back an Arab merchant. Yusuf travels into the interior with &ldquo;Uncle Aziz&rdquo; and other vivid characters, to trade with the &ldquo;savages&rdquo; there. The story takes place on the cusp of World War I, set in the wake of mass enslavement and the advent of European colonialism and interwoven with Yusuf&rsquo;s story from the Quran. Gurnah himself belonged to the Arab elite of Zanzibar, and fled to the UK after a revolution there in the 1960s.
Show Notes
<a href="https://listen.sowt.com/bulaq84">In Episode 84</a>, we discussed the colonial relationship between Oman and East Africa in Jokha Alharthi&rsquo;s The Bitter Orange Tree.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2021/gurnah/lecture/">Abdulrazak Gurnah&rsquo;s Nobel lecture</a>
<a href="https://medievalslavery.org/africa/source-kilwa-slavery-on-the-east-african-coast/source-ibn-ba%E1%B9%AD%E1%B9%ADu%E1%B9%ADa-on-slaves-at-kilwa/">Excerpt on Kilwa from Ibn Battuta&rsquo;s Rihlat</a><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/45342125">Tanzania-Oman Historic Ties: The Past and Present</a>, by Oswald Masebo

BULAQ is a book-centric podcast co-hosted by Ursula Lindsey (in Amman, Jordan) and M Lynx Qualey (in Rabat, Morocco). It focuses on Arabic literature in translation and is named after the first printing press established in Egypt in 1820. Produced by Sowt.

BULAQ is a book-centric podcast co-hosted by Ursula Lindsey (in Amman, Jordan) and M Lynx Qualey (in Rabat, Morocco). It focuses on Arabic literature in translation and is named after the first printing press established in Egypt in 1820. Produced by Sowt.

BULAQ | بولاق

BULAQ is a podcast about contemporary writing from and about the Middle East and North Africa. We talk about books written in Aleppo, Cairo, Marrakech and beyond. We look at the Arab region through the lens of literature, and we look at literature -- what it does, why it matters, how it relates to society and history and politics -- from the point of view of this part of the world.  BULAQ is co-produced by ArabLit and The Arabist and is hosted by Ursula Lindsey and M Lynx Qualey.

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