Western Sahara: Poetry and Spanish – The Permanent Links
For some cultures, it is food, for others it is music, and many cultures show their character in their architecture. For Western Sahara, one of their cultural characteristics is the oral tradition, and poetry is meaningful for Sahrawis. This literature becomes a large part of their lives. According to Atrapadordesueños:
Si de repente se le preguntase a un saharaui de poesía lo más seguro es que a su mente no acudirá ni el título de un libro de versos ni el título de un poema. Sin embargo es muy probable que pueda citar los nombres de los poetas más conocidos e incluso podría recitar varios versos de memoria. Y es que la poesía tradicional saharaui en hassania, lengua de los saharauis, sigue siendo oral, a pesar de que en los últimos años se haya intentado escribir y archivar y así evitar que algún día desaparezca con sus propios autores. Durante el colonialismo España se mantuvo al margen, sin importarle la poesía, y de forma general sin preocuparse por la cultura saharaui. La poesía, ajena a cualquier influencia externa, continuó su viaje en su tradicional vehículo, es decir, de boca en boca y anidando en la prodigiosa memoria de vates, cantores y de los amantes de la poesía.
If you suddenly ask a Sahrawi about poetry, he or she may not be able to tell you the title of a book or the title of a poem. But it is highly possible that he or she can tell you the names of several well-known poets and even recite memorized verses. And it is because traditional poetry in Hassania, the Western Saharan language still remains oral, even with recent attempts to write and document it, in order to avoid its disappearance someday, when their authors pass away. During Spanish colonial rule, it remained marginalized. People were not concerned about Sahrawi poetry or culture. The poetry, isolated from any external influence, kept its traditional way of being passed along by word of mouth through the memory of the poet, singers and lovers of poetry.
Sometimes poetry is combined with music as a family tradition, explains Sahrawi blogger, Aziza Brahim, who is a famous singer. She writes about her connection with her famous grandmother, a Sahrawi poet, living in the refugee camps – Ljadra Mint Mabruk:
Para mí, lo que nunca cambiará, es tomar el té en casa de mi abuela, Ljadra. Siempre compartimos mucho tiempo juntas, desde que era pequeña. Hablamos, le peino, compartimos intimidades, puesto que es mi confidente y mi inspiración. Mi música bebe de la poesía de mi abuela, es natural. Muchas veces empiezo a cantarle, y ella empieza a recitar, y también viceversa.
Ariadna links to seven Sahrawi poets who fuse two languages, since Spanish is the second most important language of the region. However the Cervantes Institute, which is devoted to the study and teaching of the Spanish language has constantly denied support to them [es], as blogger Haz Lo Que Debas [es] points out:
¿No es más urgente el apoyo a un niño sarahaui, que aprende el español en la escuela, con muchas dificultades, que la instalación de sedes del Cervantes en Pekín, San Petersburgo… o la Quinta Avenida de Nueva York?
The blogger continues that this is important because there is also Sahrawi literature in Spanish [es]:
La literatura saharaui en español, incipiente aún, camina sin embargo con paso firme. Una literatura poco atendida por los medios y desconocida por el gran público. También olvidada por las instituciones españolas, caso del Instituto Cervantes o Casa Arabe, que no se interesan por la cultura de este pueblo árabe africano que también se expresa en español, y que un día formó parte de España. Al menos la ayuda de escritores, universidades y asociaciones solidarias con el pueblo saharaui está consiguiendo romper este otro bloqueo contra un pueblo que lucha pacíficamente por su libertad, que “pide la paz y la palabra” para recuperar la tierra que injustamente le arrebataron. Es un libro modesto y sencillo. “No es un bello producto.”
Three years ago, a group of Sahrawi poets and writers got together to establish Generación de la Amistad Saharaui (Generation of the Friends of Sahrawis):
Ocurrió un 9 de julio, muy caluroso, en el centro de Madrid. Un grupo de poetas saharauis venidos de diferentes puntos de la geografía española, apoyados por varios escritores e intelectuales españoles, iniciaban una andadura que empezaba entonces a dar sus primeros frutos y que hoy se apoya en más de una decena de libros publicados. Otros compañeros se unían desde los campamentos de refugiados saharauis al nacimiento de este “humilde sueño” que, tres años después, no ha dejado de ser humilde pero es ya una realidad.
Poetry is a language too, and the Sahrawis are expressing themselves, preserving their history and culture by building bridges in Spanish.
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Hola amigos hay un libro de poesia saharaui traducido ingles-español, aqui estan los datos por si queréis adquirirlo. Gracias por el interes en nuestra cultura saharaui.
Treinta y uno, Thirty one. Generación de la Amistad Saharaui
“¿Por qué 31? Hay un poema para cada año de exilio, de carencia y promesas rotas de la comunidad internacional. Un poema para cada uno de los años en cual no hemos hecho caso a la determinación saharaui de construir un estado moderno, democrático y laico en su patria. Para los saharauis, estos son poemas de resistencia. Para nosotros, estos son los poemas de nuestra culpa que, para nuestra incomodidad, denuncian lo que los otros prefieren hacer callar”.
Autores: Generación de la Amistad Saharaui. Ali Salem Iselmu, Bahia Mahmud Awah, Chejdan Mahmud, Limam Boicha, Luali Lehsan, Mohamed Ali Ali Salem, Mohamed Salem Abdelfatah Ebnu, Saleh Abdalahi, Zahra Hasnaui.
Edita: Ediciones Sombrerete, Sandblast. Antólogo: Pablo San Martín, Universidad de Leeds
Año de publicación: 2007
Encuadernación: Rustica
Número de páginas: 106 páginas
ISBN: 978-84-8053-474-5
Lengua (idioma): Edición bilingüe inglés español
Buen articulo. Yo he leido mucha poesia saharaui de la generacion de la amistad. Alguien me puede decir donde puedo encontrar toda la poesia de Ebnu y luali Lehsen.
muchas gracias
Thank you everybody here for the comments that reflect your interest in the Sahrawi literature especially poetry,i would like to thank Bahia for the nice verses and words and am telling you keep on writing what you fell,eventhough i did not master the Spanish language but i think that i got the message,i have always visited the blog which i advise Mario to visit because there he can find the works of Ebnu and luali Lehsen.
http://tirisnoviadepoetas.blogspot.com/
i really like all the team verses,am really proud of you all.
Gracias Mohamed, apreciamos mucho todo lo que estás haciendo y tu resistencia pacífica.
También podéis leer poesía y relatos de la generación de la amistad en la web y el blog del grupo.
http://www.generacionamistadsaharaui.com/
http://www.generaciondelaamistad.blogspot.com/
Ahí podéis leer poemas y relatos de Ebnu, Luali y todos los demás.
El blog de Tiris está abierto a toda la poesía saharaui en español y añadimos incluso poemas traducidos del hassania.
Estos son los dos libros en solitario de Ebnu, aunque él ha participado en varias antologías.
NOMADA EN EL EXILIO
En el poemario de Mohamed Salem Abdelfatah Ebnu resuenan con rotundidad las voces que gritan en el desierto, en la hamada argelina, el peor trozo de tierra del planeta. En los poemas recogidos en la obra, transpiran los sueños de libertad del pueblo saharaui, con versos enérgicos y vitalistas, como los colores de las melhfas que visten sus mujeres en el desierto. Una incombustible esperanza insospechada en aquellos que sobreviven cargados de dignidad y atravesando innumerables mares rojos en el inhóspito desierto, resurgiendo una y otra vez a las embestidas de todas las plagas bíblicas.
Autor: Mohamed Salem Abdelfatah Ebnu
Edita: Asociación Cultural Almenara, Marbella
Año de publicación: 2008
Encuadernación: 3. Blanda
Número de páginas: 57 páginas
Dimensiones: 15 x 21 cm
Depósito Legal: Ma-185/2008
Lengua (idioma): Castellano
VOZ DE FUEGO
Con este libro de poemas Ebnu ofrece su voz testimonal, esperanzada, su voz de fuego, quemando las dudas y alumbrando el futuro de la nueva poesía saharaui. Que arda, y que la hoguera se agrade más y más nuevos versos que prendan como yesca.
Autor: Mohamed Salem Abdelfatah
Edita: Universidad De Las Palmas
Año de publicación: 2004
Encuadernación: 1. Rustica
Número de páginas: 94 páginas
ISBN: 8496131637
Lengua (idioma): Castellano
Luali es un fantástico poeta; de momento no tiene libros en solitario pero ha participado en varias antologías de poesía saharaui en español.
Aquí dejo un poema suyo:
El tiempo va
El tiempo va, siempre va
dejando callos en las manos
de la historia.
Los años se precipitan
como perlas de un rosario
sobre la ya longeva memoria
del exilio.
La providencia talla
nuestros pasos de mañana
en un camino sin brazos,
sin flores en lo bordes,
y sin ti en el horizonte.
El tiempo va, siempre va
arrastrando las cicatrices del universo
hacia un norte apoteósico.
Los días sobre vuelan, sin ruido,
como aves de rapiña,
el techo de este hogar sin raíz
donde anida el sueño de nuestros hijos.
El tiempo va, siempre va.
Luali Lehsan
Bahia gracias por los versos y los informaciones,i would like to share with the western people interested in the hassani poetry some information about it which could be just a beginning for a deep study.
HASSANI POETRY:
Like any other type of poetry, be it in dialectal or standard Arabic, Hassani poetry has its specific importance. And despite the fact that its writers take pride in its ability to go beyond the confines of standard poetry, vernacular Hassani poetry is fraught with terms in common use in standard Arabic, nay, with thoroughly meaningful sentences, in addition to lexical borrowings from other foreign languages, not to mention the fact that it draws on the Islamic religion, Quranic suras, prophetic sayings as well as on Arabic poetry that spans all ages.
Several people excelled in the writing of Hassani poetry. There is in fact a specific category of people who, in addition to the poets themselves, are adept at reciting this kind of poetry. These consist mainly of a group of singers who are in Hassani parlance called ‘Ikaoun,’ who, along with a number of eminent poets, engage in the criticism of poetry in order to sift good from mediocre Hassani poetry. One could in fact find some poets who learn by heart some poetry other than their own.
One of the difficulties that Hassani poetry suffers from is that it is scarcely recorded, which tosses it into confusion, distortion and loss. Such a situation, be it noted, obtains up to the present.
Of the salient objectives of popular Hassani poetry, the following is in order:
1. What is considered to be permissible: a kind of poetry that is complete in rhyme scheme, and admits of no addition or diminution: implication, intransitivity, assonance and extraction, outlay, nun-nation, proper as well as reverse circumlocution.
2. What is reprehensible in Hassani poetry: ‘zai’ (with stress on z ), in addition to the use of words that are foreign to the Hassani dialect, especially from standard Arabic, the reason being that poets consider such a use as being a gesture of weakness on the part of the poet. Generally, such a type of mixture between Hassani dialect and standard Arabic idiom is not favourable to the man-in-the-street.
3. The taboo; or what is forbidden in Hassani poetry: “adla’a,” which means that the parts of a poem are incompatible in terms of the lexical items used, which is called ‘taflouit’; they are either superfluous or lacking, in addition to the fact that both the overuse of and excessive parsimony in words can lead to confusion and, by the same gesture, to loss of meaning. This is called ‘la’war’ or ‘al’ur’.
4. Duty: This lies in what is commonly known in Hassani poetry as the observance of the rhyme scheme, and the so-called ‘kalf’ (poetic line), ‘attal’a’ (the poem itself); or ‘assabba’ (a particular poem) ought also to observe the rules underpinning the rhyme scheme, and no ‘watr’ (the existence of an irregular verse) is acceptable.
5. What is recommended is that the ’tal’a’ (poem) should have a ‘kaaf’ (a line of poetry) that is tightly linked to the poem in terms of both meaning and structure, whether it occurs at the beginning of the poem, where it serves as an explicative apposition; or at the end of the poem, where it serves to undermine, so to speak, its meaning. Moreover, it is worthy to note that it is highly preferable that the writing of Hassani poetry be done in the local dialect, not in standard Arabic, the local dialect being here a true aesthetic measure of this type of poetry.
The meter and rhyme scheme of Hassani poetry have gone through two important phases:
Firstly- Prior to music: This is the stage where poetry was considered as a type of quite distinguished prose; the poetic lines were not measured against each other, and no room could be had for ‘attal’a’ (the poem itself), and were it to exist, it showed only one, maybe two, three or even four, rhymes schemes. Besides, the meter governing a particular line was a matter of vowel point; that is, whether it is short, long or rounded, without any consideration for letters of the alphabet.
Hassani poetry remained as such for long period of time, following which a new phase began to emerge where poetry came to a higher stage of maturity. In fact, at this stage, poets began to limit the rhyme scheme to whatever consonants are in harmony with the musical rhythm of the poem as a whole. Another characteristic came into being which places greater importance on the equivalence of lines, and the fact that they be measured against each other as evenly as possible, any addition or diminution being out of place. In this way, the rhyme scheme began to be firmly stabilized and therein appeared what is known as ‘alhumr’ and ‘al’qrab,’ which will remain as the foundation of any poetic meter or rhyme scheme in Hassani poetry.
Secondly, the emergence of music represented a novel impetus for the advancement of Hassani poetry towards a more sophisticated phase, as poets were somehow compelled to accompany their lyrics with musical rhythm. A situation such as this stipulated that any type of poetry that is not in one way or another spiced up by a musical rhythm became, purely and simply, unacceptable. Thus, music started to shape up poetry itself. It in fact helped in forging, so to say, poetic meter in Hassani poetry along the lines of commonly accepted meter in Arabic poetry at large.
More particularly, there emerged into being the idea that each phase had its specific rhythm and musicality, even its own specific poetry, all of which could not be used under other different circumstances. At this particular point, ‘attal’a’ was added to the overall structure of a poem, not to mention the fact that consonance increased from one instance into eight ones. It is worth mentioning here that the poetry in vogue in the previous phases was still recognized. Its different meters were all compiled into one sole meter which was known as the all-encompassing meter. There existed in fact a number of other meterical patterns such as ‘arrasm’, ‘al massaar’i,’ ‘al’asir,’ ‘ashtan,’ ‘azmoul,’ ‘atrous,’ and ‘al wakidi,’ to name but a few. However, the development that occurred in the area of popular poetry led in general to dispensing with a number of these metrical patterns, and to preserving only the ones that are more familiar now.
1. Ba’amrane: The ‘k’ sound in Ba’amrane is structured around ‘seven’ consonantal sounds, one which move from being a dynamic to static state .
2. Merimida: It is a meter in close connection to the way Ba’amrane’s versification is patterned, as it is also structured around seven consonantal sounds. It, nonetheless, differs in the way the consonants are put together, for it begins with two consonant clusters followed by one consonant, and at times with one consonant only.
3. Assaghir (lit. the little one), one of the characteristics of which we have already pointed out. Its major characteristic is that it is not measured by its first part only, but needs to be considered from the point of view of the first two parts, as it is built around seven consonantal sounds in the first part, five in the second and never ends but with a medial consonant. It is also characterized by the fact that after each set of consonants, a medial consonant appears to be necessary, in addition to the fact that its third sound needs to be medial, too.
4. Lbir: It is relatively wrought along the lines of ‘albtit’, despite the fact that it shows one consonantal sound less in comparison; the poetry that follows ‘lbtit’ s metrical design includes seven consonants, and is characterized, at least in its first part, by what is known in Hassani poetry as ‘lehrache’. Its second part, however, is toned down as opposed to the first part, another characteristic that distinguishes it from ‘lbtit’. Under some specific circumstances, it could turn into what is commonly known as ‘btatrateq’ or ‘mimaiat lbir’.
5. Lbtit : it is of two kinds: what is known as ‘incomplete lbtit,’ which is written with seven consonants, and ‘complete lbtit,’ which has eight consonantal sounds. In general, ‘complete lbtit’ is taken to be more secure in comparison with the metrical patterns in use by Hassani poetry, the reason being its inclusion of a great number of consonantal sounds. As to the rationale behind its division into two parts, one complete and the other incomplete, it is the fact that poetic musicality treats it as being itself of an essentially musical rhythm. One in fact finds two different appellations for the same meter: ‘a’adal’ and ‘biqi’.
I would like to thank Bahia for the verses and for the information that she/he provide us with.
I also like to share some information about the hassani poetry with the interested people here it would be just a beginning for more deep study.
HASSANI POETRY:
Like any other type of poetry, be it in dialectal or standard Arabic, Hassani poetry has its specific importance. And despite the fact that its writers take pride in its ability to go beyond the confines of standard poetry, vernacular Hassani poetry is fraught with terms in common use in standard Arabic, nay, with thoroughly meaningful sentences, in addition to lexical borrowings from other foreign languages, not to mention the fact that it draws on the Islamic religion, Quranic suras, prophetic sayings as well as on Arabic poetry that spans all ages.
Several people excelled in the writing of Hassani poetry. There is in fact a specific category of people who, in addition to the poets themselves, are adept at reciting this kind of poetry. These consist mainly of a group of singers who are in Hassani parlance called ‘Ikaoun,’ who, along with a number of eminent poets, engage in the criticism of poetry in order to sift good from mediocre Hassani poetry. One could in fact find some poets who learn by heart some poetry other than their own.
One of the difficulties that Hassani poetry suffers from is that it is scarcely recorded, which tosses it into confusion, distortion and loss. Such a situation, be it noted, obtains up to the present.
Of the salient objectives of popular Hassani poetry, the following is in order:
1. What is considered to be permissible: a kind of poetry that is complete in rhyme scheme, and admits of no addition or diminution: implication, intransitivity, assonance and extraction, outlay, nun-nation, proper as well as reverse circumlocution.
2. What is reprehensible in Hassani poetry: ‘zai’ (with stress on z ), in addition to the use of words that are foreign to the Hassani dialect, especially from standard Arabic, the reason being that poets consider such a use as being a gesture of weakness on the part of the poet. Generally, such a type of mixture between Hassani dialect and standard Arabic idiom is not favourable to the man-in-the-street.
3. The taboo; or what is forbidden in Hassani poetry: “adla’a,” which means that the parts of a poem are incompatible in terms of the lexical items used, which is called ‘taflouit’; they are either superfluous or lacking, in addition to the fact that both the overuse of and excessive parsimony in words can lead to confusion and, by the same gesture, to loss of meaning. This is called ‘la’war’ or ‘al’ur’.
4. Duty: This lies in what is commonly known in Hassani poetry as the observance of the rhyme scheme, and the so-called ‘kalf’ (poetic line), ‘attal’a’ (the poem itself); or ‘assabba’ (a particular poem) ought also to observe the rules underpinning the rhyme scheme, and no ‘watr’ (the existence of an irregular verse) is acceptable.
5. What is recommended is that the ’tal’a’ (poem) should have a ‘kaaf’ (a line of poetry) that is tightly linked to the poem in terms of both meaning and structure, whether it occurs at the beginning of the poem, where it serves as an explicative apposition; or at the end of the poem, where it serves to undermine, so to speak, its meaning. Moreover, it is worthy to note that it is highly preferable that the writing of Hassani poetry be done in the local dialect, not in standard Arabic, the local dialect being here a true aesthetic measure of this type of poetry.
The meter and rhyme scheme of Hassani poetry have gone through two important phases:
Firstly- Prior to music: This is the stage where poetry was considered as a type of quite distinguished prose; the poetic lines were not measured against each other, and no room could be had for ‘attal’a’ (the poem itself), and were it to exist, it showed only one, maybe two, three or even four, rhymes schemes. Besides, the meter governing a particular line was a matter of vowel point; that is, whether it is short, long or rounded, without any consideration for letters of the alphabet.
Hassani poetry remained as such for long period of time, following which a new phase began to emerge where poetry came to a higher stage of maturity. In fact, at this stage, poets began to limit the rhyme scheme to whatever consonants are in harmony with the musical rhythm of the poem as a whole. Another characteristic came into being which places greater importance on the equivalence of lines, and the fact that they be measured against each other as evenly as possible, any addition or diminution being out of place. In this way, the rhyme scheme began to be firmly stabilized and therein appeared what is known as ‘alhumr’ and ‘al’qrab,’ which will remain as the foundation of any poetic meter or rhyme scheme in Hassani poetry.
Secondly, the emergence of music represented a novel impetus for the advancement of Hassani poetry towards a more sophisticated phase, as poets were somehow compelled to accompany their lyrics with musical rhythm. A situation such as this stipulated that any type of poetry that is not in one way or another spiced up by a musical rhythm became, purely and simply, unacceptable. Thus, music started to shape up poetry itself. It in fact helped in forging, so to say, poetic meter in Hassani poetry along the lines of commonly accepted meter in Arabic poetry at large.
More particularly, there emerged into being the idea that each phase had its specific rhythm and musicality, even its own specific poetry, all of which could not be used under other different circumstances. At this particular point, ‘attal’a’ was added to the overall structure of a poem, not to mention the fact that consonance increased from one instance into eight ones. It is worth mentioning here that the poetry in vogue in the previous phases was still recognized. Its different meters were all compiled into one sole meter which was known as the all-encompassing meter. There existed in fact a number of other meterical patterns such as ‘arrasm’, ‘al massaar’i,’ ‘al’asir,’ ‘ashtan,’ ‘azmoul,’ ‘atrous,’ and ‘al wakidi,’ to name but a few. However, the development that occurred in the area of popular poetry led in general to dispensing with a number of these metrical patterns, and to preserving only the ones that are more familiar now.
1. Ba’amrane: The ‘k’ sound in Ba’amrane is structured around ‘seven’ consonantal sounds, one which move from being a dynamic to static state .
2. Merimida: It is a meter in close connection to the way Ba’amrane’s versification is patterned, as it is also structured around seven consonantal sounds. It, nonetheless, differs in the way the consonants are put together, for it begins with two consonant clusters followed by one consonant, and at times with one consonant only.
3. Assaghir (lit. the little one), one of the characteristics of which we have already pointed out. Its major characteristic is that it is not measured by its first part only, but needs to be considered from the point of view of the first two parts, as it is built around seven consonantal sounds in the first part, five in the second and never ends but with a medial consonant. It is also characterized by the fact that after each set of consonants, a medial consonant appears to be necessary, in addition to the fact that its third sound needs to be medial, too.
4. Lbir: It is relatively wrought along the lines of ‘albtit’, despite the fact that it shows one consonantal sound less in comparison; the poetry that follows ‘lbtit’ s metrical design includes seven consonants, and is characterized, at least in its first part, by what is known in Hassani poetry as ‘lehrache’. Its second part, however, is toned down as opposed to the first part, another characteristic that distinguishes it from ‘lbtit’. Under some specific circumstances, it could turn into what is commonly known as ‘btatrateq’ or ‘mimaiat lbir’.
5. Lbtit : it is of two kinds: what is known as ‘incomplete lbtit,’ which is written with seven consonants, and ‘complete lbtit,’ which has eight consonantal sounds. In general, ‘complete lbtit’ is taken to be more secure in comparison with the metrical patterns in use by Hassani poetry, the reason being its inclusion of a great number of consonantal sounds. As to the rationale behind its division into two parts, one complete and the other incomplete, it is the fact that poetic musicality treats it as being itself of an essentially musical rhythm. One in fact finds two different appellations for the same meter: ‘a’adal’ and ‘biqi’.
Mohamed, muy interesantes comentarios.
Hoy se presentó en Zaragoza (España) un nuevo libro de poesía saharaui, “La música del siroco”, de Ali Salem Iselmu.
http://literaturasaharaui.blogspot.com/2008/06/la-msica-del-siroco-ali-salem-iselmu.html
Estos son dos poemas del libro dedicados a la tierra ocupada:
El silencio se rompe
al paso de la violencia,
la indiferencia se hace sombra
mientras la ciudad de los manantiales
se siente violada en su orgullo,
violada en su rostro,
violada en su cuerpo.
Cuánta violencia ciega.
La lápida de su imagen
crece en medio de la sangre
y la tragedia es una voz.
En el barrio Maatala,
orgullo saharaui,
El Aaiun es rebelde,
es soberana
es libre. (Aaiun)
Pequeña y blanca,
besas el mar
y resistes
eterna
el saqueo
de tus verdugos.
Me prohibieron
compartir contigo
mi niñez.
Y te perdiste
en el tiempo
como se perdió
mi infancia
en tu vientre.
Me dueles tanto
como el deseo
de encontrarte
y poderte decir:
Dajla,
ya eres libre,
hijo tuyo soy. (Dajla)