A glimpse of the Reception of Tagore in the Arabic Literature

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a polymath and one of the most versatile and accomplished writers of his age. His fame transcended the national boundaries, especially after he had been conferred the prestigious ‘Nobel Prize’ in 1913 for his masterpiece “Gitanjali”. So, the Arabic-Speaking World was not supposed to be isolated in this regard. Subsequently, when Tagore received the Nobel Prize on 13th November 1913, the Arab World came forward to welcome and celebrate the news wholeheartedly because Tagore was not only the first Indian but the first Asian to receive the prestigious award. So, daily newspapers of several Arab countries expressed their excitement and enthusiasm soon after the Nobel Committee announced that Tagore had won the Nobel Prize and Egypt was at the forefront as we find that several reputed dailies and journals published the news such as the daily al-Ahram and the journals Saut al-Sharq, al-Hilal, al-Jinan and al-Muqtataf etc. Later, many Arabic writers and translators paid their special attention to his literary works. And many books, research papers and articles were written discussing his life, literature, philosophy and spirituality. As he was a renowned personality all over the world, much has been written and being written about him. His diversified works of literature are studied and researched. Journal articles and conference papers are written and presented nationally and internationally. Hence, I don’t intend to take up any of these aspects to discuss in this concise paper. As it’s clear from the title of the article, I would try to discuss and highlight how he has been received, read and revered in the Arab World through Arabic writings and translations of Tagoreana

Role of Multilingualism in developing spirit of tolerance and harmony

In the interconnected and globalized world, multilingualism has a great role to play in creating a peaceful global society based on mutual understanding, solidarity, tolerance, affection and compassion. We know that the world has witnessed two World Wars, and continues to witness international conflicts, regional disputes, local unrests and sectarian clashes. Have we contemplated why all these happen, here and there, now and then? If we ponder upon, we will find that most of these conflicts and disputes occur due to linguistic, ethnic, religious, ideological or economic differences. And the reason behind it is that everyone refuses to recognize the other, his language, race, religion, and ideology. On the other hand everyone – individual or community or state - wants to achieve his own goals and objectives at the expense of the other. This is where clashes and disputes emanate from. This is what called "unilateral theory" where one party does not recognize or respect the other leading to the marginalization of the weaker by the stronger, which further leads to sowing the seeds of hatred and hostility, clash and conflict. So, to my belief, the recognition of pluralism - linguistic, cultural, religious, ethnic and ideological - can prove to be the only solution to many conflicts and disputes. Hence, this paper will focus on why we should encourage and promote multilingualism and how it develops the spirit of tolerance and understanding in the multilingual personalities

Role of Multilingualism in developing spirit of tolerance and harmony

In the interconnected and globalized world, multilingualism has a great role to play in creating a peaceful global society based on mutual understanding, solidarity, tolerance, affection and compassion. We know that the world has witnessed two World Wars, and continues to witness international conflicts, regional disputes, local unrests and sectarian clashes. Have we contemplated why all these happen, here and there, now and then? If we ponder upon, we will find that most of these conflicts and disputes occur due to linguistic, ethnic, religious, ideological or economic differences. And the reason behind it is that everyone refuses to recognize the other, his language, race, religion, and ideology. On the other hand everyone – individual or community or state - wants to achieve his own goals and objectives at the expense of the other. This is where clashes and disputes emanate from. This is what called "unilateral theory" where one party does not recognize or respect the other leading to the marginalization of the weaker by the stronger, which further leads to sowing the seeds of hatred and hostility, clash and conflict. So, to my belief, the recognition of pluralism - linguistic, cultural, religious, ethnic and ideological - can prove to be the only solution to many conflicts and disputes. Hence, this paper will focus on why we should encourage and promote multilingualism and how it develops the spirit of tolerance and understanding in the multilingual personalities

A glimpse of the Reception of Tagore in the Arabic Literature

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a polymath and one of the most versatile and accomplished writers of his age. His fame transcended the national boundaries, especially after he had been conferred the prestigious ‘Nobel Prize’ in 1913 for his masterpiece “Gitanjali”. So, the Arabic-Speaking World was not supposed to be isolated in this regard. Subsequently, when Tagore received the Nobel Prize on 13th November 1913, the Arab World came forward to welcome and celebrate the news wholeheartedly because Tagore was not only the first Indian but the first Asian to receive the prestigious award. So, daily newspapers of several Arab countries expressed their excitement and enthusiasm soon after the Nobel Committee announced that Tagore had won the Nobel Prize and Egypt was at the forefront as we find that several reputed dailies and journals published the news such as the daily al-Ahram and the journals Saut al-Sharq, al-Hilal, al-Jinan and al-Muqtataf etc. Later, many Arabic writers and translators paid their special attention to his literary works. And many books, research papers and articles were written discussing his life, literature, philosophy and spirituality. As he was a renowned personality all over the world, much has been written and being written about him. His diversified works of literature are studied and researched. Journal articles and conference papers are written and presented nationally and internationally. Hence, I don’t intend to take up any of these aspects to discuss in this concise paper. As it’s clear from the title of the article, I would try to discuss and highlight how he has been received, read and revered in the Arab World through Arabic writings and translations of Tagoreana

The danger of diglossia in Arabic language: A study from historical and empirical perspective

توجد في العالم أكثر من ستة آلاف لغة، وتكاد تخلو لغة من الازدواجية اللغوية. فالازدواجية اللغوية (Diglossia) ظاهرة متلازمة لأي لغة من اللغات الحية في العالم؛ إذ يوجد صراع قائم بين لغة أدبية مكتوبة ولغة عامية محكية منذ بداية اللغات. فهذه الازدواجية العامة لا تشكل خطرا كبيرا على اللغة الفصحى. ولكن الازدواجية التي تشكل خطرا كبيرا على أي لغة هو الانتقال بالكتابة من الفصحى إلى العامية. يرى الباحث أن اللغة العربية تختلف في الازدواجية اختلافا بارزا في الواقع المعاصر لبروز دعوات هدامة من المغتربين والمستشرقين إلى الانتقال بالكتابة من الفصحى إلى العامية. فيتحدث الباحث في هذه الورقة البحثية عن الازدواجية اللغوية الموجودة في اللغة العربية ومدى خطورتها. وبالإضافة إلى ذلك، يتطرق إلى بيان أثر وسائل الإعلام المقروءة والمسموعة والمرئية على العربية الفصحى؛ إذ نرى في الوقت الراهن أن اللغة العامية أصبحت تطارد الفصحى في وسائل الإعلام والاتصال الحديثة بما لها من نفوذ معنوي وانتشار هائل في العالم الرقمي. والبحث يحتوي على أربعة مباحث مسبوقة بمقدمة ومتبوعة بخاتمة. وقد انتهج الباحث فيه منهجا تاريخية وتجريبيا في معالجة الموضوع، واستكشف من خلال الدراسة أن الازدواجية اللغوية تشكل تحديا كبيرا أمام اللغة العربية لوجود الصراع الشديد بين الفصحى واللهجات بعد بروز دعوات هدامة من المغتربين والمستشرقين إلى إحلال العامية محل الفصحى من ناحية، وبسبب الهجر والإهمال في موطنها ومن قبل أبنائها في وسائل الإعلام وأنظمة التعليم والمعاملات اليومية من ناحية أخرى. ويسعى الباحث بواسطة هذه الدراسة أن يخلق الوعي العام لدى الجيل الجديد من الدول العربية أو الدول المعنية بشأن خطورة إهمال الفصحى واستخدام اللهجات على حسابها، كما يرجو أن يحثّ الجهات المعنية العامة والخاصة على أن تهتم بتعزيز الفصحى  في الأصعدة الاجتماعية والسياسية والأكاديمية.There are more than six thousand languages ​​in the world, and diglossia exists almost in every language. Diglossia is a linguistic phenomenon found in any language of the world; because there always has been existed a kind of conflict between a written literary language and a spoken colloquial language since the inception of languages. This common diglossia does not pose any major threat to the standard language. But the diglossia which poses a great danger to any language is the shift from standard language to the colloquial one in written form. The researcher believes that the Arabic language differs from other languages in terms of diglossia, in the contemporary reality, due to emergence of subversive campaigns by orientalists and expatriates to shift from standard language to the colloquial one in written form. In this article, the researcher talks about diglossia in Arabic languge and the extent of danger it poses to the Arabic standard language. In addition, the researcher discusses the impact of the written, audio and visual media on standard Arabic, as we see, at present, that the colloquial language is chasing away standard Arabic in the present media and means of communication with their moral influence and wide circulation in the digital world. The paper contains four chapters preceded by an introduction and followed by a conclusion. The researcher has adopted a historical and empirical approach in dealing with the subject, and explored through the study that linguistic diglossia poses a major challenge to the Arabic language due to the intense conflict between the standard Arabic and the colloquial after the emergence of subversive campaigns from expatriates and orientalists to replace the standard Arabic with the colloquial on one hand, and because of abandonment and neglect in its homeland by its speakers in the media, education systems and daily conversation on the other hand. Through this study, the researcher seeks to create public awareness among the new generation of Arab countries or concerned countries regarding the danger of neglecting standard Arabic and using dialects at its expense. He also hopes to motivate the public and private stakeholders to pay attention to promoting standard Arabic at the social, political and academic levels