SHAPING THE CAST OF CHARACTERS: THE CASE OF AL-TAYYIB S�LIH

How to define the characters

There are not many cases in which one writer-as opposed to a group- places a distinct stamp on the literature of his or her people and brings it to the attention of readers outside the country. This is true for Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1928-), whose Colombian writing came to the attention not just of readers in Latin American, but throughout the world, primarily through his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude [Cien Afios de Soledad (1967)]. Al-Tayyib Salih (1929-) has had a similar effect. This author has not only brought Sudanese literature, considered marginal in the Arab world, to the awareness of readers in and critics of the Arab world, but he has opened the doors of Sudanese literature to audiences throughout the world by way of translations primarily into English, but also into French, German, Italian, Russian, and Hebrew. Clearly al-Tayyib Salih did not oper- I ate in a void, as he was influenced by both Arab and Western writers.'

An earlier version of this article appeared in Arabic: "Tatawwur al-Shakhsiyya fi A�m�l al-Tayyib S�lih,"al-Karmil, Haifa, 10 (1989), pp. 7-26. I am grateful to Professor Ahmad Muhammad el-Badawi who reviewed the material and provided useful suggestions. Unless noted otherwise, all excerpts given in English of the work of al-Tayyib S�lihare taken from the translations of Denys Johnson-Davies, hence the transliteration in these excerpts may differ in some respects from the transliteration used elsewhere in the text. ' Articles and books have appeared in Arabic and English about the writing of al-Tayyib S�lih,in particular about his novel Mawsim al-Hijra il�al-Sham �l,most of these since the late 1960s. A partial listing of works in Arabic: F�timaM �s�'''Usf, �rmin al-Jan�baw ��lam al-Tayyib S�lih,"al-Majalla, 164 (August 1970), pp. 95-102; Muhammad Zaghl�lSal �m, Dir�s�f�t al-Qissa al-�Arabiyyaal-Had �tha,Alexandria, Munsha'at al-Ma��rif,[1973], pp. 428-437; Ahmad Sa��Muhammadiyyad (ed.), al-Tayyib S�lih:� Abqaral-Riw� �yaal- �Arabiyya, Beirut, Dar al-'Awda, 1976; George Tarabishi, Sharq wa-Gharb, Ruj�lawa Un�tha,Diras � f� Azmat al-Jins wa'l-Had�ra f�al-Riw �yaal- �Arab�yya,2nd ed., Beirut, D�ral-Tal ��li¸1-Tiba ��a wa'l-Nashr, 1979, pp. 142-185; Muhyi al-D�Subhi,n Abt�l f�al-Sayr�Dirra: �s�f�t al-Riw �ya al-�Arabiyyawa'l-Mu �arraba,Beirut, D�ral-Tal ��li'l-Tiba ��wa'l-Nashr,a 1980, pp. 8-53; Fawziyya al-Saff�r,Azmat al-Ajy�al-l �Arabiyyaal-Mu ��sira,Dir �saf �Riw �yatMawsim al- Hijra il�al-Sham �l li' l-TayyibS� lih,Tunis, Mu'assasat 'Abd al-Kar�mibn �Abdall�1980;h, Muhammad Rushdi Hasan �Al�al-Ibd, ��al-Fann � fQisas� al-Tayyib S�lih,Cairo: Matba�atal- Ma�rifa,1980; Ceza Q�sim,"Tajriba Naqdiyya: Mawsim al-Hijra il�al-Sham �l,"Fus �l1:2 (January-March 1981), pp. 224-229; Yumn�al- ��"Tamallukd, al-Watan wa-Mu��dalatal-Jins wa'l-Had�ra(Mu ��nfi� al-Ta¸rt �khf� Riwayat Mawsim al-Hijra il�al-Sham �l),"al-Tar �q,3-4 (August 1981), pp. 98-130; 'Isam Mahf�z,al-Riw �yaal- �Arabiyyaal-Tal ��iyyawa'l-Shah �da, Beirut, Dar Ibn Rushd, 1982, pp. 73-78; al-Sa��al-Waraqd �Ittij, �h�al-Riwt �yaal- �Arabiyya 60

Although Sudanese authors appeared as early as the 1920s, it was only in the 1960s that one can speak of Sudanese literary activity of real signifi- cance. Briefly, we can mention Abu Bakr Khalid (1934-1976), 'All al-Makk (1937-), al-Tayyib Zarraq (1935-), Ibrahim Ishaq Ibrahim (1946-), and Mukhtar Ibrahim 'Ajüba Nevertheless, the literary activity of the Sudanese writers, including al-Tayyib Salih, did not change the marginality of Suda- nese literature among modern Arabic literatures, especially compared to lead- ing Arabic literatures such as Egyptian, Lebanese, and Moroccan. al-Mu��sira,Cairo, al-Hay¸a al-Misriyya al-��mmali'l-Kit �b,1982, pp. 300-309; Y�sufN �r �Awad,al-Tayyib S�lihf� Manz �ral-Naqd al-Bunyaw�Jedda,, Maktabat al-�Alam,1983, pp. 162-181; 'Abd al-Rahm�nal-Kh �nj�Qir, �¸aJadida f�Riw �y�al-Tayyibt S�lih,Umm Durm�n, Dar J�mi�Ummat Durm�nal-Isl �miyya,1983; Sami Suwaydan, Abh�thf� al-Nass al-Riw�'� al-�Arab�Beirut,, Mu'assasat al-Abh�thal- �Arabiyya,1986, pp. 121-176; Raj�¸Ni'ma, Sir�� al-Maqh�rma �aal-Sulta, Dir�saf �al-Tahl �al-Nafsl �li-Riw �yatal-Tayyib S�lihMawsim al- Hijra il�al-Sham �l,Beirut, 1986; 'Ami El'ad, "al-Tayyib S�lihwa'l-Adab al-S�d�nal-� Had�th,"Liq �¸,6 (Spring 1987), pp. 22-24; �Is�Bahii,m al-Rihla il�al-Gharb f�al-Riw �ya al-�Arabiyyaal-Had �tha,Cairo, al-Hay¸a al-Misriyya al-��mmali'l-Kit �b,1991, pp. 55-93; and MuhammadSh �h�Tabawwuln, �al-Shawqt f�Mawsim al-Hijra il�al-Sham �Dirl, �saNaqdiyya Muq�rana,Beirut, al-Mu¸assasa al-'Arabiyya li'l-Dir�s�wa'l-Nashr,t 1993. In European languages, as well, scholarship about the works of al-Tayyib S�lihfocuses on the novel Mawsimal-Hijra il�al-Sham �including:l, Mattityahu Peled, "Portrait of an Intellectual," MiddleEastern Studies,8:2 (1977),pp. 218-228;Muhammad Siddiq, "The Processof Individuation in al-Tayyib S�lih'sSeason of Migration to the North," Journal of Arabic Literature, 9 (1978), pp. 67-104; Denys Johnson-Davies, "The World of Tayeb Salih," Azure: The Review of Arab Literature, Arts and Culture, 8 (1981), pp. 15-20; Rotraud Wielandt, "The Problem of Cultural Identity in the Writings of al-Tayyib S�lih,"in Wadad al-Qadi (ed.), Studia Arabica and Islamica: Festschrift for Ihsan Abbas on his Sixtieth Birthday, Beirut, Imprimerie Catholique, 1981, pp. 487-515; Roger Allen, The Arabic Novel: An Historical and Critical Introduction,Manchester, University of Manchester,1982, pp. 131-138;Mona TakieddineAmyuni (ed.), Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North: A Casebook, Beirut, The American University of Beirut, 1985; Constance E. Gresham Berkley, The Roots of Consciousness Molding:The Art of El-TayebSalih: A ContemporarySudanese Writer, Michigan, UMI Dissertation Information Service, 1989 [Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1979]; M.M. Badawi, A Short History of Modern Arabic Literature, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. 225- 230 ; and Ami Elad, "Fiction and Reality in al-Tayyib S�lih'sDawmat Wad H�mid"in Ami Elad (ed.), Writer,Culture, Text: Studies in ModernArabic Literature, Fredericton,New Brunswick, York Press, 1993, pp. 62-73. 2 On modem Sudanese fiction, see the following works in Arabic: 'Abd al-Maj�d�� bd�n, Ta¸r�khal-Thaq �f�al- �Arabiyyaf� al-S �d�mundhun Nash¸atih�il �al- �Asral-Had �th,2nd ed., Beirut, D�ral-Thaq �fa,1967; Muhammad Zaghl�lSal �m,al-Qissa f�al-Adab al-S�d�al-n� Had�th,Cairo, Ma'had al-Buh�thwa'l-Dir �s�al-t �Arabiyya,1970; Mukht�Ibrahimr �Aj�ba, al-Qissa al-Had�tha f�al-S �d�n,Khartoum, J�mi�al-Khartat �m,D �ral-Ta¸l �wa'l-Tarjamaf wa'l-Nashr, 1972; Mustaf�� AwadAllah Bish�ra,Adw �al-Naqd,¸ Dir�s�f�t al-Qissa wa'l- Shi'r wa'l-Naqd, Khartoum, al-D�ral-S �d�niyyali'l-Tib ��wa'l-Nashra wa'l-Tawzi�,1977; Ibrahim Ish�qIbrahim, "Hawla al-Qissa al-Qas�rafi al-S�d�n,"al-Thaq �faal-S �d�niyya,10 (May 1979), pp. 20-24; �Alal-Makk� (ed.), Mukht�r�mint al-Adab al-S�d�n�2nd, ed., Khartoum, D�rJ �mi�al-Khartat �mli'l-Nashr, 1980 (1st ed. 1975); and Sayyid H�midal- Nass�j,B �n�r�al-Riwm� �yaal- �Arabiyyaal-Had �tha,Cairo, D�ral-Ma ��rif,1980, pp. 231- 252. In English: Osman Hassan Ahmed (ed.), Sixteen Sudanese Short Stories, Washington, D.C., Office of the Cultural Counselor, Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan, 1981, pp. 1-5; and Berkley, The Roots of Consciousness Molding, pp. 105-142.