When it comes to explaining the ins and outs of the contemporary Arab world, any tool is valid for the prestigious Arabist and historian Jean-Pierre Filiu, who has just released a new work, once again in comic book format. The Lady of Damascus is the second collaboration between Filiu -who, as last time, is the scriptwriter- and the cartoonist Cyrille Pomės and is published by Norma EditorialThe Commission is also responsible for its previous project, The Arab Spring (2016).
Filiu's first foray into graphic novels was also published by Norma Editorial, with the trilogy The Best Enemies. A history of US-Middle East relations.in which the award-winning historian - winner of the Augustin-Thierry des Rendez-vous de l'Histoire prize in 2015 for his work Les Arabes, leur destiny et le nôtre. Histoire d'une libération and in 2008 by The Apocalypse in Islam- teamed up with graphic artist David B. -one of the founders of the influential L'Association and creator of the award-winning Epileptic (Ediciones Sinsentido, 2009) - to create an ambitious and innovative work that combines comics and historical essays, the first two volumes of which have been published so far.[1] (Norma Editorial, 2012 and 2015). According to Filiu himself, the idea of a long-term collaboration - the three volumes cover the period from 1783 to the end of Barack Obama's presidency - came about precisely when the two authors met at a history convention in Blois, France, in 2008. "What David and I wanted to show is the permanence of tragedy," says Filiu, "History is tragic and the Middle East has always been saturated with tragedy. This is something that American policymakers find very difficult to understand (...) [President Obama's] obvious inability to understand the tragic dimension of history led him to mistakes in the Middle East that, in the long run, could prove as devastating as the blunders of George W. Bush.[2].
Numerous graphic artists and connoisseurs from outside and inside the region have worked in the field of comics focusing on the contemporary Middle East - from the well-known Joe Sacco with his first-person chronicles in the style of Palestine: in the Gaza Strip (Planeta-DeAgostini, 2002) or his works of investigative journalism such as Gaza Footnotes (Random House Mondadori, 2010), to the more autobiographical projects -the Persepolis by Marjan Satrapi (full edition, Norma Editorial, 2007) or the more recent The oriental piano by Zeina Abirached (Salamandra Graphic, 2016), to cite just a few examples. [3]. Professor Filiu's contribution lies in combining a scholarly perspective with a popularising intention that makes his forays into graphic novels attractive to dilettantes and experts in this geographical area. To the scholarly approach should also be added a great ability to narrate the most recent events, highlighting the elements that are less known or neglected by the media, so that his works are of interest to any follower of international current affairs in search of an alternative narrative. The Arab Springwhere Filiu, supported by the drawings of Pomės journey through the popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya combines all of the above elements, while remaining a fascinating document for scholars of international relations and the Middle East, as the narrative structure of the work clearly highlights the permeability of borders in the Arab world, where news from the westernmost part of the Maghreb is followed with euphoria, perplexity and trepidation in the Gulf of Aden.
The versatility of this expert on contemporary Islam and professor at Sciences Po Paris University is attested to by his participation as lyricist on a song by Zebda, a rock and roll band. reggae from Toulouse known for her political and social songs. At Une vie de moinsFiliu gives voice to a young Palestinian boy born in Gaza, in "a country that no longer exists", in "an occupied land, a trodden land". Filiu's new work, The Lady of Damascustakes its name from the poem of the same name written by the author as a tribute to the Syrian revolution - verses that were later transformed into the theme song of a video composed by Catherine Vincent. The story begins in Daraya, on the outskirts of Damascus, on 16 November 2010, during the celebrations of the fortieth anniversary of the seizure of power by the 'Lion' dynasty, al-Asad in Arabic. The choice of Daraya as the setting for the novel is no coincidence, as this town, eight kilometres from Damascus, has been one of the worst hit enclaves during the war in Syria, both by the bombardments of al-Asad's government and by the successive siege of the city, where no supplies were allowed to enter for four years. Text and drawing combine perfectly to recreate the atmosphere of nepotism, servility, repression and dread that permeates life in Syria after forty years under its tutelage.
"It's not about lions,
they are nothing but dogs,
rabid barkers,
intoxicated with poison.
They took over Syria
and treat us like servants,
a country for the Assads,
and misery for the people (...)".
From this brief introduction, the work focuses on the first two years of the genesis and evolution of the Syrian revolution in a story in which Filiu takes a closer approach than in his previous graphic projects to the genre's own narrative, with a love story at the heart of it. The members of the Hasanat family, together with their mother, represent different poles of a story that manages to convey the fast-paced, tragic rhythm of events. When the wind of the Arab Spring reaches Damascus - the vignette's image of jubilation and bewilderment is memorable - the three brothers of the family become an active part of a popular movement that began with a single cry of protest, 'God, Syria, Freedom and nothing else!
Karim, the youngest son, is in love with Fatima, who is forced by her family to marry someone powerful within the regime, and participates in the popular uprising from the beginning. Responsible for informing the media of the news on the street, he portrays the relevance of new technologies in today's conflicts, as "the revolution needs citizen reporters so that the world understands and finally supports us". Abdullah, the eldest son, serves in the army following in his father's footsteps and represents the section of the Syrian armed forces that defected to join the revolution. Mona, the only daughter, a modern and unabashed university student, embodies the 55% Syrians under 25 - according to the last census in 2011 - who yearned for political and social change. Her husband, Mahmoud, is one of the thousands of Palestinians who took refuge in Syria after the creation of the state of Israel, only to find themselves caught up in a new humanitarian catastrophe. The mother is caught between the fear of the regime and the reality of the new generation represented by her three children.
Through these characters the story flows to narrate in detail the internal organisation and subsequent development of the revolution. From the formation of the local coordination committees and the call for weekly demonstrations to the formation of the Free Army and the Syrian National Council and the progressive Islamisation of a revolution in which the fallen eventually became martyrs of a regime that, from the outset, was determined to militarise a popular outburst that sought only greater freedoms. Filiu shows great skill in avoiding the dryness of factual rigour, maintaining the agile pace of a story perfectly accompanied by Pomės's vigorous and effective drawing - though perhaps a little conspicuous is an excessive exaggeration in the depiction of the Arab phenotypes, in which angular facial features and hooked noses abound, which can sometimes result in somewhat stereotyped characters.
Throughout the story, Jean Pierre Filiu emphasises the peaceful origin of the protests, as well as the neglect, negligence and abandonment of the protests by an international community that has demonstrated the futility of international human rights treaties. The novel ends with al-Assad's chemical attack on the civilian population of Moadawiya in August 2013, which crossed Obama's famous 'red line', without any consequences for the dictator. The brutal crushing of the Syrian revolution has made Filiu's endeavour to "show the permanence of tragedy" in the Middle East indispensable.
By Natalia Arce
Published on 23/06/17
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[1] A review of these first two volumes was published in the space 'Reflections' and can be consulted at the following link link
[2] [2] Interview in The National. See
[3] For a perspective on graphic novels in the Middle East. See
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