Zakaria Tamer ( ar, زكريا تامر, Zakariyyā Tāmir; born January 2, 1931), also spelled Zakariya Tamir, is a

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

short story writer. He is one of the most important and widely read and translated short story writers in the Arab world, as well as being the foremost author of children’s stories in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

. He also writes children's stories and works as a freelance

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, writing satirical columns in newspapers. His volumes of short stories, are often reminiscent of folktales, and are renowned for their relative simplicity on the one hand and the complexity of their many potential references on the other. They often have a sharp edge and are often a

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

protest against political or social oppression and exploitation. Most of Zakaria Tamer’s stories deal with people’s inhumanity to each other, the oppression of the poor by the rich and of the weak by the strong. The political and social problems of his own country,

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, and of the Arab world, are reflected in the stories and sketches in the satirical style typical of his writing. His first stories were published in 1957. Since then he has published eleven collections of short stories, two collections of satirical articles and numerous children’s books. His works have been translated into many languages, with two collections in English, ''Tigers on the Tenth Day'' (translated by

Denys Johnson-Davies Denys Johnson-Davies (Arabic: دنيس جونسون ديڤيز) (also known as Abdul Wadud) was an eminent Arabic-to-English literary translator who translated, ''inter alia,'' several works by Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz, Su ...

, Quartet 1985) and ''Breaking Knees'' (June 2008). In 2009 he won the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary prize.

Biography

Early life

Zakaria Tamer was born in 1931 in the Al-Basha district of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

. He was forced to leave school in 1944, at the age of thirteen in order to help provide for his family. He was apprenticed to a blacksmith as a locksmith in a factory in the Al-Basha district of Damascus. At the same time, as an

autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individu ...

, he spent many hours reading various books, he became interested in politics and was encouraged by contact with intellectuals to continue his education at night school. He read voraciously and was provoked by his reading, as he later said in an interview, "to create a voice which ehadn't been able to find

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Television * Here TV (formerly "here!"), a ...

. His intention was to represent in his writing the very poor majority of men and women in Syria, with their joyless and restricted existence. He began his literary career in 1957, when he published some stories in Syrian journals. His first manuscript was noticed by

Yusuf al-Khal Yusuf al-Khal ( ar, يوسف الخال; December 25, 1917 – March 9, 1987) was a Lebanese-Syrian poet, journalist, and publisher. He is considered the greatest exponent of prose poetry (''qaṣīdat al-natr'') as well one of the pioneers ...

, the poet, critic and editor of the magazine ''Shi'r'' ("Poetry") which at the time was acting as midwife to the birth of modern Arabic poetry. The talent that lay behind the poetical prose of these stories, was so unlike anything being written in Arabic at the time, that Al-Khal decided to publish it, this became his first collection of short stories, which was entitled ''The Neighing of the White Steed''. The collection brought him considerable attention and repute amount readers and critics.

1960–1981

Following his literary success, which was reflected in the good reception of his first collection, he left his job as a blacksmith and embarked on a new career, as government official, as well as editor of several journals, including the cultural periodicals ''Al Mawqif al-Adabi'', and ''Al Marifah'', and the children’s magazine ''Usamah''. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Syrian Writers Union in Syria 1968. He was elected member of the executive bureau responsible for the publishing and print, and was vice-president of the Union for four years. In 1980 he was dismissed from editing the periodical al-Marifah, published by the Syrian Ministry of Culture, as a result of the publication of extracts from ''Abd al-Rahman al-kawakibi’s'' (1849–1902) book, ''Tabai al istibadad (“The Characteristics of Despotism, 1900)'', in which the author denounced tyranny and called for freedom. As a result of his dismissal, Tamer decided to travel to London, leaving his home country of Syria.

1980s onwards

From 1981-1982 he took charge of ''Al Dustoor'' magazine as managing editor, he went on to be culture editor of ''Al Tadhamon'' magazine (1983–1988) and then became managing editor of ''Al Naqid'' magazine (1988–1993), and culture editor at Riyadh Al Rayes Publishing House. He also wrote for various newspapers and periodicals published in London, including Al-Quds Al-Arabi. In January 2012, Zakaria Tamer, decided to venture into Facebook, creating a page title
المهماز
(Al-Mihmaz) “The Spur”. The page contains daily articles detailing his continuing literary journey with its political and cultural dimensions. Most recently the focus has been on the Syrian uprising.

Quotes

Awards

* 2001: Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation: Prize of Stories Novels & Drama * 2002: Honoured and invested with the Syrian Order of Merit * 2009: Awarded the Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary prize * 2015: Mahmoud Darwish Award for Freedom and CreativitySyrian writer and Palestinian director win Mahmoud Darwish award http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/18/107/125338/Books/Arab/Syrian-writer-and-Palestinian-director-win-Mahmoud.aspx

Themes in writing

A common theme in his writing has been that the strongest of us can gradually be broken and tamed by those who wield the whip of power. Those who rule, Zakaria Tamer tells us in many a story, while devoid of all the noble qualities that should be theirs, possess the intuitive awareness of how to use the carrot and the stick. Muhammad al-Maghut, a well known Arab critic, once contrasted him with

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

: one showing how humans developed from monkeys, the other showing how humans could be manipulated into becoming monkeys. Another favorite theme, as seen in such stories as "The Stale Loaf" and the "Room with Two Beds", is the sexual frustration of the young in the Arab world and the toll that is exacted - particularly from the women - when sexual taboos are breached, or are thought to have been breached. Though humor is not one of the ingredients of these stories, the writer does allow himself an occasional sardonic grin at the forms of injustice to which man is subjected by his rulers, his fellow men and the circumstances of lives enclosed in routine of ill-rewarded work and unfulfillment. Zakaria Tamer's world is

Orwellian "Orwellian" is an adjective describing a situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. It denotes an attitude and a brutal policy of draconian control by pro ...

though unmistakably

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

. The secret police, with their physical brutalities, feature in many of the stories, as for instance in the dark-humored "A summary of What Happened to Mohammed al-Mahmoudi", where a harmless old man finds that even in death he is not immune from their attention. The directness and absence of embroidery with which Zakaria Tamer writes is a powerful weapon in giving distinctive form to the basic themes to which he returns again and again.

Works

To date he has published eleven collections of stories, two collections of

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

articles and dozens of children's books.

Short story collections

*''The Neighing of the White Steed''(1960) صهيل الجواد الابيض ' *''Spring In The Ashes'', (1963) ربيع في الرماد ' *''The Thunder'', (1970) الرعد ' *''Damascus Fire'', (1973) دمشق الحرائق ' *''Tigers on the Tenth Day'', (1978) النمور في اليوم العاشر ' *''Noah's Summons'', (1994),نداء نوح ' *''We Shall Laugh'', (1998) سنضحك ' *''IF!'', (1998) أف! *''Sour Grapes'', (2000) الحصرم ' *''Breaking Knees'', (2002) تكسير ركب ' *''The Hedgehog'', (2005) القنفذ ' *''The Regret of Horse'', (2018)ندم الحصان '

Collections of satirical articles

*''Glories, Arabs, Glories'', (1986) ''Amjad Ya Arab amjad'' *''The Victim's Satire Of His Killer'', (2003)

Other collections

*''Why the River Fell Silent'', (1973) لماذا سكت النهر ' *''The Flower Spoke to the Bird'', (1978) قالت الوردة للسنونو '

In translation

*''Tigers On The Tenth Day and Other Stories'', (1985) translated by

, Quartet Books *''Breaking Knees'', (2008), translated by

Ibrahim Muhawi Ibrahim Muhawi (born 1937, ar, إبراهيم مهوي) is a Palestinian academic and writer, specializing in Palestinian and Arabic literature, folklore and translation. He is a member of the Palestinian diaspora.Ibrahim Muhawi,’Translation and ...

(Reading, UK: Garnet Publishing)'' * "The Children Laugh", (2017), translated to Hebrew by Alon Fragman, published by Maktoob Series.

Editorial work

*1960-1963, Writers and Publishing Dept. at Syria Ministry of Culture *1963-1965, editor of weekly ''Al Mawqef Al Arabi'', Syria *1965-1966, Screenwriter for Jeddah TV, KSA *1967, started his work at Syria Ministry of Information *1967-1970, Head of Drama Department at Syrian TV *1970-1971, Editor-in-Chief of kids ''Rafi'' magazine, Syria *1972-1975, Editor-in-Chief of ''Al Mawqef Al Adabi'' magazine, Syria *1975-1977, Editor-in-Chief of kids ''Osama'' magazine, Syria *1978-1980, Editor-in-Chief of ''Al Ma’arifa'' magazine, Syria *1980-1981, Syria Ministry of Culture *1981-1982, Managing editor of ''Al Dustoor'' magazine, London *1983-1988, Culture editor of ''Al Tadhamon'' magazine, London *1988-1993, Managing editor of ''Al Naqid'' magazine and culture editor at Riyadh Al Rayes Publishing House, London

Other activities

*Co-founded Arab Writers Union in Syria 1969, member of its Executive Bureau, and Deputy Chairman for four years *Participated in many literary events in Arab countries *Jury member of many Arab and international literary competitions

Newspaper columns

*1989-1994, '' Al-Quds Al-Arabi'', Wrote daily articles for Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, London *2002, Azzaman Newspaper *2006, Al Tawra Newspaper (Revolution)

Notes

References

* Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century Vol. V (Supplement), New York: Ungar,1993. * Arab Culture 1977: Religious Identity and Radical Perspectives By University E Saint-Joseph, Published 1980, Dar El-Mashreq, * Arabic Short Stories By Denys Johnson-Davies, 1983, Quartet Books Literature, * Syria: Society, Culture, and Polity By Richard T. Antoun, * Tigers on the Tenth Day and Other Stories By

(TRN), Zakarīyā Tāmir, Zakaria Tamer, 1985, * Islam: Islam, state and politics By Bryan Stanley Turner, Published 2003 Routledge (UK), * Dislocating Masculinity: comparative ethnographies By Andrea Cornwall, Nancy Lindisfarne, *

Salma Khadra Jayyusi Salma Khadra Jayyusi ( ar, سلمى الخضراء الجيوسي; born 1926 or 1927) is a Palestinian poet, writer, translator and anthologist. She is the founder and director of the Project of Translation from Arabic (PROTA), which aims to provi ...

, ed., ''Modern Arabic Fiction: An Anthology'', New York: Columbia University Press (2005)

External links

Journal of Arabic Literature, Volume 16, Number 1, 1985 , pp. 105-108(4),'The Moon Unmasked' By Zakaria Tamer translated by Hugh Pope
(Last Accessed 4 June 2008)
Short Story "The Sleeping Woman"
(Last Accessed 4 June 2008)
Profile from Owais Cultural Foundation
Last Accessed: 7th Dec 2006)
Encarta Article On contribution to Arabic Literature and the Short Story Genre
(Last Accessed 4 June 2008)
Short Story "Sprouts" Translation from the Arabic by William Hutchins
(Last Accessed: 7th Dec 2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tamer, Zakaria 1931 births Living people Tamer,Zakaria Tamer,Zakaria Tamer,Zakaria Tamer,Zakaria Tamer,Zakaria