Abstract

This article considers Wael Shawky’s The Song of Roland: The Arabic Version as a key work in the artist’s ongoing investigation of the mechanisms of stereotypical racial and cultural othering from a historical perspective and an Arab point of view. Shawky translates La Chanson de Roland, one of the earliest major works of French literature, into Classical Arabic and stages it as an hour-long performance with a fidjeri ensemble singing pearl diving music from the Gulf. Drawing on Brechtian methods of de-dramatization and alienation, this article approaches Shawky’s musical performance as an alien and alienating form of storytelling that questions current debates on nationalism, imperialism, labour, and cultural heritage. At the same time, it develops the concept of anachronism as a key dramaturgical principle that unmakes canonical views of history and colonial interpretations of the relationship between Christianity and Islam. Through a detailed analysis of this musical performance, as well as of the cultural traditions, myths, and historical accounts that shape its dramaturgy, this article explores prevailing concepts of historical representation and collective memory in contexts within and beyond the art world.

摘要

本文将 Wael Shawky 的《罗兰之歌：阿拉伯文版》视为艺术家从历史和阿拉伯角度持续研究刻板种族和文化他者机制的关键作品。Shawky 将法国文学最早的主要作品之一《 La Chanson de Roland》翻译成古典阿拉伯语，并将其作为一场长达一小时的表演与fidjeri一起上演合唱来自海湾的珍珠潜水音乐。本文借鉴布莱希特的去戏剧化和异化方法，将肖基的音乐表演视为一种异化和异化的叙事形式，质疑当前关于民族主义、帝国主义、劳工和文化遗产的辩论。同时，它发展了时代错误的概念，作为一个关键的戏剧原则，打破了对历史的规范观点和对基督教与伊斯兰教之间关系的殖民解释。通过对这种音乐表演以及塑造其戏剧性的文化传统、神话和历史记载的详细分析，本文探讨了艺术界内外背景下的历史再现和集体记忆的流行概念。