Last weekend, I attended a talk by the Pakistani writer, Mohsin Hamid, at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. While the talk was about his last novel, what stayed with me the most was a comment Hamid made about the future of reading. He insisted that, despite panicked predictions of books becoming museum artifacts, and writing being an aging art on its deathbed, reading will continue to offer people something valuable and irreplaceable. 

Hamid’s argument

Hamid argued that reading is unique in that it is an act of co-creation and collaboration–a kind of contract, I would say–between the reader and writer. While our conversations around writing tend to center around the writer, no story is complete until it finds a reader because technically, words on a page are still, soundless things; they are printed symbols with no audiovisual component, no reel of images to guide or shape what you should see.

A book truly comes alive when it enters the chamber of a reader’s mind and become their–your–own private story like a beam of light refracted through the lens of your life experiences, or a customized film projected onto your mind’s eye. It’s this unique quality, Hamid argues, that will allow reading to survive in today’s oversaturated media landscape.

Hamid extended his argument by pointing to film adaptations of books and the passionate debate they inspire. Think of a time when you watched, or heard of, a film adaptation and thought: ‘Jail!’ According to Hamid, most criticisms of adaptations are readers mourning the loss of the world they had conjured in their head (think The Hunger Games or Harry Potter). For the reader, every movie director of a book adaptation is a dictator overthrowing their sacred, private universe. ‘What about my world?’, asks the wounded reader. 

My thoughts

I find Hamid’s argument compelling for the way that it forces us to reimagine our traditional understanding of reading. Typically–and I say this as someone who has related to this position in the past–we think of reading as a static, passive role, both physically (as in reading is just sitting and staring at a book), and emotionally (all readers read identically/all readers are interchangeable).

But Hamid’s line of reasoning transforms reading into a dynamic process and repositions the reader as a co-producer of a book. I would even argue that when we read, we juggle several roles–of cinematographer and casting director and set and costume designer, all at once. We weave entire worlds out of words, animate mute, inky symbols with life. 

This maybe explains why reading often feels intensely private, intimate, even transcendent. The most rewarding reading experiences occur in a time warp where time slows and is suspended; they collapse time and dissolve distance between the writer and reader until a 19th century Brazilian author is speaking to you, a 21st century student, in a cross-century conversation that feels like a communion.

This is the marvel of reading: it’s deceptively simple–so sedentary, so silent–but equally poignant and powerful. It’s this tension between appearance and experience that’s one of the most enjoyable things about reading. Who is to say what vivid, heart-wrenching, glorious, piercing film plays in your mind when you sit down to read, but you? 

Some critiques

If I were to disagree with Hamid, it’s only to say that I think his argument, as powerful as it is, can be extended to many art forms. Films, visual art, music: the best of any art form establishes a dialogue between the artist and the audience. It offers a simulation of life that allows us to return to Real Life with more clarity, perhaps even courage.

I also believe that reading will survive, but maybe not in the way that Hamid imagines. With the rise of audiobooks and ‘BookTok/BookTube/Bookstagram’–two phenomena that deserve posts of their own–reading is reinventing itself. So while Hamid is an old-school physical books purist, today and tomorrow’s generations will probably read, but the act of reading may shape-shift.

All said and done, though, I can understand Hamid’s impulse to champion reading. He is, after all, a writer, and I suspect it isn’t the most cheerful thing to hear people rushing to write eulogies of your livelihood. In the 21st century evolution of entertainment and a Survival of the Fittest, all Mohsin Hamid is trying to do is bet on reading making it to the end. I would bet on it too.

Questions for discussion:

1. What are your thoughts on the future of reading? Do you agree with Hamid? Will it become a thing of the past, or does it have what it takes to survive?
2. How is reading similar to and/or different from your favorite forms of entertainment?
3. Do you have a favorite, or least favorite, movie adaptation of a book? Have you ever felt strongly about a film adaptation? If so, why?

If you want to hear from Hamid himself…

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mohsin-hamid-discusses-the-last-white-man/id452692811?i=1000576465680

Links

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/persuasion-poster-photos-dakota-johnson-henry-golding

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.46303.html

It is fascinating how many people have misconceptions about bilingualism and its effect on a child’s delay in speaking. People repetitively ask questions like these:

• Won’t kids be confused learning two languages at once?
• Won’t being bilingual or teaching a child more than one language cause speech delay?
• Would you ever be fluent in a language if you don’t learn a language at an early stage?

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Bilingualism causes speech/language delay

THAT IS A MYTH!

While a bilingual child’s vocabulary in each language may be smaller than average, his total vocabulary, from both languages, will be at least as large as that of a monolingual child. Bilingual children may say their first words slightly later than monolingual children, but they will say them within the normal age range (8-15 months).

When bilingual children begin to produce short sentences, they develop grammar in the same patterns and timelines as monolingual children. Language delay is not caused by bilingualism. A bilingual child who is experiencing significant delays in language milestones may be suffering from a language disorder and should be evaluated by a speech language pathologist.

According to the “Critical Period” theory, there is a window of time (early stage) when a second language is most easily learned. This theory has led many people to believe that learning a second language as a child is preferable. However, some findings have put this theory into question. Therefore, the fact that one might not be “fluent” in a language because they learned it later on in their life, is FALSE.

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Overall, there are many misconceptions when it comes to the effects of being bilingual, and these misconceptions vary widely. It is advised to verify our assumptions by doing some research, so we do not fall into this trap!

References

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022096510002079

https://www.hanen.org/helpful-info/articles/bilingualism-in-young-children–separating-fact-fr.aspx#:~:text=Bilingual%20children%20may%20say%20their,learning%20one%20language%20(5).

Do you feel like you want to improve your mental health but do not know how to? Do you struggle with finding accessible techniques that would ease your mental issues?

How literature, reading, and writing can help improve your mental health?

In the case of not being able to access professional help due to financial issues or the stigma surrounding it, people should turn to alternatives that they can work on to improve their mental health. According to the South African College of Applied Psychology, “Reading has been shown to put our brains into a state similar to meditation, and it brings the same health benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm. Regular readers sleep better, have lower stress levels, higher self-esteem, and lower rates of depression than non-readers.” Another alternative could be writing, according to an article written by Deborah Siegel-Acevedo, “Expressive writing can result in a reduction in stress, anxiety, and depression; improve our sleep and performance; and bring us greater focus and clarity.” With that being said, reading and writing can have great effects on an individual’s mental health.

Read literature that relates to your mental struggles.

Book recommendations:

• If you are struggling with battling your trauma, read The Body Keeps the Score.
• If you are struggling with burnout, read Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.
• If you are struggling with being highly sensitive, read The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You.
• If you are struggling with anxiety, read Hope and Help for Your Nerves: End Anxiety Now.

Write down your feelings!

I won’t say that writing is therapy, but for me, the act of writing is therapy. The ability to be productive is good for my mental health. It’s always better for me to be writing than vegetating on some couch.

-Raymond E. Feist.

Questions for further discussion:

-Have you ever used writing or reading to improve your mental health?

-What alternative techniques do you know that work for improving mental issues?

Were you ever talking with a friend and your tongue slips a word in a different language? Or were you ever in a meeting and forgot how to say a simple word in every language you know? Well, I want to assure you that you are not alone!

My personal experience

Around four to five years ago, when I was in tenth grade specifically, I participated in the annual AUS Model United Nations (MUN). I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and practice public speaking among large groups of people. The conference day came and I was welcoming it with full confidence. I was prepared beforehand and had my speech precisely written down on a piece of paper and well memorized. The organizers put us in the designated rooms and we began the debate. To me, everyone seemed so much more confident, clear, and prepared than I was. However, I had to overcome that thought quickly and without thinking, my hand was raised in hope to get a turn to speak. Once the moderator chose me, I stood up and got myself ready to give the best speech I ever wrote.

It all went well and everyone was closely listening, nodding their heads, and looking at me with amazement as I was presenting my argument in a professional and persuading manner- at least that’s what I thought! I barely stuttered and as I approached the end of my speech, I opened the opportunity for questions. Those questions were where it all went downhill. One of the delegates challenged a part of my argument and I had to refute his claims. I believed I was doing a good job until I got defensive and accidentally used the Arabic word “يعني” which translates for “like”. Everyone stared at me and this is where my heart sank and I realized I messed up. However, I ignored what happened and continued to argue. As I got back to the flow of talking, I fell for the same unprofessional mistake, again! I was trying to say “but” while arguing but accidentally said “بس” in Arabic. This time I knew I couldn’t just let it pass. I stood there silently, almost crying, hoping that some miracle saves me from this embarrassment. A few awkward seconds later, the moderators laughed it off, assured me that it was okay, and asked me to sit back.

Today, this is just an embarrassing or funny moment that I recall and tell people about. However, during that time, it was very frustrating and in fact one of the reasons for not winning a certificate, regardless of my efforts. In fact, I stopped participating in MUN ever since that minor incidence as I was afraid that my speaking skills are not good enough. I did not understand how that happened because I thought I was competent in both languages; Arabic and English.

The Research on it

After the incident, I went back home, cried a little, and came across an article that explains it all. Miguel in “Does being bilingual make you smarter?” discusses the downsides of being bilingual, regardless of the benefits that almost everyone agrees on. It highlights that the brain of a bilingual person is overwhelmed with the knowledge of both languages, resulting in weaker verbal skills. In other words, a bilingual person is more prone to forgetting words from both languages or remembering it in one language while speaking the other. Although this could be frustrating or even could cost you doing bad on a job interview or a school assembly, we can’t disregard the benefits of being bilingual.

To read more on this issue, you can check out these articles: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4349351/#:~:text=It%20is%20not%20surprising%20that,Cobo%2DLewis%2C%202007).

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/obsonline/the-challenges-of-being-bilingual.html

A funny video that sums up the struggle:

Questions for discussion:

1. Were you ever put in a situation where being bilingual was not in your favor?
2. How do you think one could over come the challenges of being bilingual?

See what previous students have posted on the course blog:

ENG 185, Spring 2022

ENG 185, Fall 2020

This year (February 1 – 6!), the Emirates Literature Festival celebrates 15 years of sponsoring and promoting international and local authors, speakers, and literary creativity! According to the Chairman, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum,

Every year the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature brings together people from the four corners of the world to Dubai to entertain, captivate and inspire us. These extraordinary writers bring new ideas and different perspectives, promoting dialogue, sharing their works, their thoughts, and their words, building bridges across cultures. This is a Festival full of ideas, of conversations and of stories being written, filling me with hope for the future.

Throughout, the Festival has maintained its passion in championing the joys of reading, bringing the world of books into the spotlight in the UAE. It has provided a platform for the wider appreciation of Arabic poetry and literature, both at home and abroad, and an opportunity to celebrate Emirati culture.

It is a privilege to bring the world to Dubai, through a shared love of literature.

https://emirateslitfest.com/about-us/

Festival Director, Ahlam Bolooki, adds that “the Festival promotes reading as a life-changing habit and culture as a fundamental right.”

The festival offers speaker events, book readings and signings, film screenings, and creative workshops. And a broad range of topics — from young adult to business to animation to scifi to politics to poetry (and others!) — promise to entertain and inspire visitors. Check out their programme. PLUS, university students get 50% off general session tickets.

Events are being held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Festival City (it’s close!) and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library. Get your tickets NOW. 🙂

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And as a bonus, if you’re into podcasts, check out the Boundless Book Club for conversations about the books and authors from the Emirates Literature Foundation and fiction and non-fiction recommendations.