Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ORAL TRADITION
For the nomadic Bedu of Arabia, life is lived on the move. Permanence is virtually unknown - even the footsteps
that mark their passing shift with the sands. The artistic expression of their culture has evolved to be similarly
portable - weaving that can be rolled up and stowed on a camel, beadwork that can be tucked in a pocket, stories
unfurled round the campfire at night.
Bedu tales, and their endless digressions, serve not just as entertainment. Allegories and parables are used to
clarify a situation, to offer tactful advice to a friend, or to alert someone diplomatically to trouble or wrongdoing.
More often, they lampoon corrupt leaders and offer a satirical commentary on current affairs - particularly those
of the mistrusted 'townspeople'. They can be very funny, highly bawdy and verging on the libellous, depending
on the persuasions of the teller.
On the Peninsula, there is said to be a tale for every situation. Travellers may be surprised at how often the
Bedu resort to proverbs, maxims or stories during the course of normal conversation. It is said that the first pro-
verb of all is: 'While a man may tell fibs, he may never tell false proverbs'!
Sadly, the modern world has encroached on the oral tradition. The advent of TV and other forms of entertain-
ment has meant that the role that storytelling plays in Bedouin life has diminished. Now this valuable oral patri-
mony is in danger of disappearing forever.
Music
Like the oral tradition of storytelling, Arabian song and dance have also evolved for a pur-
pose. Generally, music was employed to distract from hardship - like the songs of the sea-
farers marooned on stagnant Gulf waters, or the chanting of fishermen hauling in their
nets. There are also harvest songs and love ballads, all of which are either sung unaccom-
panied or to syncopated clapping or drum beats. East African rhythms, introduced into
Arab music from Arab colonies, lend much Peninsula music a highly hypnotic quality,
and songs can last for over an hour.
The Thousand and One Nights,
translated by Richard Burton, is a collection of tales (including Ali Baba and
Aladdin) that originate from Arabia, India and Persia. They are told, night by night, by the beautiful, be-
guiling narrator, Sheherazade to save herself from beheading by a vengeful king.
While the austere Wahhabi and Ibadi sects discourage singing and dancing, no wedding
or national celebration in the Peninsula would be the same without them. Men dance in
circles, flexing their swords or ceremonial daggers while jumping or swaying. If they get
really carried away, volleys of gunfire are exchanged above the heads of the crowd. Wo-
men have a tradition of dancing for the bride at weddings. Unobserved by men, they wear
magnificent costumes (or modern ball gowns) and gyrate suggestively as if encouraging
the bride towards the marital bed.
