Word literature.. A pillar of global citizenship I have been an avid reader since childhood, with an undefeatable urge to read all the books out there, and an overweening confidence due to my Arabic and French proficiency. From the time when I grabbed my first book, i grew a joyful interest in chatting about books, bragging about the classics I flipped through and the banned ones I conquered. I didn’t know back then that my reading rapture will lead me to global citizenship. Years later, i had to make a presentation about Reading books. I was supposed to conduct interviews with foreigners to depict how important reading is from an international perspective. However poor my English was back then, the interviews went well. They claimed all that books are the ultimate way to unravel the mysteries of the word. No matter how flabbergasted I was by their stories and encounters, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed of myself. Why? For the only raison that I had never heard of all the apparently-magnificent books those English speaking interviewees highly recommended. By the end of that day, I realized that: a- I should start reading in English, the only way to go through all what I have missed. B- it is both awesome and intriguing how literature and stories get to connect people from all around the globe. Readers currently have access to an unprecedented variety of works from all over the world in outstanding translations, which can be considered a powerful tool for eliminating prejudices and promoting intercultural understanding. It is indeed a great opportunity to achieve a fruitful intercultural dialogue, and foster a meaningful communication through the vehicle of literature. The passion and endeavor to read the work of writers from other countries and cultural backgrounds show signs of the willingness to connect and mingle with external individuals and communities, as well as express the interest in knowing about them, swapping ideas and exchanging life experiences. And most importantly, it is a great way to exhibit love and respect. Philip Pullman said once: “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” No doubt that stories are a human heritage, bringing all together in one big magical pot history, life
conditions, geography, cultures, religion, politics, and morals…etc. Through stories, we don’t only know what happens to other people, but we also try to figure out ourselves, define our existence in the chaotic society we belong to. Thus we mend our souls, reflect on our overlapped past, and foresee our future. Global citizenship is a state of mind introducing love, respect, and responsibility. It aims to create an interconnected word without borders, a beautiful word where people surpass their local citizenship without losing their identity, and go beyond it to belong to a much bigger space, in which cultures coexist and peace prevails. Global citizens work hand in hand to solve global issues and tackle real challenges to make the word a better place for them and for generations to come. Word literature plays a tremendous role in reporting the social and cultural conditions, highlighting the situations and unifying the hearts through love and compassion. Great pieces of literature draw tears to the eyes of the reader, which press articles scarcely succeed at. Fiction writing tells stories of people who are victims of the issue, who deal with it firsthand. It turns you into a ghost roaming their lives and going through their history, building strong relationships with them.. and when they face something bad, you get hurt as much as they are.. you feel like throwing the book against the wall.. You taste bitterness and injustice.. you join unconditionally their cause.. .you rebel! I personally cried for Afghanistan through Khaled Hosseini’s books, I got mad for Palestine and shed tears whilst reading Ghassan kanafani’s novels and short stories. I can’t imagine I could understand what really happened in Somalia without reading Nuruddin Farah’s ‘crossbones’. And what is more touching than a slavery story set in what is today ‘Haiti’, 200 years ago, written by a Chilean author in 2009?!1 Not to mention that today 30 million slaves still exist!! And the list goes on.. After each book, higher truths uncovered in front of me. Left with wounds and scars, indelible scenes and people engraved in my heart, I grow to feel the responsibility to act. In brief, Word literature serves as a means of communication of sentiments and life experiences between people from all around the globe. It solicits them 1 That’s a novel written by ‘Isabel Allende’: ‘the island beneath the sea’.
to understand and respect each other, and provide them with an insider's view into foreign cultures, minds, and sorrows. Above all, it encourages them to sincerely engage in facing the global problems and prop up word peace.. to be real global citizens.
About the author: EL WAHABI Mohammed, a young writer and a global citizen, alumnus of ‘between the lines’;a creative writing program at Iowa university, usa. Student at the ENCG Settat.