Faruk Abu-Chacra: Spreading Arabic around the world, from Helsinki
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By Helena Kinnunen
So, are things sooner or later going to become a bit clearer in Iraq or in the Palestinian Territories?
At least Faruk Abu-Chacra, a retired Senior Lecturer in Arabic at the Institute for Asian and African Studies at the University of Helsinki. has recently received encouraging signals in the form of e-mail from the U.S. Department of State’s Arabic and Asian Languages Centre in Washington DC.
The State Department announced that it plans to use Abu-Chacra’s exercise book and grammar tutorial Arabic Around The World in its basic Arabic teaching modules.
Abu-Chacra is pretty fired up about it, as well he might be: "Imagine", he beams, "Diplomats, military personnel, interpreters…"
The textbook was a labour of love spread over 25 years.
Abu-Chacra has spent those years and a few more besides teaching at the University of Helsinki. Frequently-asked questions fielded from students down the years were a useful source of material in the book. The work has been extremely well received, is already an international best-seller, and has been described widely by scholars as "systematic", "reliable", and above all "easy to comprehend".
The international appeal has its drawbacks: Abu-Chacra knows already to say that there are pirated copies of his grammar doing the rounds in Russia.
A publisher in China wanted to get it translated into Chinese, but Abu-Chacra put his foot down and said "No", since the Chinese are not overly keen on recognising and protecting authors' rights.
The book was published in a Finnish version earlier this autumn, under the title Arabiaa yli rajojen. Kielioppi ja harjoituksia. Abu-Chacra is full of praise for the translators Pekka Lehtinen and Bertil Tikkanen, and refers to Tikkanen as one of the world's most talented linguists.
Arabic Around The World is also available in a Swedish edition, since the author taught Arabic at Lund University and Gothenburg University in Sweden before he moved to Helsinki. His Swedish-born wife was among his pupils there.
Abu-Chacra lectured in five languages until his retirement, but he has never really got to grips with Finnish.
Without the question being raised, he notes that in spite of his Arab background he has never once encountered racism in Finland.
Then again, he does also point out with a smile that he doesn't understand much spoken Finnish.
He also admits to having lived a rather protected and sheltered life in academic circles, something he feels a touch ashamed of.
Abu-Chacra recalls that there is an Arabic saying not unlike the one about "When in Rome…", which suggests you should start living like the natives after 40 days. And if you can’t manage that or it doesn’t appeal, then the thing to do is to pack up and get out.
Faruk Abu-Chacra moved from Lisbon to Sweden at the age of 23, and enrolled as a student there. He comes from a prominent Lebanese Druze family, but he has no wish to dwell on the past. "Look, I've spent more than forty years of my life already in Scandinavia."
He says he is a supporter of liberal views and tolerance, and has no wish to throw nationalist or religious fervour into matters. "Better let sleeping dogs lie".
All the same, he does not completely wipe away his own background.
"The Druze are a liberal sect that broke away from Islam in 1922. The Druze do not believe in an interlocutor between God and Man on earth. The relationship with one's deity runs straight through the individual's heart. The secrets and mysteries of religion are not disclosed until such time as the recipient is spiritually mature enough to take them on", he says.
The Druze do not have to fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan if they do not wish to. They have their own places of worship, but they are also permitted to worship in synagogues or in Christian churches. In addition to Lebanon, the Druses can be found in parts of Syria and in Northern Israel.
The interview with the author and former lecturer happened to coincide with the day of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s funeral in Cairo.
Abu-Chacra says he has held no great love for Arafat.
"Arafat did not make the Palestinian cause known to the world but rather the other way around: the Palestinian cause put Arafat on the map. Now what it was that created Arafat can create something else - in different garb."
"It will be interesting to discover in due course if Arafat was the problem or was it the very question [of a Palestinian state] itself."
Helsingin Sanomat, first published in print 17.11.2004
HELENA KINNUNEN / Helsingin Sanomat
helena.kinnunen@hs.fi
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| 23.11.2004 - THIS WEEK |
 Faruk Abu-Chacra: Spreading Arabic around the world, from Helsinki |
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