The Challenges of Building a Bridge between Cultures

Building bridges between cultures is a great work that requires patience and deep faith to bear fruit; people are usually drawn to what they are familiar with, cautiously approaching other cultures to explore them. Fortunately, that exploration is much easier today thanks to the interaction between journalism and authorship.

After penning more than 20 books in Arabic, I decided in late 2019 to have my new book then, “Damn the Novel: When a Privileged Genre Prevails Over All Forms of Creative Writing,” translated into English. Published by Indiana, United States-based AuthorHouse, the series of forty-five essays received a warm review https://www.theusreview.com/reviews/Damn-the-Novel-by-Amr-Muneer-Dahab.html that birthed in me not only the desire to have my future books translated into English, but also promote my writings in the English-speaking world.

I stumbled literally on The African magazine https://myafricanmagazine.com/, the premier African magazine published in the United States, which is committed to building bridges between different cultures.

In the process of sharing my works with the English-speaking audience that The African magazine addresses through both its online and print editions, I had a chance to share with the magazine’s readers the non-negligeable influence of African culture on The Sudan, my country of origin https://myafricanmagazine.com/sudanese-poet-and-essayist-amr-muneer-dahabs-cry-against-the-dominance-of-the-novel-as-a-writing-genre/. It’s a fact, as I wrote in an article published by The African magazine, that the “Sudanese character, in general, is ethically and morally influenced by the Arab and Islamic values, which had been affecting Sudanese for centuries.” However, as I also wrote, “major parts of the Sudanese culture and spiritual beliefs are highly influenced by the African component at the expense of the Arab component (singing style, the pentatonic musical scale against the Arabic sevenfold musical scale, folktales, popular mythology, etc.)

My experience with The African magazine is distinct. In the process of sharing the contents of my works in the magazine, I have felt encouraged to engage more with an English-speaking audience. The experience has inspired me to have my works translated into other languages— when I feel the time is right to do so.

It’s wonderful to see how today, more so than in the past, the reporter and the author can work together to erect the much-needed bridge between the multitude of cultures that compose the world.