Wednesday, October 18, 2023 – 2:51 PM
Abu Dhabi, October 18 / WAM / The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center, as part of the Kalima Translation Project, issued the book “Blues Music: A Brief Introduction,” by author Elijah Wald, and translated into Arabic by Safaa Kanj, and the Arabic translation was reviewed by Muhammad Fathi Khadr, and published within the “Brief Introductions” series. In cooperation with the prestigious Oxford University Press.
The book monitors and traces the birth and development of blues music. It also presents in a dense narration the transformations of this music over more than a century, starting from the end of the nineteenth century, and its cross-fertilization and interactions with other musical styles, to confirm that understanding this musical genre – which is at the heart of American culture – is not possible without taking into account the cultural, societal, political and economic changes. Which the United States of America and the world knew.
The author leads us through the six chapters of the book in his interesting and easy-going style to enrich our knowledge of this art that emerged from the deep American South under the shadow of slavery, and from the songs of workers on vast plantations and the hymns they carried with them across the ocean from their original African homes, before setting off to the North and other regions with The liberation of slaves and then to the world, keeping pace with its transformations in all its forms and aspects.
Islam Al-Hussein / Reem Al-Hajri
