“Travel literature” builds bridges between cultures

November 30, 2022 10:58 pm

Guadalajara (Union)
With the title “Travel literature between the Emirates and Mexico”, the researcher and journalist Saeed Hamdan, and the Mexican writer Mariana Camacho, have traced an integrated picture of the history and current events of the blogs of travelers and writers who have documented the their travel experiences, and through their literary productions they were a window of communication between the civilizations and cultures of the world.

He did so during a dialogue session, within the activities of Sharjah, guest of honor of the 36th session of the Guadalajara International Book Fair, moderated by the writer Juan Camilo Rincon, where Saeed Hamdan compared three stages of literature of travel in the Emirates, while Mariana Camacho addressed the passion for cooking and food and its impact on travel literature in the scientist.

A traveler from the Emirates
Hamdan said: “The most famous travelers in the history of the Emirates are: the poet Ibn Dhaher, who lived at the end of the 17th century, and immortalized the villages and coasts along the Emirates with his poems, and left a guide to the land and Emirati environment and place names and their nature through the poem. As for the second traveler, it is the sailor Ahmed bin Majid bin Julfar, known throughout the world as the Prince of the Seas in the fourteenth century.

He added, “When it comes to travel after the establishment of the UAE federation on 2 December 1971, its aims and objectives have changed from the previous time, as it has become more associated with commerce, study and ‘exploration, as travel and travel has become at the moment with the intention of more adventure and the discovery of new places and experiences and its documentation has consolidated across social media platforms and appears among the new generation of bloggers who put highlight the cultures of the world and bring their followers to those cities.
Talking about the most prominent Emirati travel writers, Hamdan explained that this topic draws important and prominent names of the Emirati cultural scene, including writer and novelist Muhammad Al-Murr, who wrote the book “Around the World in 22 Days ”, the writer Nasser Al-Dhaheri, and the poet Dr. Shihab Ghanem, who documented his journey in poetry in “The Hijaz Journey” and the writer Aisha Sultan, author of the book “Handouts in Cities, Travel and Departure”, stopping at the experience of Dr. Nafie al-Yassi, who has visited more than 70 countries of the world, including Mexico, where he monitored the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead associated with colors, ornaments and spectacle, presenting a comparison between it and the rituals funerals in Arab and Islamic culture.

travel effect
Mariana Camacho, in turn, underlined that food represents a key to entering any country or culture in the world: according to her, food not only serves to satisfy the need for hunger, but is the bearer of the entire culture of the country . , including its history, customs, civilization and what reflects its wealth, wealth and traditions, noting: many of the travel writers who have bothered to eat have managed to present a lively and enjoyable picture of the world to read .
He said, “Travel literature is very important, as it is in itself a travel experience for the readers themselves, allowing them the opportunity to roam the countries of the world and travel while sitting in their seats,” noting that the impact of travel on human beings is great, as the traveler does not come to his senses after travelling, but rather becomes a person, another carries many of the countries he has visited, even if he was unaware of what had changed there .