Can ‘Cultural Differences’ be asset in global world?

Muscat, Feb 28 -

A special feature of the Sultan Qaboos Centre for Culture and Science at the 23rd Muscat International Book Fair is the collection of publications as part of the exhibit and recognition of winners of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Award for Culture, Arts and Literature.

The centre has printed the book, ‘Cultural Differences’, authored by D Saad A al Bazei, the recipient of the Sultan Qaboos Award for Culture, Arts and Literature. The writer is attending the book fair as well as signing copies at the centre’s pavilion.

‘Cultural Differences’ articulates a thesis the author has been working on for many years in the form of lectures, papers and even books.

“The focus of this thesis is cultural specificity — how cultures have their own lives and how they need to be respected and accepted. We need to understand the cultural relations from that perspective. The current focus is on merging differences. This interest is actually a global interest and can be found mainly in non-western cultures where it is important for these cultures to maintain their independence and their characteristics. In this book, the issue is discussed through various perspectives,” said Dr Saad.

The author pointed out it is important to maintain diversity within this unity. Some of these traits can be found in literature, arts, and in the habits and traditions of any culture.

“You will find things that are unique to certain cultures such as dress, the way we greet each other, ambitions, worries and anxieties that some cultures have. For example, Shakespeare, in a sonnet, compares the beloved to a summer. He says, ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’ If you say that to an Arab, a summer may not be the best way to describe a beloved. But summer in England, for example, is a beautiful season. So it is difficult for a student in our region to understand what is beautiful about that. So we have to look at those small details in order to appreciate that culture,” added Dr Saad.

An academic who teaches English Literature, Dr Saad is a critic in Arab Literature as well Asian Literature and this is how he developed the interest in cultural relations and had the urge to highlight the aspects of cultural diversity.

He teaches comparative literature and feels students need to study literature with an awareness of its distinctiveness.

“We should see what is unique about English — poetry for example and drama without of course losing sight of what is human about those areas. It is a balance not easy to keep looking at the differences and similarities at the same time and analysing what is common and what is unique. I am trying to find that balance.”

In recognition of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos’s keenness to achieve intellectual achievement and affirm the historical role of the Sultanate of Oman in establishing cultural awareness as the most important link in the cultural advancement of mankind on 27 February 2011, the Sultan Qaboos Award for Culture, Arts and Literature was established.

According to the centre, the objective is to support cultural, artistic and literary fields as a way to promote human civilisation’s progress as well as contribute to the movement of scientific development and intellectual enrichment.

The other objective is to instil values of originality and innovation among the younger generation by providing an environment based on knowledge and intellectual competition. Open the doors of competition in science and knowledge based on research and innovation.