connecting patterns as I read "A History of the Middle East" by George Corm - going back to the 9th century when he writes "Arab Empire reached its zenith, bringing arts, literature, philosophy and science to uncharted heights. Arab culture indeed embraced the legacy of the Greek philosophers which was later passed onto Europe via Arab Spain ... "
How can this relate to what is happening right now? is it the spread of a new pattern initiated through the initial shift in Greece (which happened before the Tunisian/Egypt revolutions) and then moving through into Europe through Spain ?
Is the lineage of the land and place (Herstory) speaking now through the people to reenter the playground, by facing the old patterns, working through them and emerging with the ones that are necessary for the future ?
observations and questions ....
what also caught my attention in the book, so far (I am still in its first chapter), is the relationship and positioning of Greece ... Corm writes " From the beginning of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the Greek presence in the Middle East constitutes a fundamental historical fact that official histories for not emphasise enough. When Europe annexed the Greek heritage to its own cultural patrimony, contemporary Iranian, Arab and Turkish cultures simply erased all memory relating to that heritage. In reality, however, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean coastline has provided Greek history and culture with a solid founding since the founding of Troy."
and the question that comes to me:
How can we open the space for the memory to return?
With care,
Hala
No comments:
Post a Comment