The Egyptian Character in a Seminar at the BA
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Alexandria—
The BA Dialogue Forum held on Saturday, 8 December 2007, a seminar entitled "The Egyptian Character and Folklore". Dr. Ahmed Morsi, Professor of Folkloric Literature, Faculty of Arts, Cairo University; and former President of DarElKotob (The National Library and Archives of Egypt) spoke in the seminar moderated by Dr. Mohamed Zakaria Anani.
At the beginning of the seminar Dr. Morsi stated that the Anglosakson term "folklore" was mistakenly translated to Al-Fenon Al-Sha'bya. The term Al-Fenon Al-Sha'bya (popular arts) in our perception as Arabs referred only to dancing and singing. He added that the Academy of the Arabic Language translated "folklore" to "popular heritage", since heritage comes from the past, influences the present, and continues to the future.
Dr. Ahmed Morsi explained that popular heritage expresses a vision and reflects a comprehensive stance. Popular heritage is the arts, norms, believes, and knowledge by which a group of individuals express themselves. He added that some people interpret "popular" as trivial or insignificant, which is a wrong interpretation, as many popular songs reflect noble and lofty meanings.
He emphasized that a character is a product of the prevailing materialistic reality in which a person lives and the social relation between the person and the surrounding medium. He called for studying the Egyptian character, as a unique character, based on its historical background.
Dr. Morsi mentioned that the relationship between a brother and a sister in the Egyptian heritage is very special, and that men and women were equal since the Ancient Egyptian civilization; men and women were equal as depicted in all Pharaonic statuettes. At the end of the seminar he stressed on the importance of highlighting the unique traits of the Egyptian character.