Readers in the «Emirates Today» poll call for accuracy in reporting facts and personalities

The controversy of Arab historical drama. Endless renewed

• Readers confirmed that historical drama is influenced by the multiplicity of narratives of events and characters. À Archived

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Why does Arab historical drama provoke so much controversy, controversy and disagreement? Why is it that every time a new historical work is announced, it and its makers are attacked by its presentation, sometimes even stopping filming as a result of pressure from public opinion?

"Emirates Today" polled the opinions of its readers, through its various digital platforms, on these questions to identify their interpretation of this controversy and its causes, as participants considered that the causes of the controversy are many, but the most important of them is that the Arabs are still governed by the past and live in their conflicts as part of their present, in addition to the influence of the dramatic approach style of the intellectual and political orientations of the makers of the work, and the multiplicity of historical narratives of events and characters, calling on drama makers to be accurate in transferring facts and historical figures and presenting them in a neutral manner.

Reader Ali Yasser pointed out, in a comment on the account of «Emirates Today» on «Facebook», that «the selection of controversial figures is a way to achieve a greater number of views, as controversy is the best publicity for the work and its makers». While the reader (Shadi) pointed out that «Arab history is full of controversies, disputes and differences, and therefore historical works provoke controversy, especially if they are religious».

A call to renounce differences

For his part, wrote reader Mohammed Majeed: «There are different reasons, history in general mixed with facts and fairy tales that are far from reality, and that who transmits the history of the era of eras trying to present it in accordance with his whims and desires, what agreed with him transferred and what did not agree with his mood hit him against the wall», stressing that «in the midst of all these differences and things what brings us together and what unites us much more than divides us».

He called for putting aside these differences, focusing on the solid foundations at the heart of the faith, and allowing the air to remove the dust of fanaticism from minds and ideas.

The opinion of the reader (Reem) came in the same context, as she went that the controversy is due to different opinions and doctrines, as each person wants to see the historical figure or historical incident from his own point of view that corresponds to his beliefs, or that he sees as correct.

Dodi said: "The controversy is proof that history is not based solely on facts, that it holds multiple points of view and everyone sees it from a different side."

While the reader (Captain Hilal), through the account of «Emirates Today» on «Instagram» that «the drama adheres to reality and recorded facts», the reader (Amna) pointed to the absence of credibility, while an account bearing the name (Liwa) called for the rejection of differences and sedition, expressing his hope that there will be no sedition, and that there will always be interdependence in the Arab row, and not to delve into what does not mean.

Dilution of contemporary issues

For his part, the researcher and media, Khalid bin Qaqa, that «the controversy accompanying the historical drama is not justified or legitimate, because it disrupts the contemporary», referring this controversy to a basic issue, which is that the Arabs are governed by the past more than the present, they are not the sons of their time, pointing out that the differences previously raised in the nation between its wings, pillars and states, supposed to remain a historical controversy surrounded by that historical period, but people transfer conflicts to the present and therefore adopt them. He added: «As a contemporary human being, I must know and know history, and if we want to be active in our lives and society, we must evoke what is positive from history, and take advantage of it to achieve an achievement in our time, why do we insist on being children of the past, this is a deliberate kind of dilution of the main core issues and escape from them».

Bin Qaqa continued: «We evoke history to solve contemporary rivalries with old ones, and we evoke old conflicts to apply them in the present, which makes everything we see at the level of drama and non-drama is a purely political work, and when we look, we find that different nations return to history in many works, but this return remains in a historical framework, and talking about it does not come out of that period addressed by the work, but we as Arabs want to adapt history to our time at a time when we could not Adapting our time."

More accurate

The researcher and media, Khaled bin Qaqa, considered that «historical drama outside Egypt is worthless, justifying that the Egyptian institution was the first to produce historical drama, and there is control with multiple stages from different sides, including historical and linguistic review, and in religious matters are referred to Al-Azhar, and therefore historical drama in Egypt is more accurate, unlike other Arab historical drama, which creates a state of (fantasy) in building characters or historical events».

Khalid Bin Qaqa:

• "If we want to be active in our lives and society, we must evoke what is positive from history, and take advantage of it to achieve an achievement in our time."

Mohammed Majeed:

• «Whoever transmits the history of an era tries to present it in accordance with his whims, what agreed with him transmitted and what did not agree with his mood was disregarded».

Ali Yasser:

• "Choosing controversial figures is a way to achieve a greater number of views, as controversy is the best publicity for the work and its makers."