Abdulla's Latest Work-Jouha Counting the Donkeys

Here are some samples of Abdulla's latest work. He is done with his story, and will begin coloring.

These images were created from screen shots so they're not the highest quality, but I think you can get a good sense of what Abdulla is doing in terms of telling his story sequentially. He has varied his panel size and type to match the action of the story, and he makes good use of exaggeration and facial expression.

Pairing up the teams?

Hi Everyone,

I was surfing through the blog the other day and was really inspired by Zoe's paintings, and began thinking about how the text could be incorporated with her style and some of the ideas Zoe had about orientation. I was thinking I could start doing some research into hand generated text and different options.

I began thinking maybe it would be good to pair one of us from the layout team with an illustrator, so that there could be a really collaborative progress between the layout/text and the illustrations, and we could get started on at least parts of some stories, rather than the illustrators handing over the finished product and then the layout team dropping them into place? I know the illustrators are no way near finished and polished, but we could work with roughs, concepts and progress together. Emailing back and forth between illustrator and layouter (?) rather than everything running through the whole team.

Just a thought.

F.

Dubai and the Limits of Multiculturalism

Dubai debates the limits of multiculturalism - Africa & Middle East - International Herald Tribune
By Hassan M. Fattah

DUBAI — South Asians call it "the best-run Indian city," Arabs celebrate it as a model of Arab accomplishment and Westerners have embraced it for its endless sunshine and luxury lifestyle.

With more than 150 nationalities and almost as many expressions of culture, Dubai is one of the most diverse cities in the Middle East. But after decades of selling dreams to foreigners, this Gulf emirate has begun debating the limits of multiculturalism.

Tensions burst into the open in early October when an English-language newspaper published an article decrying the growing disrespect for Muslim customs here during the holy month of Ramadan, setting off a rare public debate about Dubai's cultural identity.

"Too much flesh on show is wrong in a Muslim country at any time - but offense is being felt especially during Ramadan," said the front-page editorial in 7Days, a free daily tabloid.

The article included photographs of women walking in sleeveless tops and shorts at a shopping mall under the headline "Show Some Respect." 7Days, which is run and edited largely by Westerners, advised its readers to "please remember that this is a Muslim country and many of us are guests here."

Within hours, the newspaper was flooded with e-mails and telephone calls, many praising the paper for acknowledging the sensitivities of Muslims but many others lambasting it for seeming to toe an official line.

Soon the entire emirate was talking.

"We fear that the expatriate is going to impose his culture on us," said Maya Rashid Ghadeer, a columnist with the newspaper Al Bayan who writes about the local community. "Most locals are afraid that they are losing their basic identity forever."

For decades the emirate, part of the federation of seven principalities that make up the United Arab Emirates, sought to broaden its economy by welcoming foreigners and their dollars, turning itself into a shipping hub, a business hub and, more recently, a tourist hub with luxury hotels and resorts.

The city's openness has helped produce dramatic economic growth and development, with wide swaths under construction and more projects in the works. The boom has brought big-city problems like inflation, rising crime, higher divorce rates and traffic.

But beyond that, it has taken a toll on local culture as many young Emiratis have begun looking abroad, abandoning many traditions and even marrying foreigners. With only about 200,000 local citizens, the demographics are daunting, said Abdulkhaliq Abdallah, a professor of political science at United Arab Emirates University.

"Usually minorities assimilate into the majority," Abdallah said. "But we don't want to assimilate into the majority. We want to preserve the localness, the Emiratiness of this city."

At the same time, Dubai is famous for offering a kind of Disneyland fantasy to its tourists. In December, luxury hotels set up large Christmas trees, and it can be hard to orient oneself. Many outsiders say that is what makes Dubai stand out in the region.

"Hello, this is 2006, not 1666," wrote one critical reader of the article in 7Days who demanded to know what was wrong with the clothing styles. "Does Dubai want to move forward in time where women are no longer regarded as second-class citizens?"

Dubai has implemented strict rules about public behavior - a man and woman kissing in public can be arrested; it is an offense to dress inappropriately during Ramadan; altercations with locals can land expatriates in jail.

But with millions of tourists passing through here, few of the laws are actually implemented. Ramadan, which ends this weekend, is a month when Muslims fast during daylight as part of what is supposed to be an intense focus on spirituality, then eat at night. This Ramadan, however, stores stayed open throughout the day and many restaurants continued to serve during fasting hours.

"This is still a salad platter with a tomato and cucumber that don't mix," Abdallah said, stressing that Dubai could never be a melting pot because foreigners are ineligible for citizenship. "It is a massive experiment in social tolerance, and it should be promoted as such. But being tolerant should not come at the expense of the local and national identity."

At least part of the tensions stem from the deep cultural divide here. For the most part, locals tend to live apart from expatriates and rarely interact socially with them. As in many Gulf states, Dubai's ethnic groups also exist in clearly defined socioeconomic stratifications. Locals are typically owners, Westerners earn the top salaries and South Asians do the menial labor.

Seizing on that division, the Sheik Mohammed Center for Cultural Understanding, financed by Dubai's ruler, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, has invited expatriates to locals' homes for dinner and organized tours and meals throughout the city. Inside a local shopping mall this month, Khulood al-Atiyat and other college students have manned a booth inviting shoppers to meet and speak with an Emirati.

"This is a place where they can come and talk to us and ask questions," Atiyat said. "We are proud of who we are, and we intend to stick to who we are."

Nada el Sawy contributed reporting.

The Trickster

Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/605010/trickster-tale

trickster tale, in oral traditions worldwide, a story featuring a protagonist (often an anthropomorphized animal) who has magical powers and is characterized as a compendium of opposites. Simultaneously an omniscient creator and an innocent fool, a malicious destroyer and a childlike prankster, the trickster-hero serves as a sort of folkloric scapegoat onto which are projected the fears, failures, and unattained ideals of the source culture.

Trickster stories may be told for amusement as well as on serious or sacred occasions. Depending on the context, either a single tale or a series of interrelated stories might be told. The typical tale recounts a picaresque adventure: the trickster is “going along,” encounters a situation to which he responds with knavery, stupidity, gluttony, or guile (or, most often, some combination of these), and meets a violent or ludicrous end. Often the trickster serves as a transformer and culture hero who creates order out of chaos. He may teach humans the skills of survival, such as how to make fire, procreate, or catch or raise food, usually through negative examples that end with his utter failure to accomplish these tasks. Frequently he is accompanied by a companion who either serves as a stooge or ultimately tricks the trickster.
Before the 20th century the scholarly collection, examination, and comparison of tricksters and their tales concentrated upon those of North American Indian groups. Coyote is possibly the most widely known indigenous North American trickster; his tales are told by California, Southwest, Plateau, and Plains Indians. For Northwest Coast Indians, the trickster is Raven (see Raven cycle), Mink, or Blue Jay, while Spider fills the role in many Southwest Indian tales. Wisakedjak, anglicized to Whiskey Jack, is the trickster-hero for many Northeast Indians, as is Nanabozho, the Hare, who in the Southeast is called Rabbit.

North American trickster motifs generally combine moral lessons with humour. Examples include the false bridegroom, whose boasting exposes him as an impostor; the eye juggler, who plays ball with his eyes and finally loses them; contests between creatures with inimitable skills, as when Beaver invites Porcupine to swim and Porcupine invites Beaver to climb; and cases where guile ill-serves its perpetrator, as when Coyote tricks Skunk and eats him but neglects to anticipate the digestive effects of this scheme. Many indigenous North American trickster figures have been portrayed, or their influences depicted, in contemporary Native American literature.

As with other forms of culture, trickster tales are apt to develop and evolve when differing societies interact. One such case occurred during the colonial period in North America, as Hare (or Rabbit) was a common trickster in Africa as well as in the New World. Over time, as Native Americans and enslaved Africans met and exchanged elements of culture, their separate Hare traditions produced a new trickster, Brer Rabbit. The Brer Rabbit tales share many features of traditional African trickster stories: the trickster is an underdog, smaller in stature and strength than his opponents (thus gaining the audience’s sympathy) but much cleverer and always well in control of the situation. However, African trickster tales usually centre upon a particular victim, such as Hyena, Lion, or Elephant, while Brer Rabbit tales, like their Native American counterparts, tend to revisit the same cast of characters repeatedly. In African tales the trickster’s prey is usually earnest, hardworking, and slow-witted and soon yields to the smooth arguments and attractive promises of his opponent; in contrast, it is usually Brer Rabbit’s opponents who instigate conflict, forcing him to rely upon his charm, speed, diminutive size, and guile—characteristics that save him from trouble in some cases only to ensnare him in difficulty in others.
While Hare is a common trickster of northern, eastern, and southern Africa, the trickster of West Africa is Spider (Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone) or Tortoise (the Igbo and Yoruba people of Nigeria). Many African cultures also have tales about human tricksters (e.g., the stories of Yo in Benin). In African traditions, particularly those involving the spider Anansi, the trickster often appears as a mythological figure and a rival of the sky god, tricking the god in one way or another. In this function Anansi shows some similarity with the Yoruba trickster god Eshu, who constantly opposes the other gods and thwarts their intentions.

The trickster-tale genre of folklore appears in some form in every culture, and many examples are available. The Chaco people of Colombia and Panama tell tales of Fox; like Coyote, he is always bested. In the Amazon the trickster’s dual nature is embodied by the Twins: one brother whose tricks always end badly and another who builds order and harmony from the ensuing chaos. Numerous Oceanian tales recount the creative exploits of the trickster Maui, or Maui-tiki-tiki, as when he caught the first land like a fishand pulled it from the sea. The Australian Aborigine trickster Bamapana is known for his vulgar language, lustful behaviour, and delight in discord. Japan’s Kitsune is a trickster fox renowned for his mischievous metamorphic abilities. He is regarded in Shintō lore as the messenger who ensures that farmers pay their offerings to the rice god; Buddhist stories, however, cast the fox as an evil agent of possession. European tricksters include Aesop’s wily Fox, the shape-shifting Norse god Loki, and the German prankster-peasant Till Eulenspiegel.

Dinstinctions and Types: Folk Narratives from Oral Traditions

From Arab Folklore: A Handbook, Dwight F. Reynolds (2007)

"Folklore scholars divide folk narrative into a variety of different general categories. Fairy tales (also called simply folktales) usually involve magical or supernatural characters or powers, are typically set in a nonhistorical time, and often accounced by some sort of disclaimer or marker that the tale is fictional. English speakers are most familiar with the formula "Once upon a time . . .". In Arabic dozens of such formulas are used in different regions, but one particularly famous one is Kan Wa-ma Kan ("There was and there was not")" (87).

Examples: Om al Manakhel, Hadeed Hadeedoo, Om Hamar (sort of), Hassan and the Jewels, The Golden Cow, Hamada and the Fairy Fish.

"Another major category of folk narrative is the legend and the primary distinction between the folktake and the legend for folklorists is that legends are usually told as if they were historically true, and often some members of the audience or the teller in fact accepts them as true. Legends are usually told as having taken place in a known physical location, sometimes even a specific time period, and are often linked to some element of modern reality--a simple example might be a story that tells how a particular local cliff or rock came to be known as 'Lover's Leap'" (87).

Example: The Legend of Mai and Ghaillan

The Oldest Version of Cinderella

This Ancient Egyptian version of Cinderella is considered the oldest version of the story, recorded by the Roman historian Strabo in the first century BC:

Long ago in the Ancient land of Egypt where the green water of the Nile River flows into the blue water of the Mediterranean Sea lived a young maiden named Rhodopis. She born in Greece, but had been kidnapped by pirates and carried to Egypt where she was sold into slavery. Her owner was a kind old man and because he spent most of his time sleeping under a tree she never saw how the other servant girls in the house taunted and teased Rhodopis because she looked different from them. Their hair was straight and black, while hers was golden and curly. They had brown eyes and her eyes were green. Their skin had the glow of copper, but she had pale skin that burnt easily in the sun, so they called her Rosy Rhodopis. They made her work hard, shouting at her all day, "Go to the river and wash the clothes. Mend my robe. Chase the geese from the garden. Bake the bread." 

She had no human friends, only the animals. She trained the birds to eat from her hand, a monkey to sit on her shoulder, and an old hippopotamus would slide up, out of the mud, onto the bank to be closer to her. At the end of each day, if she wasn't too tired, she would go down to the river to be with her animal friends, and if she had any energy left from the hard day's work she would sing and dance for them.

One evening as she was dancing, twirling around lighter than air with her feet barely touching the ground, the old man woke from his sleep and watched as she danced. He admired her dancing and decided that one so talented should not be without shoes. He ordered her a special pair of slippers. The shoes were gilded with rose-red gold and the soles were leather. The other servant girls hated her even more for they were jealous of her beautiful slippers.

One day, word arrived that the Pharaoh was holding court in Memphis and all in the kingdom were invited. Oh, how Rhodopis wanted to go with the other servant girls, for she knew there would be dancing, singing, and lots of wonderful food. As the other servant girls prepared to leave in their finest clothes they turned to her and gave her more chores to be completed before they returned. They poled their raft away leaving a sad girl on the bank. As she began to wash the clothes in the river she sang a sad little song--"wash the linen, weed the garden, grind the grain." The hippopotamus grew tired of this little song and splashed back into the river. The splashing of the water wet her slippers. She quickly grabbed them up, wiped them off and placed them in the sun to dry. As she was continuing with her chores the sky darkened and when she looked up she saw a falcon sweep down, snatch one of her slippers, and fly away. Rhodopis was in awe for she knew it was the god Horus who had taken her shoe. Rhodopis, now with only one slipper, put it away in her tunic.

Now the Pharaoh, Amasis, Pharaoh of upper and lower Egypt was sitting on his throne looking out over the people and feeling very bored. He much preferred to be riding across the desert in his chariot. Suddenly a falcon swooped down and dropped a rose-red golden slipper in his lap. Surprised, but knowing that this was a sign from the god Horus, he sent out a decree that all maidens in Egypt must try on the slipper, and the owner of the slipper would be his queen. By the time the servant girls arrived the celebrations had ended and the Pharaoh had left by chariot in search of the owner of the golden slipper. 

After searching on land and not finding the owner he called for his barge and began to travel the Nile pulling into every landing so that maidens could try on the slipper. As the barge rounded the bend in front of the home of Rhodopis everyone heard the sounds of the gong, the trumpets blaring, and saw the purple silk sails. The servant girls ran to the landing to try on the shoe while Rhodopis hid in the rushes. When the servant girls saw the shoe they recognized it as Rhodopis' slipper but they said nothing and still tried to force their feet into the slipper. The Pharaoh spied Rhodopis hiding in the rushes and asked her to try on the slipper. She slid her tiny foot into the slipper and then pulled the other from her tunic. The Pharaoh pronounced that she would be his queen. The servant girls cried out that she was a slave and not even Egyptian. The Pharaoh responded with "She is the most Egyptian of all...for her eyes are as green as the Nile, her hair as feathery as papyrus, and her skin the pink of a lotus flower."

The Story of the Jinn-The supernatural and the Quran

Throughout history man has always had a deep attraction for the supernatural and the unseen. The existence of a world parallel to our own has always fascinated people. This world is commonly referred to as the spirit world, and almost every set of people have some concept of one. With some people, these spirits are no more then the souls of dead people- or ghosts. With others, spirits are either the forces of good or the forces of evil - both battling against one another to gain influence over humanity. However, both of these explanations are more in tune with folk tales and fantasy. The true explanation of such a world comes from Islam. Like every other way, Islam also claims to explain this realm of the unseen. It is from this realm that Islam explains to us about the world of the Jinn. The Islamic explanation of the Jinn provides us with so many answers to modem day mysteries. Without the knowledge of this world, the Muslims would become like the non-Muslims and be running around looking for any old answer to come their way. So, who or what are the Jinn?
Existence
The Jinn are beings created with free will, living on earth in a world parallel to mankind. The Arabic word Jinn is from the verb Janna which means to hide or conceal. Thus, they are physically invisible from man as their description suggests. This invisibility is one of the reasons why some people have denied their existence. However, (as will be seen) the affect which the world of the Jinn has upon our world, is enough to refute this modern denial of one of Gods creation. The origins of the Jinn can be traced from the Quran and the Sunnah. God says:
Indeed We created man from dried clay of black smooth mud. And We created the Jinn before that from the smokeless flame of fire (Quran 15:26-27)
Thus the Jinn were created before man. As for their physical origin, then the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, has confirmed the above verse when he said:
The Angels were created from light and the Jinn from smokeless fire. (Saheeh Muslim)
It is this description of the Jinn which tells us so much about them. Because they were created from fire, their nature has generally been fiery and thus their relationship with man has been built upon this. Like humans, they too are required to worship God and follow Islam. Their purpose in life is exactly the same as ours, as God says:
I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me. (Quran 51:56)
Jinns can thus be Muslims or non-Muslims. However, due to their fiery nature the majority of them are non-Muslims. All these non-Muslim Jinns form a part of the army of the most famous Jinn, Satan[1]. Consequently, these disbelieving Jinns are also called devils. Jinns also become Muslims, as they did in the time of the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, when a group of them were amazed by the recitation of the Quran. God orders the Prophet to tell the people of this event:
Say (O Muhammed): It has been revealed to me that a group of Jinn listened and said; Indeed we have heard a marvelous Quran. It guides unto righteousness so we have believed in it, and we will never make partners with our lord.(Quran 72:1-2)
In many aspects of their world, the Jinn are very similar to us. They eat and drink, they marry, have children and they die. The life span however, is far greater then ours. Like us, they will also be subject to a Final Reckoning by God the Most High. They will be present with mankind on the Day of Judgment and will either go to Paradise or Hell.

Cinderella Arabic version

Recent updates on the Golden Cow

Hi everyone,

this is the recent Development on the Golden Cow, please Forgive me i've been out of town for a while, and now i am back to illustrating. theses are couple of Scenes on the Golden Cow.

Hi all! FInally done with the main roughing out of my story. I'll be going over quite a bit though. Do forgive me, I'm not at my illutstrating best at the moment - typhoon hit so I"ve been clearing trees and things for a few days. Quite happy that we have power back for me to post this week haha!

Anyway, have a look. Cheers.

Open Questions: the collection of stories as a whole

Evil stepmothers or stepfathers are a common motif in many of these stories. Why do stepmothers or stepfathers tend to be represented or used in stories as cruel figures?

Magic is often used in many of these stories. What kind of magic is it? What kinds of things does it tend to be used for? On a more general level, what is the relationship between magic and Islam?

How would you organize these stories in an anthology? Which stories go together and why?

Which stories do you think hold the most potential for illustrations? The least?

Have you encountered different versions of these stories? Can you describe which stories and the way in which certain elements were altered?

Do you see any common patterns or elements running through all these stories?

Open Questions: Hamda and the Fairy Fish

This story seems to be a fairly straightforward re-telling of Cinderella: is this an accurate statement?

Compare and contrast this story with the traditional Cinderella story: what is the same? What is different? What is the significance of these similarities and differences?

I thought it might be useful to share an interesting passage from a book I'm reading titled, Folklore and Folklife in the United Arab Emirates.

In the chapter on Folk Narratives, the author, Sayhid Had Hurreiz, writes:

"It is quite evident that the previous story (which is a UAE version of Hamada and the Fairy Fish--in the UAE it is titled al bideha or "The Fisherman's Daughter") is one of the variants of the famous folktale Cinderella . . . As is known in folktale scholarship, no other story enjoys wider distribution or extensive public attention that Cinderella. Its various themes and motifs have been used in opera, in children's motion pictures, in children's story books, in advertisements and so on. Studies covering many decades of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and extending over Europe, Asia, the Near East and the USA have been published on this story" (75-76).

Just food for thought . . . .

Open Questions: The Thieves and the Tree Trunk

What is the moral of this story?

Does Captain Abdulrahman respond to his wife’s fears appropriately?

Stories are often made to instruct as well as entertain: what is the entertaining part in this story? Why or how would it appeal to children?

What is your response to the representation of females and males in this story?

This story seems more modern than the other ones, doesn’t it? Discuss what elements might or might not make it seem more modern (i.e. closer to our point in history/time) than the other tales.

Open Questions: The Golden Cow

We are told by an unknown narrator in the story that Sara’s father has been married many times, and in each instance, his wives die before producing offspring. Though Sara’s mother is different, she is similar in the sense that she does die, though not after having had given birth to Sara. What is the significance of this information?

The Golden Cow is an interesting symbol in this story. Why a cow? What are some possible meanings here?

Remember that a symbol is something in the story that has meaning(s) beyond the literal. For example, in this case, is the cow just a cow, nothing more? Is the cow simply a convenient receptacle for hiding young, beautiful girls that wish to escape a dysfunctional home life? Or is there something more here? The library has a few symbol dictionaries in the collection: any takers?

Open Questions: Hassan and the Jewels

At the end of the story, in response to pleads from the wedding dancers Hassan’s mother retrieves the feathered dress and gives it to her daughter in law. This is a rather strange or curious thing for the mother to do, isn't it? What is your response to this event?

Who are the “good” characters in this story and who are the “bad” ones? Do some characters start out good and then become bad? What defines their "badness" and "goodness?"

What is the moral of this story?

This story is full of “rich” symbols. What are they and what do they mean?

Open Questions: Om Hamar (Donkey Lady)

This particular version of the story offers a few examples of graphic violence. Could this be considered inappropriate for adolescent or younger readers? On the other hand, is this tale any more violent or graphic than what the young are exposed to in other media: internet/television/cinema/news, etc.? Is this story any more violent or graphic than some of the other tales that we have?

Discuss the significance of the context: Garangao. Garangao seems to me like an Arab version of Halloween. Are there any cultural difference to take into consideration here? Is Garangao just like Halloween as it is usually understood in the west? Or are there some key differences to think about for western readers?

Many of the tales under discussion originate from other parts of the GCC. This one, however, is said to originate from Qatar. Is there anything in particular about this tale that marks it as undoubtedly Qatari?

The time period of the tale is circa 1930. Is this time period significant for some reason? In other words, why set the story in 1930 rather than 1900 or 1990?

Open Questions: Hadeed Hadeedoo

It is interesting to note that Hadeed Hadeedoo is female. Is she an example of a positive, powerful female considering all of these tales as a whole?

If we were to place the two main characters into "good" and "bad" categories, it seems obvious that Hadeed Hadeedoo is good and the witch is bad, right? Answer this question by examining closely the actions of each character in the story.

As in many of the other tales, magic plays an important role in this one. Who uses magic? What do they use it for? Who does not use magic? Are there times when magic could obviously be used but is not? Why?

Side note: a striking image in this story is the witch sharpening her teeth and ripping the young goat's flesh apart (an image that is repeated). Freaky.

Open Questions: Om al Manakhel

Morjana clearly deserves her reward, but does the daughter deserve to be punished so severely for her behavior? Does this story have a happy or a tragic ending?

Fairy tales are often used as vehicles to transmit morals to children. If that is true, what is the moral of this story?

Morjana is recognizably a Cinderella figure. Compare and contrast this tale to the Cinderella tale. What is similar? What is different?

Is the woman in the road actually the old woman magically disguised?

Discuss the theme of magic in this story (and perhaps compare it to other stories): how is magic used? Is it used for good or evil? Both?

Why do stepmothers always seem to be innately evil figures in these tales? I know plenty of stepmothers who are nice, caring parents to their children, even if they are not are not biologically connected.

Open Questions: The Legend of Mai and Ghaillan

Does Ghaillian win the race in a way that is fair?

Is it a fair race if Ghaillian uses a sail rather than pure manpower? On the one hand, it could be argued that Ghaillian is clever and uses innovation to win the competition. On the other hand, one could argue that Ghaillian is clearly employing an unfair advantage to win the race.

Mai is an interesting character in this story. Of the stories that we have, there are not many examples of powerful female figures. I was hoping that Mai would win the race against Ghaillan to show that women can beat men at their own games. Unfortunately, this is not how the story ends. In the end, the man wins again. How do you feel about the ending?

Many of our stories have unclear settings: "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away." This one, however, has a very specific and local setting: Al Khor. What is the significance of this local setting in the story? Why set this tale in Al Khor instead of Doha or Al Wakra or Dukhan?

Folk or fairy tales are often created with a specific moral or teaching in mind. What is the moral of this story? Is there more than one?

What do these stories mean?

UREP Team,

I've generated some open questions in response to a close reading of the stories. I hope that responding to these questions will create interesting discussion, surprising discoveries and productive research.

Everyone should involve themselves in these discussions, especially the layout team. This is a valuable opportunity for the layout team to make an important contribution to the project.

I realize that the illustrators are busy illustrating, which is good: I do not expect you to respond in depth. However, I think the illustrators could really benefit from following these discussions and participating in them when they can. How one interprets the stories intellectually will influence how one renders them visually.

Because our team is so culturally diverse, we'll each interpret these stories slightly differently for we are each reading them through the lens of our own cultural values and beliefs: this is a good thing! Part of our hope in this project is that these stories will spark discussion between Qatari and non-Qatari in order to learn more about each others cultural frameworks and hopefully lead to more well-informed and empathic relations between these two very diverse groups.

Let me give you a quick example. In the Legend of Mai and Ghaillan, Ghaillan wins the dhow race against Mai through technological innovation. While a locust (a locust? Where I come from, a locust is a grasshopper and they do not buzz around our heads--only flies do. Is there something lost in translation here? These are the sorts of questions we should be posing and seeking answers to in our discussion--this question, obviously, influences the illustration, does it not?) is buzzing around his head, Ghaillan pays particular attention to the shape of its wing and is inspired to create a "wing" for his dhow, which helps him win the race (examining nature to solve human problems is called "biomimicry"). In my culture, many (but not all) would interpret this move as cheating. Although the terms of the race are never explicitly discussed, my assumption would be that both merchants are only be allowed to use a dhow, men, and paddles, nothing more. This is a fair contest. Introducing the sail gives Ghaillan an unfair advantage. Therefore, interpreting his character and the race through my own cultural values leads me to conclude that I do not see him in a positive light: he is clever, yes, but he is fundamentally a cheater. I don't think that the text encourages us to view Ghaillan in this way, which leads me to believe that a set of cultural values different from my own are at work in this tale. This should prompt me to conduct research of some form to help explain this discrepancy.

I will create a separate post for each set of questions for each story so that we can keep things organized. Feel free to respond to my questions or, even better, pose and seek answers to your own. The questions I've generated are simply a place to begin.

You can read the text of the stories on the blog. They are located in various places. You'll have to search through older posts to find them.

I'm excited to get the discussions going. I think they will be very enlightening. Good luck!

Hello again. Here are more roughs for you. I do apologize, I'm a bit behind my own schedule. Hopefully you'll see the end of these drawings as they and get more refinement in but it's progressing still.

You'll see I've begun just a little with watercolor. It seems I'll have to put each panel together in a series of working between doing things by hand and meshing other parts together by computer.

Also, I"ve styled my hadeedo a bit more but in retrospect she's looking a bit like shaun the sheep so there are probably still changes to come.

Peace and coconuts from the Philippines to you all :D

Welcome to Abdulla Al Kuwari!

Abdulla Al Kuwari has joined our project! He's illustrating "Jouha Counting the Donkeys" (I'll post the story soon) Below are some samples of the work he has done on the story. The photos don't really give justice to the quality of his work, but you can get a sense of what he's done in terms of telling his story sequentially. Please note how reader friendly his illustrations are, particularly for the younger audience we're targeting. Also note his use of exaggeration to convey important elements of his story. I also think his use of varied panel size is working well with the story.

Sources

Storytelling, Folktales and the Comic Book Format, Gail de Vos

Graphic novels for multiple literacies,  Gretchen E. Schwarz

Image, Text and Story: Comics and Graphic Novels in the Classroom, Rachel Marie-Crane Wiliams

How Comic Books Can Change the Way Our Students See Literature: One Teacher's Perspective, Rocco Versaci

Marveling at The Man Called Nova: Comics as Sponsors of Multimodal Literacy: Dale Jacobs

Multi Cultural Literacy and Folk Tales

The Multicultural Literacy and Citizenship Project
http://people.hofstra.edu/alan_j_singer/Education/Muti%20Literacy%203.pdf

Teaching Similar and Different through Folk Tales

http://www.tip.sas.upenn.edu/curriculum/units/2010/05/10.05.07.pdf

Cultural Success of Folktales (abstract)

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1207/s15516709cog0000_68/abstract

Folk tales and literacy

http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED488980&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED488980

Folktales as Edutainment

http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1348225

Promoting Socio-Cultural Values Through

Storytelling
http://www.intechopen.com/source/pdfs/10963/InTech-Promoting_socio_cultural_values_through_storytelling_using_animation.pdf

Folktales Lessons from Around the World

http://www.chatham.edu/pti/curriculum/units/2004/Tuckfelt.pdf

Question

Can I have a look at the page layout?

Om al Manakhel: Storyboard/Script Breakdown.

Hello Team. Broke up the script into sections based on action/plot/expression to decide on what & how to portray every scene/panel. Working on step 2: Illustrating the 7 sections into storyboards. Click image for clearer view.

Mai w Ghailan_02

Color scheme experimentation.

The style isn't finalized/consistent at the moment; sea, land, sky, and dhows are all communicated differently. But i'm working on it!

(I think i'm sea-sick!)

Illustrations (these are low resolution screenshots, for viewing only)

Hello again, here are three more pages roughed out. They illustrate the scenes of the goat fleeing to the melon feild to hide, and outsmarting the witch again.

This time I added more text but after drawing it out see some of my issues like using it to effectively connect the sequences. I used some arabic this time in the speech bubble of the witch tapping the melon for example, and want to use it in other places to really coin certain colloquial phrases. I'll have to provide a key of course or some sort of translation later on...

Hope you can understand the drawings, I won't describe the scenes so do tell me if you understand what's going on :D

Mai w Ghailan_01

I would like to thank you for letting me be part of this project.

Above is a fun Dhow study to get me started!

Welcome Fatma!

I am very happy to welcome Fatma Ramaihi to our project! She'll be working on the story below.

The Legend of Mai and Ghaillan

The Legend of Mai and Ghaillan

Collected by Mariam Mohammed Al-Kuwari

Edited by Patty Paine

Artist Fatma Al Ramaihi

Note: The ships in the first part of the story the dhows do not have sails.

Many years ago in Al Khor, Qatar there lived a man named Ghaillan. Ghaillan owned many dhows. He was a brave merchant, and he was famous in Al Khor for his dhows, and for the skilled pearl divers he had working for him.

For many years Ghaillan had no competitors. Every morning his men would row far out in the turquoise waters. His divers would dive deeper and deeper, and in the evening his boats would return overflowing with beautiful pearls.

One day, a strong, beautiful woman named Mai arrived in Al Khor. Mai had her own fleet of dhows. She was a skilled merchant, and she had many strong divers working for her. Mai’s men were better divers than Ghaillan’s men, and Mai knew the best places to find oysters with the biggest, most spectacular pearls. Every evening Mai’s boats would arrive at the docks overflowing with incredible pearls, while Ghaillan’s boats returned with just a few, small pearls.

Ghaillan was enraged that Mai’s dhows and divers were better than his own. He decided to challenge Mai to a race. He told Mai to pick her best dhow and best rowers, and he would do the same. They would race to a sandbar farther out in the sea than anyone had ever rowed before. Whoever won the race would get to stay in Al Khor. The loser would have to leave forever.

The night before the race Ghaillan sat on the beach for a long time thinking about how to beat Ghaillan. As he sat on the beach a locust kept buzzing around his head.

At sunrise the next morning Mai and Ghaillan met on the beach. Each had their best dhow, and their strongest men. Hassan the net maker met them on the beach, and gave the command for the race to begin.  Each team lifted their dhow. One dhow had Mai in it. The other dhow carried Ghaillan. The teams ran the dhows down the sand, and into the water. The men then jumped into the dhows and began rowing with all their might. Mai’s dhow began to pull further and further ahead.

Ghaillan called to Mai:

“Mai, where does you dhow’s power come from?”

Mai called back” Ghaillan, you know that the dhow’s power comes from the paddles! What a silly question to ask!”

Suddenly, a sail was raised from Ghaillan’s dhow. The sail filled with wind and sped past Mai’s boat. Ghaillan called to Mai as he passed her:

“You boat is powered by wooden paddles, but my boat is powered by wind. Wood will never beat wind!”

Ghaillan’s boat sped away leaving Mai’s boat far behind.

Late that evening Ghaillan was waiting on the dock for Mai’s return.

Mai asked: “How did you know how to catch the wind?”

Ghaillan replied: “When I sitting on the beach the night before the race contemplating how to win this race, a locust kept buzzing around my head. I looked closely at its wings, and it came to me: to win I must put a wing on my dhow so it would fly with the wind.”

Mai said “Ghaillan, you are truly a great merchant.”

Ghaillan replied, “You are a great merchant as well. When you leave Al Khor you may take my idea of putting a wing on a boat with you. This way, we will both have good fortune.

                                                             *

This is how the famous dhow wing (sail) came to be.

Hi guys, put together the rough version of two pages. Still many scenes to do of course but while that's going on I'm trying to figure out how it will all come together.

The scenes shown here are my witch running of to get her baskets for collecting dates, while the goat sneaks off (and onto the next frame) to the palm tree grove.

On the next page, the witch comes back into the picture carrying her giant baskets. From the treetop, the goat throws unripe dates at her. The witch thinks it's the from the birds hidden in the leaves and doesn't see that it's really from the goat. (The goats legs are shown at the top of the frame as it's being carried off by birds to safety.)

I'm not entirely satisfied with the drawings themselves but I'll refine them later. I'm trying to catch up by story boarding whilst putting the scenes into the frames and pages themselves so they're going to look fairly rough for a little while longer. I'm hoping in the end to use watercolor along with the ink lines.

More to come, best :D

Zoe | H. and the Jewels

Hi everyone! In this painting I am trying to develop smaller arrangements within the composition to develop a narrative relationship. So, to play off of the jewel theme I'm hiding things like painted rings, glass, rocks etc within the composition under paint that I'm making to look like dirt and including other objects that H. finds along the way of his journey like bones and secret gardens.

Z.

Om al Manakhel

Om al Manakhel

Collected by: Aisha Al-Ali

Edited by: Patty Paine

Illustrator: Reem

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Morjana who lived with her stepmother. The stepmother spoiled her own daughter, but she made Morjana work like a maid.

One day, an old woman named Om Almanakhel visited Morjana’s stepmother. She needed someone to help her so the stepmother sent Morjana. While walking to the old women’s house Morjana met a woman on the road. She asked the woman for directions to the house of Om Almanakhel. The woman guided Morjana to the house, and advised her that no matter what Om Almanakhel asked her to do Morjana should do the exact opposite.

Morjana arrived at the house, and the old lady asked Morjana to destroy the kitchen. Morjana went into the kitchen and cleaned it and then made the old women lunch. Then the old woman commanded Morjana to make the courtyard filthy. Morjana went into the courtyard and cleaned it. Then the old woman told Morjana to bring all the village trash into the house, so Morjana took all the trash in the house outside. The woman then asked Morjana to mess up her hair, so Morjana washed and braided the old woman’s hair. At the end of the day, the old woman thanked Morjana and she gave her an old bowl and a dog.

When Morjana arrived home her stepmother laughed at her gifts.

In the morning they discovered that the dog has transformed into a handsome prince, and the old bowl was overflowing with gold, pearls, and jewels. The stepmother decided that she would send her daughter to help the old woman so she would get gifts, too.

The stepdaughter set out for the house, and with every step she shouted “Where is Om Al Manakher’s house?” and “I demand that someone tell me where that old woman lives!” Finally, a woman met her on the road and guided her to the house. She told the girl that no matter what the old woman told her to do, the girl should do the exact opposite.

The old woman told the girl to break the kitchen. The girl went into the kitchen and broke everything. The old woman asked the girl to make the courtyard filthy, so the girl went into the courtyard and threw trash everywhere. When the old women told her to mess up her hair, the girl did exactly that. The old woman asked to the girl to go home and she gave her a dog and an old bowl. The girl happily returned home.

In the morning the stepmother rushed into the girl’s room to find the prince and jewels. When she entered the room she discovered that the bowl was empty and the dog had eaten her daughter!

Rough ideas for Hadeed Hadeeco

Hi all, here are some rough chicken scratches showing you some of the ideas I've had for my new story.

The main charcters are a witch and a goat (hadeed hadeeco). I won't go in to too much explanation but what I've been thinking about mostly was how to keep elements of magic in the story and play with the imagination a little. (I've been thinking of things like what if the witche's house were upside down, or floating perhaps. Other ideas include playing with size and proportions of things, like giant melons to hide inside).

Also, as the story deals with animal and human interaction, I've been looking at how the characters and setting of the story can illustrate the two blending so to speak, with animal or human characteristics.

My witch for example, has been based on a series of owls that I've been looking at. The bird that I've drawn is actually in the story a palm tree. In the story, it mentions that birds hide in the palm trees, but then I thought it'd be more interesting to see it as a bird that could shelter the goat, then carry it away to safety.

Off to continue some more, hopefully soon I'll be able to develop my characters more.

AmericanSchoolof Doha-Doctor Joha Arabic Folk Tale

THE PASSION AND THE MAGIC: DISTINCTIONS OF ARABIC FOLKTALES

Vol. 1, No. 2 (December 1995) THE PASSION AND THE MAGIC: DISTINCTIONS OF ARABIC FOLKTALES   By Fatme Sharafeddine Hassan*   A large number of Arabic legends, folktales, and myths reflect the culture's history, social customs, morals, values, and religious beliefs. Since the Arabs share the same geographical conditions, historical experiences, and language, it is quite difficult to specify the origin of Arabic legends and folktales. A reader of Arabic literature may find different versions of the same stories in various Arabic countries. For instance, the folktale Clever Hassan from Palestine is equivalent to Abu Hajlan from Syria and to Mhammad Belhajjala from Tunisia. Although the versions differ slightly, the moral behind the tales is the same. Arabic tales share many characteristics. The stories display the social values that the Arabs have in common and discusses the position and roles of men and women in society. Faith in God is usually expressed through the hero, who uses his belief to achieve the main task. An all-powerful King is also depicted and supernatural elements are a very important component of most Arabic tales and legends. Since the tribal structure was the nucleus of social and political life for a very long period in Arabic history, the values of such a culture influenced the folktales and legends. Very often, hospitality and kindness to guests and strangers is essential for survival in the desert. Values such as courage, honesty, honor, hospitality, generosity, and loyalty are emphasized. Moreover, the hero is defined by characteristics such as pride, bravery in war, protecting the weak, and helping the poor. A woman is portrayed in traditional Arabic tales and legends as a weak person who needs protection by her man, such as her father, brother, son, husband, or uncle. Most of the time a woman is described as a housewife who does not have the right to make, or even share in, important decisions. She is accused of not being able to keep her husband's secrets, since she is always expected to gossip with neighbors and relatives regarding all matters. Thus, she might destroy her husband's plans. The woman's honor is in her virginity before getting married, and in her loyalty to her husband afterwards. An Arab's faith in God is strongly reflected in folktales passed down throughout the generations. In a large number of these tales, the hero is said to act according to God's will. For instance, a poor man accepts his poverty because it is his destiny decided by God. God may answer the wishes of good people, such as granting a child or bestowing wealth. In addition, God also punishes the evil characters that cause trouble for the main protagonists. The King is also an extremely powerful figure. In most stories, he is the ultimate ruler whose will is never questioned by the public. The king possesses slaves and has total power over anyone in his country. He can marry any woman he desires, can kill people without justifying his act, and can make people rich or poor whenever he decides. The supernatural element is a very important aspect in ancient Arabic literature. Jinn, Jinniyeh, Ifreet, Ghouls, Ghouleh, Giants, and Angels are some of the supernatural creatures that appear frequently. There are two kinds of forces that control human beings: good forces, including God and angels, and evil forces, such as Jinn and Ghouls. Good forces are thought to be more powerful than evil forces, but not powerful enough to eliminate them. In general, Arabic folktales and legends are very violent. There are many scenes in which storytellers describe fights and methods of killing very bluntly, regardless of the age group listening. In addition to supernatural elements, Arabic folktales include magical elements that, most of the time, help the hero achieve his goals. Examples of such elements include a ring, three hairs of a horse, a crystal ball, slippers, and a flying carpet. It is interesting to note that although folktales might include supernatural and magical elements, they are usually based on real life events that stem from the Arabic culture. For instance, social values such as courage and honesty are often preserved in the legends and folktales. Imagination and creativity in these tales add to their beauty and entertaining capacity without minimizing the influence of real life events. An interesting element of the stories is the use of formalistic numbers that still have spiritual meanings for many people in the Arab world. For example, the numbers three, seven and forty are very meaningful to Arabs in general. In many of the tales those numbers have been used to describe various aspects in the development of events. Expressions such as "seven days and nights", "three chances", and "forty doors to open" are commonly used. In addition, many Arabic folktales lack of the element of logic. Events might be clearly presented, but sometimes little details that clarify parts of the story are missing. For instance, in Clever Hassan, the hero suddenly possesses a magic ring that helps him in his troubles. The story doesn't mention where the ring came from or why Hassan didn't use it before. Most of the tales have morals that teach the listener or reader right from wrong. Some of the common morals are "patience is the key for success," "satisfaction and contentment keep you out of trouble," "loyalty is always rewarded," and "stealing is usually discovered and punished." These lessons are meant to enhance and preserve the set of values that comprise Arab culture and make it unique. Fatme Sharafeddine Hassan, an aAssistant Editor of Al Jadid, is a Lebanese American writer, lives in Ohio