The Clash of Images

by Abdelfattah Kilito, Robyn Creswell (Translator)

"Reading Kilito has always been, for me, an adventure. Kilito dares the reader to travel with him, riding over the frontiers between fiction and reality, between literary criticism and storytelling. He is a writer with his own personal library; a reader who invents an imaginary present out of fragments drawn from the past. The Clash of Images is a marvelous book, a mysterious alchemy of tale and teller. This student of Roland Barthes proves the French master's point: every critic could be a novelist in disguise." Elias Khoury, author of Gate of the Sun



Abdelfattah Kilito's The Clash of Images is an enchanting collection of linked stories set in a coastal city of memories. It is a time when the old Arabic world of texts and oral traditions is making way for something new - the modern era of the image, the comic book, photo IDs, and the cinema. Together, the stories form a kaleidoscopic memoir of growing up in two worlds, a brilliant mixture of cultural and family history. Here are tales of first kisses and first reads, Tintin and the Prophet Muhammad, fantasies of the Wild West, the inferno of the bathhouse, and the lost paradises of childhood. The Clash of Images is a magic lantern of a book, a celebration of storytelling and all its pleasures that is beautifully translated by Robyn Creswell, who won a PEN Translation Fund Award for this collection.

Genres: Short Stories, Morocco, Fiction, Novels

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

See also عبد الفتاح كيليطو

Abdelfattah Kilito is a well known Moroccan writer. He was born in Rabat in 1945. He is the author of several books in Arabic and in French. He has also written articles for magazines like Poétique and Studia Islamica. Some of the awards Kilito has won are the Great Moroccan Award (1989), the Atlas Award (1996), the French Academy Award (le prix du Rayonnement de la langue française) (1996) and Sultan Al Owais Prize for Criticism and Literature Studies (2006).

Reviews

[Robert Wechsler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to read this book to honor the great run of Morocco’s soccer team in the World Cup last week. It’s a wonderful story collection, and the stories are, for the most part, neither traditional nor similar to one another. In line with so many contemporary collections (although before the craze), there is a young protagonist who appears in most of the tales.

The principal theme interested me: the iconoclastic one of Muslim culture having to live without images, and the way Muslims deal with images that impinge on their lives, such as photographs and films. These (which are mostly stories of ideas) and the fablistic stories were my favorites. An excellent small collection.

[Monica Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each visitor brings his own memory, each relates that biographical detail he himself witnessed, or knows by hearsay. So, little by little, a novel is built out of many voices, a hagiography composed of anecdotes, witticisms, character traits, a long list of virtues, good deeds, and unsuspected talents that no one would think of disputing. Piously arranged, the novel keeps evolving as long as it continues to be transmitted.

Morocco's Abdelfattah Kilito is a man who takes the memories of himself, memories of time and memories of place braids them together, ties them up with a narrative and gives them to us in The Clash of Images. These images that Kilito renders are set among the varied and magical worlds he creates in these thirteen linked stories told through the eyes of Abdallah, a man who remembers the simplicity and confusion of what it means to be a boy. Mostly drawn from his childhood when the tradition of storytelling was changing from the oral tradition to the visual tradition, particularly with the advent of cinema, these are striking stories told in an nostalgic, direct style that pays homage to the promise of the image in all its reincarnations. Kilito recalls the beautiful loyalty to an instructor of the msid by his students in "Revolt in the Msid," the experience of the movies in his local theater with a projectionist he did his own edits while the film was showing in" Cinedays," and the experience of the mystical journey into the public baths in "A Season in the Hamman." The opening story is "The Wife of R." which is well-chosen--a fable that recounts a wife who peeks out her window to look at the neighborhood only to invent stories that she tells her husband every night as she lays at his feet.

These are the snippets of the life of Abdallah, some imagined, some real. But the line between fiction and fact moves and blurs, creating a world that enchants with all the images Kilito's memory had to offer. No more than 110 pages, it's not a book that delves into the depths of what a life was like, but polishes the moments when a realization was reached and distills them for the reader in a poignant and accomplished manner. The translator, Robyn Creswell, won the PEN Translation Fund Award for this collection and deservedly so. He loses none of the ephemeral quality of these memories, grounding each story in the essence of Kilito's style. And like the voices of the street Abdallah remembers long ago, Kilito is a new literary muezzin that demands to be heard:

These voices are no more, replaced today by those of itinerant trinket salesmen and sidewalk peddlers. But one voice, that of the muezzin, always makes itself heard, braving time and the vicissitudes of history--gentle at dawn, aggressive at midday, lazy in the afternoon, serene at sunset, appeased in the evening.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories in this collection are about endings/change, both individual and societial: children becoming adults, cultures shifting. The Author’s Note, which makes me want to read some of Kilito’s critical writing, talks about another central point in these stories: the image, the increasing incursions of the image into Arab culture, image as opposed to text, how an image-driven or image-inundated society is different from one that isn’t. As Kilito puts it: “A culture that proscribes the image, or that pays no attention to it—doesn’t that culture invest itself elsewhere, in words, in texts, in a certain kind of literature?” (3).

When Kilito writes about the image in these stories, he sometimes talks about image-making as a kind of hubris, the image-maker himself as a false god, creating the world at will; one story, “Cinédays,” talks about the the projectionist at the movie theater as a demiurge, bringing the whole world of the movie into being on the screen, or plunging it into nonbeing at his will. Unseen in his little room at the back of the theater, the projectionist holds the time and attention of the moviegoers in his hand. This idea of the “invisible being” appears elsewhere in the book, too, like in “A Season in the Hammam,” where the invisible one, now, is the one who provides (or doesn’t provide) the hot water for the bathers, again, giving or taking away at whim.

But these stories aren’t only about image and text and how they shape our experience of the world; these stories are also full of details of growing up in a particular place and time, details of school life and family life. There’s the instructor at the msid who beats the students on the soles of their feet and the student who stands up to him; there’s a summer camp where the children sing throughout the day, except for those who hate the camp and mouth the words whenever they can get away with it; there are comic books and movies and kisses; there are rats in the streets and the donkey who delivers firewood to the hammam to heat the water for the baths.

[Moayad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abdelfattah captures the Arab culture and their view of the imagery media in a series of short stories. It's more a clash of cultures, religion, and traditions than that of images. The stories follow different protagonists and how they adapted to the cultural misinterpreted enforcement of religion and how they found ways to cope or just deal with them. Some of the stories were pretty bland and I found myself racing through the pages as I wanted to move on to the next one, while others provoked thought/emotions.

One major flaw that I didn't appreciated in the writer's writing is the references that are scattered throughout the book that assume that the reader would have the background knowledge to understand and link them to whatever point he's making.


It's a nice book, I would recommend it to avid readers but I don't think that it's for everybody.

[Torea Frey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, lovely little book. "Pleiades" might be the best thing I've read so far this year.
It did, of course, induce a feeling of great stupidity in me, in that there are so many references to Arab culture and literature that I did not immediately understand. Thank God for Wikipedia and the Internet and all that.

[Jon Anzalone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the stories are a little more obtuse to me, but the best ones (A Glass of Milk) reach the same heights as some of Pamuk's best stories, in concept and in [clearer] prose.

[Michelle Hoogterp · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an ok book. I just wasn't grabbed and moved by it. I could've finished it given how short it is, but I preferred to move on to something more suited to my tastes and moods.

[Mostafa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What did Haroun al-Rashid look like? Al-Mutanabbi? Averroes? We’ll never know. Of course there was, during certain periods, a knowledge of painting, but it didn’t occur to anyone to have their portrait made. Our ancestors were faceless.

هذه البداية التي تأسرني من كيليطو. لا أدري لماذا لم أطرب لكتابه الغائب في دراسة المقامة الكوفية، وشرفة ابن رشد. لكن هكذا مقدمة وعد بمآل لطيف لهذا الكتاب." هكذا كان تعليقي على الفقرة الافتتاحية لكتاب كيليطو. بعد انبهاري الشديد بكل ما يكتب -ولا أقصد أن هذا من الماضي، بل هو مضارع مستمر-، مررت بأزمة وغياب -مؤسف- للانبهار. في غياب الدهشة، والأدب الوجودي. تساءلت في تلك الفترة: أي كتاب سينجو بي من هذه الوعكة؟

ظننت حينها أن الجواب يكمن عند كيليطو. فقرأت "من شرفة ابن رشد" ثم قرأت دراسته عن مقامة من مقامات الحريري. وهنا كانت صدمتي قرائية، أو لعلها استفحلت لمرحلة الأزمة القرائية؛ إذ لم تُعجبني تلك الكتب. كانت حالة من الضلال والضياع القرائي. كيف لا أطرب لكاتب لطالما انتشيت من قلمه؟ غُربةٌ قرائية. نوع آخر من غُربة أخرى تُضاف لرصيدي الزاخر بهن (أيش جمع غُربة؟).


انطلقت لكتب أخرى قرأتها وآخرها كان كلكامش واختزال لغز الزمن، ووجدت فيه الانبهار المنشود، بعد أن كلّت قدماي -أو عيناي- بحثا عنه في قراءات مختلفة ومتعددة. عموما، أوصلتني السُبُل القرائية إلى هذا الكتاب، ومنذ الفقرة الأولى، شعرت ببريق في عينيّ، وطُمأنينةٍ إيمانية: لعلني لم أضل الطريق بعد.

وبالفعل. كانت قراءة جميلة، طرِبة. ملامح من طفولته وذاكرته ومخيّلته عن موطنه الأصلي. كل استذكار للوطن في الغربة عُرضة لأن يكون خيالا ابتكره الحنين. في رواية شهد الراوي، "فوق جسر الجمهورية"، كان سامو، إحدى الشخصيات العراقية المغتربة، يحن لبغداد، ويتأمّل العودة، ولا يفتأ يذكر من أيامه في بغداد ذكرياتٍ وذكريات. لكنه يتساءل: "هل كان عندنا بيت في بغداد؟" موطن المرء وهو مغترب فكرة غير محددة الملامح، متى ما حاول إخضاعها إلى صرامة التفاصيل، تبددت.

أيش أكثر ما يُعجبني في كيليطو؟ مقدرته على اختراع العلاقات والارتباطات بين أمور لا شأن لها ببعضها. ما الذي قد يربط قصة حول طالب صغير في الكتّاب يعترض على عنف الشيخ المعلّم بقصة بدء الخليقة وتمرّد إبليس؟ أو تباحث أهل كيليطو -الأب والجد والجدة- في سؤال: هل نلحِقه بمدرسة فرنسية، والميثولوجيا الإغريقية والأوليمبس؟ لعله لا شيء فعلا. لكنك عندما تقرأ كيليطو وهو يربط القصص، لا تشعر بأي ارتباك. أليست العبقرية "رؤية المعقَّد في البسيط"؟

في خلفية القصص .. في الواقع، لا أدري إن كانت هي حقًّا "خلفية" .. لعلها أقرب لأن تكون القصة الإطارية لمجموع هذه القصص، هناك سؤال: ضياع الأدب العربي في الزمن الحديث، بل الهُوية العربية الكلاسيكية. يتساءل منذ البداية، ماذا خسرت الهوية العربية عندما تركت الصُورة وركزت على الكتابة؟ من هنا ينشأ عنوان الكتاب: اشتباك الصُور. في عصر العولمة، ظهر أن لكل شيء صورة، وشكل، إلا أن "أسلافنا بلا وجوه." والوجه الهُوية -تخوّف الشيخ المعلّم من صورة الهوية، وإصداره هويةً بصورة مكرها لأداء الحج-. هل ضاعت هويتنا لأن لا شكل لها؟

في مشهد موت الجد، أخذ يصف الأهل وهم يتناقلون سيرة الجد وقصصه ومحاسنه. استذكارهم وتخليدهم للجد كان على "صورة" سرد ورواية. يصف كيليطو:

Piously arranged, the novel keeps evolving as long as it continues to be transmitted. But eventually one notes with consternation that the novel is getting thinner, falling apart, flaking away. In place of that wealth of incidents, that luxuriance of scenes and tableaux, only a few stereotypical episodes are left, languishing and wasting away.

تتبدد القصة شيئا فشيئا، سطرا فسطرا. حتى لا يبقى منها شيء. حتى تُمحى من شاهد القبر الاسم. أليس هذا مصير الأدب العربي الكلاسيكي عندما حدث clash of literatures؟ لمّا لم يكن له صورة، مُحي، وبقي في الخفوت، حتى بدى لكيليطو أنه القارئ الوحيد لذلك الأدب.

[Ian, etc. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant, thoughtful, careful. Full to the brim of old wisdom presented in a simple guise, just how wisdom is, simple. “The Clash of Images” a bit of a misnomer: these stories are wonderfully complimentary, braided together as much by actual language as by theme. Profound parables of disenchantment: the world become unmagical, unbeautiful. Taking of heaven all its mystery, stripping the prophet, storming the gates of the deity. The killing inquiry of the written word, inquisition of the heathen poet turned a double sin in the photographer. Strange and alarming to find we have not yet reconciled with the fact of text, much less film, and here we are nevertheless propelled into the infinite vacuum of AI. Nightmare. There is so much more to consider.

Loved this collection. Love New Directions Publishing. Deeply admire their perseverance and success in SEO development despite the ever-present threat of being overshadowed by Glee.

Highlights: “Revolt in the Msid,” “Cinédays,” “A Season in the Hammam.”

[Joseph Devine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous collection of semi-autobiographical short stories by the wonderful Moroccan literary critic Kilito. These are a good example of theoretical fiction, as he seamlessly weaves references to Arabic literary history throughout the many stories, which also nod to pop culture, religion, politics, and everything in between. He can turn the most mundane everyday details of a childhood growing up between cultures (He was 11 at the time of Moroccan independence) into movingly profound and beautiful moments that stay with you long after you've put the book down.

[Sana Nasib · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

my main reason for reading this was for the chapter on experiencing the cinema.

[Maged]

خصومة الصور أنضج حاجة كتبها سى عبفتاح

[Grant Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really troubled my own relationship with images.

[ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts off we'll but overall ponderous and lacking in insight.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 // A Great Read Short Story Fiction Artistic Spirituality Poetry

🧞‍♂️Like the breakneck blur of the djinn's flight, so is the fate of fiction vs. nonfiction in Abdelfattah Kilito's collection of short stories, The Clash of Images. 📸 Touching on topics such as spiritual warfare, ghosts, afterlife, vanity, pride, Hades, The Prophet, and Don Quixote among others, The Clash of Images is "a mysterious alchemy of tale and teller."

The story follows the arc of a young man's passage from boyhood to manhood 💪 through emerging vices such as comic books, photography, and movies, during a time in which the old Arabic world of texts and oral traditions were themselves beginning to blur into the realms of the unknown.💫

💭 The Clash of Images, despite the unfortunate lack of imagery, is an insightful, historic, fun, entertaining, and maybe even poetic look into the rich traditions of Arabic cultures of yesterday and today. 🚀 (e1)