Original Post may be found in Issue 04 (Winter 2012) of Kalimat Magazine Book Review of Raafat Majzoub's Book Fetish Systems It was the writer Italo Calvino that suggested a writing that—rather than pointing at or recreating an object or character—envelops, surrounds like a fine mist. This suggests their existence rather than attempts to simply recre- ate them, allowing the reader a measure of engagement and creation with the text. The writing in Fetish Systems, a new written work by multi-talented Lebanese author Raafat Majzoub, warrants this comparison. His bio alone which adorns this slim volume is merely suggestive: “he is trained as an architect, yet refuses the title – he is currently working on several construction projects, a few books, something that might be a painting, a table and would like this bio to end with an et cetera.” “To live in Beirut, is to know that one must accept circumstance. We have become numb—all of us—numb—in a state of trance, where ‘elastic’ wou
A blog by Stanford Lecturer Dr. Ramzi Salti spotlighting his Arabology radio show/podcast + cultural productions from the Arab world.