Dr. Saad Albazei (top left) and Dr. Amer Al Samadi (top right) during the discussion.
Doha: As part of its commitment to fostering intellectual dialogue and celebrating Arab creative excellence, the Arab Book Award, based in Doha, hosted a virtual discussion featuring Saudi literary critic and intellectual Dr. Saad Albazei, an honouree of the award’s inaugural edition.
Moderated by Jordanian media figure Dr. Amer Al Samadi, the session served as a dynamic forum where Dr. Albazei shared his insights on contemporary Arab cultural landscape, reflecting on his decades-long career in literary criticism and research.
He offered thoughtful commentary and practical advice to emerging scholars in the region.
Dr. Albazei praised the Arab Book Award for its role in supporting Arab intellectuals and creatives, noting that such initiatives drive growth of the cultural and literary sectors.
He stated that awards are a vital cultural force, as they shape literary taste by recognizing excellence and motivating researchers toward originality and distinction.
Throughout the discussion, he addressed the challenges facing scholars in today’s fast-evolving world, emphasizing the need for intellectual depth and authenticity in the face of growing superficiality.
He stressed the responsibility of Arab literary scholars and intellectuals to help shape societal awareness and preserve cultural identity.
Reflecting on his own academic and literary journey, Dr. Albazei spoke about his early influences, key critical projects, and ongoing work in comparative literature, cultural criticism, and translation.
He expressed optimism about the growing attention given to translation in the Arab world, citing regional initiatives such as Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding, the UAE’s Kalima Project, and Saudi Arabia’s Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission.
In his reading of the current Arab cultural landscape and its ongoing transformations, Dr. Saad Albazei offered a profound analysis of the challenges facing the creative scene - particularly in light of rapid social and epistemological changes, the impact of globalization, and the digital technology revolution.
He emphasized the need to develop new critical tools to understand and engage with these shifts thoughtfully and constructively, while reaffirming the intellectual’s role in shaping collective awareness, nothing that they must be the voice and conscience of their nation.
He added that fulfilling this role requires intellectuals to be deeply rooted in their nation’s history and heritage, while remaining informed by the tools of modernity.
They must be critically aware of their cultural context, especially when confronting the multifaceted forces of hegemony - be it intellectual, linguistic, or economic.
Addressing broader questions of civilisational tension, Dr. Albazei noted that all civilizations are surrounded by crises.
He stressed the importance of understanding Western civilization from within, while preserving Arab identity and asserting the Arab world’s rightful place globally.
He said that Arabs must make their identity and culture visible to the world.
The Arab Book Award, based in Doha, is an annual prize granted to works written in Arabic across the fields of social sciences and the humanities.
With a total value of one million US dollars, the award aims to enrich the Arab library by encouraging individuals and institutions to produce outstanding scholarly work, recognise and promote serious academic studies.
