Author(s): Sedgwick, Mark
Source: H-Net Reviews in the Humanities & Social Sciences;
Jan2000, pN.PAG, 00p
Document Type: Book Review
Subject(s): SUDAN (Book)
LEVY, Patricia
SUDAN -- Book reviews
BOOKS -- Reviews
NON-fiction -- Book reviews
Abstract: Reviews the book `Sudan: Cultures of the World,' by
Patricia Levy.
Full Text Word Count: 1196
ISSN: 15380661
Accession Number: 4402408
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href="http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=4402408&db=aph">Sudan (Book
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SUDAN (BOOK REVIEW)
Cultures of the World. New York and London: Marshall Cavendish, 1997.
128 pp. Many color photos, maps, short bibliography, index, ages 9-12.
$35.64 (cloth), ISBN 0-7614-0284-5. Patricia Levy.
Published by H-AfrTeach (January, 2000)
This is a beautifully illustrated book, which sets out to examine
"Sudan's rich cultural heritage and its current problems" (p. 3). In
the
end, it is the problems that dominate, rather than the heritage--and
readers may be more confused than enlightened by the handling of many
of
these problems. For this reason, and also because of deficiencies in
the
handling of Islam, the book should be used with caution.
The British publisher Marshall Cavendish has some ninety titles in its
"Cultures of the World" series. To judge from this volume, the focus is
more on nations than on cultures. The book surveys all aspects of
Sudan,
moving through geography and history to government, economy,
'Sudanese,'
lifestyle, religion, and language. There are additional chapters on
arts, leisure, festivals, and food. This approach might work well for
some countries, but is not the best one for Sudan, which is more of a
state than a nation. The book attempts to cover all the Sudanese
regions, for example by dividing the chapter on 'Sudanese' into
northerners, westerners, easterners and southerners. This attempt is
mostly successful, though it is not the case (for example) that "most
Sudanese speak at least two or three languages" (p. 85): southerners
yes, northerners no. Even so, it will be hard for the intended
readership to grasp clearly the various, very distinct regional
identities which make up Sudan: the different geographies, histories,
economies, lifestyles, religions and languages.
What may well be the standard format for the "Cultures of the World"
sometimes has unfortunate consequences in the case of the Sudan. The
chapter on government, for example, is divided into 'the structure of
government,' 'the presidency,' 'the legislature,' etc., with a box on
'the constitution' (pp. 33-35). Discussions under all of these headings
require major qualifications, and the box on 'the constitution' begins:
"The constitution is currently suspended." True, but somewhat bizarre
in
its likely impact on the reader. Likewise, the chapter on the economy
starts: "The economy of Sudan could not be any worse" (p. 41). Again,
this is not untrue - and again, faintly comic. The cumulative effect of
infelicities like this is definitely negative.
Most importantly, this format does not assist understanding of the
causes or nature of the civil war which has ravaged the Sudan for
decades, and which is at the heart of most of its current problems, and
so is mentioned or alluded to on almost every page. On page 51 it is
observed that "Sudan is an interesting place because it is the point
where two races meet." "Cultural groups" would have been more accurate
than "races," and there are rather more than two - but the real problem
is that even at this point (almost half way through the book) it is
hard
for the reader to see what distinguishes these cultural groups, and so
why they continue fighting each other. The civil war is ascribed
(rather
inadequately) to northern Arab merchants and the slave trade in the
introduction on page 3; after this, the only approach to a real
analysis
is a few lines on page 61. A fuller explanation might start from
religion and history, but religion, which is of primary importance in
Sudan, is relegated in this book to a place after 'lifestyle.'
We are more frequently assured that Sudan has a "rich cultural
heritage"
than shown what it is, at least after the destruction of Merowe in 350
CE. An important part of this heritage is related in one way or another
to Islam, an understanding of which is (as has been indicated) also
central to understanding the civil war. The parts of the book which
deal
with Islam are, unfortunately, the least successful. Islam is generally
discussed in a negative tone often verging on hostility, and the
statement that the Quran contains the words of the Prophet Muhammad (p.
77) is one that all Muslims would find deeply offensive. There is no
attempt to distinguish between religion and custom in Sudanese Islamic
culture, which is frequently (and inaccurately) referred to as either
'Arab' or 'Arabic' culture. There is also no attempt to distinguish
between different strands of Islam, or to explain the radical political
Islamism represented in the current Sudanese regime. In addition,
inaccuracies abound: the Kaaba in Mecca was not the first mosque (p.
77)
but a temple already ancient at the time of the Prophet's birth, and
the
Sunna is not the title of a book (p. 78) but the totality of the
exemplary practice of the Prophet, as recorded in very numerous
accounts
of his words and actions. A faki is not a variety of medicine man found
in a single Sudanese tribe (p. 82) but the title of the rural Sudanese
Muslim 'man of religion' throughout known Sudanese history. The zikr is
not the practice of a few "Whirling Dervishes" (p. 110), but of all
Sudanese Sufis, that is to say of most Sudanese Muslims. Whirling
Dervishes, incidentally, were once to be found in Turkey, and never in
the Sudan.
Such inaccuracies are not restricted to Islam, but are found elsewhere
in the book, especially when dealing with the north. The main means of
transit between Khartoum and Omdurman, for example, is not "simple
sailing boats" (p. 18) but a bridge. The strange statement that Arabic
is a tonal language (p. 87 - it is not) suggests, together with some
mistranslations, that the author's command of Sudan's official language
is at most rudimentary. Finally, if two Sudanese pounds would really
buy
one US dollar (as they are said to on p. 124), the Sudanese economy
would be in a very different state. At the end of 1999, one dollar
bought over 2,500 Sudanese pounds.
In addition, there are signs of poor editing. On page 56, we are told
that men of the Rashedia tribe have to "find 100 camels" to get
married;
it is not explained until two pages later, after many readers'
amusement
will have subsided, how and why cattle have monetary significance. A
side-strap announcing that "Sudan Railways employs around one fifth of
all wage earners in Sudan" accompanies a photo of a large number of men
in a pick-up truck (p. 47). The section on 'Law Enforcement' is adorned
with a photograph of a Shilluk King and his bodyguards (p. 37); we are
not told until p. 58 who the Shilluk are. Might not a photograph of a
policeman anyhow have been more appropriate?
Patricia Levy is of course right in saying that Sudan "is an
interesting
place," but a different structure and a more sympathetic approach (to
the northern part of the country, especially) would be required to make
it at least partly comprehensible.
Library of Congress call number: DT154.6.L48 1997
Subjects:
* Sudan--Juvenile literature
* Sudan
Citation: Mark Sedgwick. "Review of Patricia Levy, Sudan," H-AfrTeach,
H-Net Reviews, January, 2000. URL:
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=22513947588557.
~~~~~~~~
Reviewed by Mark Sedgwick, Department of English & Comparative
Literature, American University in Cairo.