Zaid Mutee’ Dammaj: Novelist with an Affection for Yemen [Archives:2007/1084/Culture]
September 10 2007
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Zaid Mutee' Dammaj (1943-2000), one of the most well-known Yemeni novelists, was born in the Yemeni district of Al-Naqilain, Ibb province. He received his preliminary education in his village's school and then entered Al-Ahmadia School where he earned his elementary certificate in 1975. He continued his secondary and university studies in Egypt where he joined the College of Law at the University of Cairo. Due to his literary interests, he discontinued his study at the College of Law and joined the journalism department in the College of Arts. He eventually had to discontinue his academic study because of his father's critical health condition and return to Yemen.
Dammaj grew up in a revolutionary and national ambiance. His father was a revolutionist and an opposer to the Imamate in Yemen and established the Liberal Political Party in Yemen. Dammaj started to contribute his political and social essays and first short stories to the New Yemen magazine and other local periodicals. His fictional works express national, political, and social events full of local characters and issues related to Yemeni society. Dammaj's literary works garnered major local attention due to his affection for Yemen and its original arts.
He started his political career and was elected as a member of the first Yemeni parliament in 1970. In 1976, he was appointed as the governor of Al-Mahweet province and in 1980 was appointed as the minister plenipotentiary and charge d'affaires in Kuwait. In 1982, he was elected as a member of the permanent committee for the General People's Congress (GPC) and was the reporter of the GPC's political committee. In 1997, he was appointed as the minister plenipotentiary in the United Kingdom, which was his last governmental appointment.
Dammaj's fictional works started to appear as published short stories in newspapers and periodicals. His romantic literary works are diverse and include short stories, narratives and novels. His first published collection of short stories was entitled Tahish Al-Hawban (Al-Hawban's Beast, 1973) and included stories from the ambiance of ancient Arabian knighthood. Subsequent collections of short stories included Al-Jisr (The Bridge, 1986), Ahzan Al-Bint Mayyasah (Grieves of The Girl Mayyasah, 1990), Al-Midfa'a Al-Asfar (The Yellow Cannon, 2001) and Al-Inbihar Wa Al-Dahshah (Gasp and Astonishment, 2000, a narrative book). Additionally, he published two novels, the first one entitled Ar-Rahina (The Hostage, 1984; published in English 1994 by Interlink Books, New York, USA) and the second novel entitled Al-Madrasah Al-Ahmadiah (Al-Ahmadiah School, still in press).
Dammaj's novel, The Hostage, is considered as one of the most famous novels in the Yemeni literary field and one of the 100 most important Arabic novels throughout the twentieth century. The novel discusses various social, political and humane issues during the Imamate prior to proclamation of republican rule in Yemen. The Hostage depicts the experience of a young boy who, having been taken hostage, in line with the Imam's general practice, as a pledge for his father's political obedience, is sent to serve as a young male attendant in the palace of the city governor. The young boy becomes an attendant (duwaydar) for the palace women and with time he is experiencing a love affair with one of the Imam's beautiful female relatives, before finally winning his freedom. The growth of the boy's political, social and personal awareness is movingly portrayed against a background of bygone times whose decadence and injustice are presented with vivid satiric force. Critics commented that The Hostage, with its diverse characters and fates embodies the Yemeni people's eagerness to demolish the Imams' prisons and build a better world.
The novel was translated into many foreign languages including French, German, Indian, Russian and Serbian. Translations into other languages such as Spanish and Japanese are underway. In 1998, the novel was selected for the UNESCO project, \”A Book in a Newspaper
