Sudanese Scenes (1/8) Camera and City – Aljazeera

Camera and City – Sudan (Aljazeera Documentary)

This charming, three-part documentary follows Egyptian narrator, Haamid, as he travels to some of Sudan’s most emblematic sites with a Sudanese friend and poet, striking up conversations with those he meets along the way. While there are few lexical challenges, the documentary offers numerous examples of unscripted informal intermediate level conversation in picturesque settings and the opportunity to hear and contrast Egyptian and Sudanese dialects in real life situations. It is also varied in language situations, including historical, artistic and culinary commentary, poetry and song.

Below, screenshots from this excerpt.

This first episode opens on the Nile, with Haamid filming aboard the rusting hulk of Kitchener’s gunboat, Melik, as he muses on recent Sudanese history and the national struggle for independence. He strikes up conversation with a young Sudanese photographer, a tuktuk driver trying to make ends meet and Mahjoub, an artist exhibiting his work on the streets of Khartoum. Mahjoub explains aspects of the regional Sudanese costume he features in his work.

Watch the first part of this three-part documentary here:

Title collage; Nile Scenes including Kitchener’s gunboat, Melik, on the Blue Nile, Khartoum.

Some Questions While Viewing

1 What characteristics of the Sudanese character does Haamid emphasize in the opening scene?

2 The poem recited in the opening scene is the most lexically challenging text in this excerpt. What percentage did you understand?

3 What difference between Egyptian and Sudanese greeting customs surprises Haamid?

4 What motivates Muhammed to take the photos he does?

5 Is Muhammad a professional or amateur photographer?

6 What comment to his tuktuk driver does Haamid make about perceptions of laziness?

7 What does Mahjoub, the artist, aim to do through his paintings?

Below, Khartoum Scenes.

See more Khartoum Scenes in https://womensliteracysudan.blog/2018/11/01/khartoum-scenes-2/, https://womensliteracysudan.blog/2019/11/27/khartoum-collage/ and https://womensliteracysudan.blog/2019/11/01/sudanese-moments/

For more on the the River Nile, see https://womensliteracysudan.blog/2019/03/03/the-river-of-life/

Transcript of this Episode

Translations and explanatory notes for this episode are provided at the end of this blogpost. How much of the unscripted dialogues did you understand without needing to check the transcript?

Griselda El Tayib’s book, above, gives detailed and beautifully illustrated accounts of Sudanese regional and ceremonial costume. See more examples of her work in https://womensliteracysudan.blog/2020/02/01/a-necklace-of-shells-from-distant-seas-2/ on Sudanese jewelry and https://womensliteracysudan.blog/2019/05/22/anointing-in-red-and-gold/ on Sudanese wedding customs.

Fashion wear in Khartoum street awnings, Khartoum, 2017

Transcript and Notes

• 1 (resilience, here, resistance to (colonial rule)
• 2 mandate
• 3 aggression
• 4 fleets (sing; asTuul)
• 5 will not kneel (with Egyptian negative suffix)
• 6 source
• 7 literally; I asked Khartoum of its bygone days (that have flown)
• 8 and of the hope that (helped) to build the wasteland
• 9 …and how you threw firewood ( AHTaab)and fire upon the oppressors (baaghiin) and (next line) how glory was built from this mud
• 10 the poet likens Khartoum to a beautiful young girl who has refused countless (literally, repeated; miraaran) offers of marriage (KhuTaab/ suitors to her father)
• 11 she didn’t accept any of them …to become the bride of the Nile, clothed (kiswah; garments, especially when new, pl kasaawi) in all its lush greenery (ikhiDaraar)
• 12 and the Nile said oh Khartoum I see in where the Niles meet (mugran) victory (intiSaar)
• 13 I reply by swearing that I will become matchless (one of a kind, fadhaa’) and will not be separated from you unless by force / compelled (iDTiraaraan)
• 14 has surprised me
• 15 can I detain you a moment?
• 16 I think / get the idea that you …..
• 17 I’m an amateur / it’s a hobby

A Nubian Taar, illustration from Traditional Musical Instruments in Sudan, University of Khartoum, 1985.

From Regional Folk Costumes of the Sudan by Griselda El Tayib, p84

• 18 literally, oh Father of golden brown – Haamid is referring to the Sudanese skin color in affectionate praise
• 19 literally, you are people of white hearts; good, sincere, honourble people
• 20 what motivates you / drives to
• 21…attracts your attention
• 22 fun
• 23 I don’t have a very expressive face
• 24 polite response to kindness or a favour done
• 25 Haamid is asking whether the tuktuk driver owns his own vehicle or only drives it
• 26 expenses / costs and in next line, costs and necessities
• 27 a bit lazy
• 28 not lazy, (people are) unjust to you. The participle adjective, maZluum, is frequently used to mean “we are oppressed/ unfairly treated” by Sudanese, talking about hard lives and cruel circumstances.

• 29 I’ve missed you.
• 30 You have brought light to our country (popular greeting to visitor). Note noun waHshah, as in 29, literally, loneliness, leek waHshah, I miss you very much
• 31 in the open air
• 32 note Egyptian pronunciation of gaSd – here; I mean to say ….
• 33 signature

From Regional Folk Costume of the Sudan, by Griselda El Tayib, p86

• 34 a large tambourine without jingles (see picture above)
• 35 referring to camel herders
• 36 see illustration above
• 37 hairdo / hairstyle
• 38 twisted, curled
• 39 in the bloom of youth (set expression)
• 40 brush (strokes)
• 41 in abbreviated form (Mahjoub explains that the message of his art is reflect the diverse reality of Sudanese life in accessible, abbreviated form) in the open air, in one place.
• 42 get a taste of

Next week, Haamid visits The Khalifa’s House in Omdurman, pictured above.

Detail from a Hulaal from 1950s/60s, personal collection, from Percy Fowle, merchant seaman.