Translating the Untranslatable- Molly Mansfield

Upon first glancing at miriam cooke’s Tribal Modern, I immediately noticed the cover image and began to guess why cooke may have chosen it. The photograph shows traditionally dressed men riding camels on a paved road, framed by towering skyscrapers in the background. This image, as well as the book’s title printed across its center both allude to a paradoxical state of being- the old and the new mingling in unfamiliar ways. Indeed, this irony is at the center of cooke’s book and argument. She seeks to dissect and understand the intersection and space between the traditional, or “tribal,” heritage of the Arab Gulf and the region’s recent shift to the hypermodern, beginning the book with two of her own radically different experiences in Dubai in 1973 and 2008. cooke analyzes the juxtaposition of the tribal and modern and challenges the perspective that these two forms of existence must be at odds with one another and discusses the ways that the idea of the tribe continues to manifest in society as well as the ways that its presentation continuously changes. While her subject matter is academic and in nature and is at risk of becoming tedious for the reader, cooke presents her argument in an accessible manner. Each chapter builds upon the previous one and cooke ties these chapters and ideas together using the analogy of barzakh, an untranslatable term whose meaning she applies to the adjacent “tribal” and “modern” throughout the book. Finally, cooke strengthens her argument and ties together the academic with the tangible world by using examples of poetry, literature, and art to reveal the ways that those who live and experience the tribal modern understand its implications. These mechanisms serve to make Tribal Modern clear and approachable for many readers.

cooke’s central claim revolves around the intertwined nature of tribal roots in the Arab Gulf and the appearance of a hypermodern present. She argues that these two, at least in this region specifically, are necessary for the existence of each other, writing that “the tribal as it appears in the Arab Gulf today is integral to the modern; it constitutes a crucial element in the Gulf’s modernity” (9). For example, in the book’s later chapters cooke discusses the necessity of “branding” countries in the Gulf using distorted historical and tribal elements to cater to a modern touristic audience and create clear distinctions among different countries, a process which shifts understanding of these traditions (i.e. camel racing). Thus, in the Gulf, she argues, the tribal and the modern continuously shape and influence each other, both connected and disconnected. She frames this argument with an analogy, using the Qur’anic term “barzakh.” According to cooke, barzakh is untranslatable into English and “denot[es] undiluted convergence” and “depicts simultaneous mixing and separation in two dimensions: metaphysical and physical” (10). She explains that barzakh is mentioned three times in the Qur’an: once to denote the time between death and rising, and twice referring to the space between a sweet sea and a salty sea, the place by which the seas are both mixed and separated (71). In cooke’s perspective, this word mirrors the situation of the tribal and modern. I appreciated her use of this term, in particular because of its untranslatability. Although I could not fully grasp its meaning, by learning this word I had gained a term for a concept I had before been unable to sum up into a single word. Tribal Modern seems to be at least in part directed towards Westerners like myself who speak English and are somewhat unfamiliar with the historical context of the Arab Gulf. The use of an untranslatable word reflects the idea that many outside observers may not initially understand that the tribal and the modern are not at odds with one another and instead work and flow together cooperatively. Rather, this new word excellently explains the phenomenon at work and expresses the novelty of this idea to the outside observer. Thus, the use of this analogy throughout the book links each of cooke’s examples to one another and creates easily understood continuity.

In addition, cooke strengthens her argument and engages the reader by citing relevant art, poetry, and literature, rather than using purely scholarly sources. She acknowledges this in her conclusion and says that she has chosen these sources because “creative writers and artists are always ahead of trends, able to see beyond the confusion reigning during times of change” (164). Beyond this, I found these poems other pieces valuable to see the perspectives of those who lived in the Arab Gulf during such times of change, and to see how those various perspectives were similar and different from one another. cooke’s descriptions of the responses to a class survey about tribe affiliation and her description of the Million’s Poet contest were particularly valuable in showing the evolving viewpoints of those living within the barzakh of the tribal modern. These examples help the reader to conceptualize the ways that this confusing juxtaposition affects modern lives and understanding of the past.

As I have not studied in depth the topics addressed in Tribal Modern, nor have I traveled to the Arab Gulf myself, I am not able to fully critique cooke’s argument or information presented. However, I found the book to be interesting and informative. I would recommend Tribal Modern to any reader looking to learn more about the Arab Gulf region or any of the broad historical processes addressed in the book, as cooke’s analysis is accessible and useful for many readers. Her analogies and use of primary source perspectives serve to explain the confusing proximity of the tribal and modern.