The search engine "Google" celebrated the impact of the Saudi writer and novelist Abdul Rahman Munif, who is considered one of the most prominent Arab novelists in the 20th century, coinciding with the anniversary of his birth 90 years ago.
Google commented that the "Innovative Logo" today celebrates novelist, journalist and cultural critic Abdul Rahman Munif, who was born on this day in 1933 in Amman, Jordan.
As an expression of Google's appreciation for the late career, the platform wrote a short message that read, "Happy birthday Abdul Rahman Munif... Thank you for your contributions to Arabic literature and your analysis of social and political issues."
Munif was known for his prolific literary output, and critics described him as having produced courageous literature and wrote about taboos in politics and against oppression and the usurpation of freedoms and human dignity.
Google celebrates Saudi novelist and thinker Abdulrahman Munif pic.twitter.com/P48rwRHwNa
— Amal AlharithiAmal Alharthy (@amal_alharithi) May 29, 2023
Revolutionizing the novel
Munif worked on "revolutionizing the novel", as Ibrahim Darwish says, and searching for "novelist revolutionaries capable of confronting Arab resignation and powerlessness", and devoted his life and pen to directed story writing, because of his conviction in the role of literature and its function in revealing the flaws of the Arab reality, and was preoccupied with the topics of repression and oil.
The social crisis is highlighted in his novels through his focus on social phenomena and specific patterns of interrelationships between different social groups, and their severity is reflected in oppression, tyranny, the status of women, and the widening gap between rich and poor.
The owner of the idea must endure a lot in order to communicate his idea, and we have an example in the prophets.
#عبدالرحمن_منيف #حدث_في_مثل_هذا_اليوم #صالون_ضاد_الثقافي pic.twitter.com/ei4pkT7NQZ
— Dhad Cultural Salon (@SalonAdb) May 29, 2023
His novel Cities of Salt made him an opponent of Saudi Arabia, and his novel Eastern Mediterranean caused a stir in the Arab world as the first Arab novel to boldly describe torture by Arab totalitarian regimes.
He has published many literary works, the most famous of which are: "Cities of Salt", "Eastern Mediterranean", "Trees", "The Assassination of Marzouk", "When We Left the Bridge", and "A World Without Maps" in partnership with Jabra Ibrahim Jabra.
((Prison is not only the four walls, not only the executioner or torture, it is, in the first place: the fear and terror of man, even before he enters prison, and this is exactly what the executioner wants, and what makes man a permanent prisoner))
Abdulrahman Munif-Now... Here or Eastern Mediterranean again pic.twitter.com/B9x2LjWjZ1
— Sri Sammour (@SariSammour) May 29, 2023
He has also published books including: "The Pain of Absence" and "Democracy First... Democracy Always", "The Writer, Exile and the Prospects of the Arabic Novel", and "Iraq... Margins of History and Resistance."
People have lost the ability even to cry They cry with tears falling inside
They cry all the time
even while sleeping #AbdulRahmanMunif #ذكرى_الميلاد pic.twitter.com/et0AjXZwaF
— Rouquia Alami (@rouquia) May 29, 2023
The Google celebration was an opportunity for social media users to re-shed light on the late writer's career, publishing excerpts from his books.
"He sinks into a state of sadness, with which he feels that his life has been dissipated, and that the whole life has been spent running foolishly, even if he arrives, or delusions of arriving, discovers that he was running in the wrong direction, or towards a goal he does not want."
__Abdulrahman Munif
— MiMi 💎 (@by__noni) May 28, 2023