How to deal with history in making television drama

How to Deal With History in Making
Television Drama?
This lecture deals basically with the historical drama
which is shown on Television. It exposes the reasons
behind the writers' interest in it, the presumed value
of history in dramatic works, the mistakes that are
criticized in such works, in addition to the perplexing
problems that face the writer who is entangled
between understanding history, and working in
drama industry in a restraining reality. It concludes
by discussing the issues that maintain the success of
the historical drama both scientifically and
artistically.
The pivotal Parts of the Lecture:
Why history, not the present? What could the
historical drama present to its viewers? The mistakes
that the historical drama falls in? The Writer's
dilemma; a bewildering situation between

knowledge of history, working in drama, and the
working reality itself.
Curriculum Vitae Mohammad Ali Mohammad
Lecturer at Damascus University, Faculty of
Education.
- Teacher of Arabic language at the Netherlands
Institute of Academic Studies in Damascus.
- He supervised several educational and linguistic
projects for children at Al-Najm Company for Artistic
Works. He proofread and edited several books,
including (The Visual Construing of Al-Qur'an, 6
parts), and The Dictionary of Visual Conjugation of
the Arabic Verb)
How to Deal with History in Making
Television Drama?
Introduction: the past two decades witnessed an
increase in the number of the historical dramas; i.e.,
the drama which relies on history in its main plot,
whether acted on stage of, or presented as a regular

T.V. show. In our current discussion, we exclude the
theatrical drama, because it is symbolic in most
cases. It involves a lot of twiddling and changing in
the historical story and it may have nothing to do
with history, except for the names of the characters.
In addition to that, it is worth mentioning that both
the theatre and its audience are totally different
from the Television drama and its viewers, even
when they have things in common.
Why History, not the Present?
There are several reasons that make us
resort to history. The reasons are as
follows:
1- It is well-known that the intellectual,
whether a writer, a producer, a director or
an artist/performer, tends to evade the
authority of the domineering and the
bombastic censorship, that tries to find any

fragile excuse to impose its spider-like web
on the work, by searching for a work that
can't be censored by any means, neither in
production, nor in TV shows. Thus, writers
resort to historical stories as a means of
avoiding censorship.
2- One looks at the present reality and finds it ugly,
so he/she finds in history some interesting stories
and situations that could be illuminated, other than
the current topics of modern TV dramas which
revolve around corruption, theft, misappropriation,
and the trade in cement and rotten meat, and so on
and so forth of similar topics that became tedious to
viewers. Besides, each one of us believes that history
contains lots and lots of what could be beneficial.
Numerous problems and catastrophes struck those
who preceded us, but they were eventually
overcome by sincere efforts, by a just social system,
or by men who belongs to nations that had the
power to remove people's oppression, ignorance
and injustice. By exposing such efforts, systems and

men, the charmer (artist) thinks that he/she can
open a closed door for the efficient energies in
society – a door through which people can look into
history to find solutions for the problems of their
present-day reality.
3- The conviction of many that history, even when it
does not repeat itself, has similar rules and timeless
laws, regardless of the difference in time and place.
Hence, one learns from history that injustice leads to
collapse no matter how long it lasts; poverty is akin
to ignorance; affluence is one the reasons behind
hegemony; and tyranny is the fastest path to perish.
Furthermore, there are other universal laws that
cannot be changed or diverted, because their causes
are immortal and timeless. Such issues can be dealt
with anywhere in our Arab world, because
spectators can spontaneously project what they see
on the screen to their present-day reality.
4- The feeling of Arab intellectuals that there are
many crucial problems which cannot be solved at
present, unless they are historically solved by

shedding light on them, and by scrutinizing them.
The most important of these issues revolve around
matters of governorship, such as leading and
steering, despotizing and consulting, striving for
ranks on the part of the nation's leaderships, and
their oscillation between confrontation, hypocrisy
and truthfulness, and between the private interest
and the public one, or between their concern for the
Throne/Chair and that for the nation.
5- Some of these reasons are purely psychological.
They reflect the passion of those who live in a weak
and divided reality to recall their history which they
regard it to have been strong and united. They seem
to be telling the others: "Don't become so arrogant
for what you have achieved so far, as I myself was so
and so…" In addition to that, there are many other
reasons that make the return to history an existing
and adorable experience. I do not adapt an opinion
in that regard, but it is a mere description of what I
think to be the main reason behind our return to
history. Maybe, escaping to history is not an ideal

artistic method, but this is what is going on quite a
lot anyhow.
Probably, it is our aloofness from history in general
and the cultural history in particular which tends to
suggest that the stories of history have been
consumed and exhausted, since most of our
knowledge of history is merely bits and pieces, or
even bubbles. We hardly cease at the social and
cultural history which is actually the real rich history,
for what can be discerned from that kind of history is
more plentiful than what can be taken from the
political history. Nevertheless, political history
appears to be more glittering, due to the dominance
of politics over everything in our lives nowadays. For
that reason, political subjects tend to be more
engaging and attractive to us, especially if they are
transmitted in an artistic dramatic mold.
Moreover, history provides writers with resourceful
materials and enriching references for any story, in
case writers wanted to take into consideration all
aspects of life, Had writers appreciated history by

giving it its due worth in portraying it, they could
have enriched the lives of Arab viewers by a vast
scope of knowledge on sociology, history, education,
language, literature, economy, etc. It is notable that
writers do not give these issues their due respect
whatsoever, for several possible accounts which we
will come to mention later on.
The following points refer to some examples on
these respects which we underestimate in historical
works: One of the social issues that must be
illuminated is the cause of the woman, because the
woman is an integral element in any dramatic work.
Some important issues about the life of the woman
in pre-Islamic ages (ages of pre-enlightenment), and
after Islam have rarely been dealt with in dramatic
works, such as engagement, marriage, divorce,
lineage, and the protection of woman in an intensely
possessive way that is greater than one's zeal and
passion for one's precious soul. Hence, the consent
of the honorable woman to her marriage was an
essential pre-condition to complete the marriage; it
was as important as the approval of her parent/close

relative. For instance, books of literature report how
the poetess Al-Khansa'a refused to marry the poet
Duriad Ibn Al-Summa (1) .
(1) Al-Kasimi, Zafer, Social Life among Arabs, Page12, Dar Al
Nafaes, Beirut, 1981.
Literary books also narrate how people refused to
approve the marriage of the young man without the
consent and the request of his own father, lest his
marriage should become a stigma and a source of
dishonor for the family. As in the story of Kais Ben
Zuraih, the father refused to go with his son to
betroth Lubna, so the son resorted to Al-Husain
(May the blessing of Allah be upon him), who in his
turn came to Zuraih's father and took an oath from
him to betroth Lubna to his son (2) .
(2) Al-Kasimi, Zafer, Social Life among Arabs, Page 21, Dar Al
The zealous Pan-Arabic bigotry of the bride's kinsfolk
made them disapprove to marry their daughter to
anyone, except to the one who has a pure-blooded
lineage. Hence, the poet Ibn Mayada was rejected,

because his mother was a Non-Arab, so he was
ascribed to his mother's name (3) . It was well-known
for the Arabs that the qualifications that would
entitle the woman to marriage were: affluence, high
esteem, beauty and faith. They used to protect the
woman by their souls and they dreaded to praise her
in their poetry. They also abhorred divorce, and
rarely would a woman remain without a husband
among them. Arabs cited a lot of news/reports
about women, their stories, their tidbits of gossip;
they even wrote books in that regard (4) .
(3) Al-Kasimi, Zafer, Social Life among Arabs, Page 21, Dar Al
(4) Al-Jawzia Ibn Al-Qayyem, Women's Reports, Dar Al Mada,
Damascus, 2001.
The woman was not merely a princess, a servant or a
slave, as we usually see her in most dramatic works.
She was also a scientist, a storyteller, a poetess and
an educator, and she had her social and cultural life
which is divergent from the life of jealousy, envy,
intrigue, and lavishness that is typically associated
with the woman.

The social lives of the Arabs contained many types of
banquets for their celebrations and meetings.
Therefore, there is a multiplicity of names for the
food which is used in their forgathering. In his book
Jurisprudence of Language, Al Tha'alibi lists the
names of these types of food, in accordance with
their social occasion. Hence, he mentions that Arabs
used to call the food which is normally offered to the
guest "Al-Kira", whereas the food which is specially
prepared for invitations is called "Al Ma'aduba". In
weddings, food is called "Al Waleema". On the
occasion of childbirth, food is called "Al Khurs", and
on the occasion of shaving the hair of the newly born
baby, food is called "Al-Akika". In circumcision, food
is named "Al-Azira". In funerals, food is called "Al
Wadima. As for the occasion of building a house,
food is called "Al Wakeera― (5) . This is only part of
the occasions that Arabs used to celebrate and
gather for.
(5) Al-Thaalbi Abou Mansour, Jurisprudence of Language, "In Food
and Drinks and What comes with them".

Arabs had colored their lives with different types of
games and ways of having fun, such as beating
tambourines, playing with harpoons, herding and
singing for animals during their travels, singing
during their night gatherings. Some singers used to
search for the best poetry to sing, in order to get a
generous reward from princes. Arabs were also
tasteful of music, and their creative musicians
became famous, such as Ibn Suraij who invented the
lute instrument, which came to be called (Ibn Suraij's
lute). They were acquainted with other musical
instruments, such as tambourine, drum, Al
Kuba/Derbakka, Al Sannaj, and Al yaraa'. Never
would a convoy travel without a singer for easing
animals, a singer, a poet, a writer and a sponger; and
never was their society without humorous
characters, such as the clever, the sponger, the
stingy, the smart, and the fool. Books of literature
are full of their humor, let alone the humor of the
jurists, judges, grammarians, linguists, lewd people
and drunkards (6) .
(6) Zalzala Mohammad Sadek, Titbits and Funny Stories from
Arabic Literature. Dar Hilal, Beirut, 2001.

Arabs also practiced several types of games and
sports, such as horse-riding, duels, races, the ball
and the mace, in addition to the dice and the chess.
Moreover, they knew several colors of adornment
for men and women: gold, silver, silk, necklaces,
bracelets, anklets, eyeliner, and they were
accustomed to curling, straightening, and greasing
the hair, and even to lubricating the whole body.
They did not only ornament themselves, but they
also embellished their horses and their animals as
well. They also decorated their houses and their
meeting places with colorful types of flowers, basils,
lotus, Jasmine, Zuraib, lily, tulips, carnations, and
others. Also, they had receptions at literary salons
since the first century after 'Hijra' (i.e., after the
immigration of the prophet), as the renowned
female author and critic in the East, Sukaina bint Al
Husain (blessings of Allah be upon her), and Al
Wallada bint Al Mustakfi in Andalusia both narrate.
Concerning culture and education, the mosques
were almost like universities in which all kinds of

sciences (7) were taught. Libraries spread all over the
region to serve students and learners seeking
knowledge, and so did schools and reading corners.
Among the craftspeople were writes, paper makers,
copy writers, and all of these issues could be
highlighted to demonstrate the extent which people
reached in approaching sciences. Hospitals provided
medical, scientific, and free services; and the coming
of the prestigious foreign patients to the Arab
physicians, or their invitation to examine their
patients abroad, asserted their prominence. In this
regard, the hospital shines as a medical institution
and an educational one.
(7) Al Naeimi, Abdul Kader Al Dimashqi, The Scholar in the History
of Schools, Dar Al Kutub Al Ilmiah, Beirut, 1990.
Furthermore, Arabs agreed upon the qualifications
of leadership: generosity, honor, dignity, courage,
wisdom, cleverness, benignity, and patience (8) . The
judge used to have one's special solemn rank and
magisterial position, because the justice system was
unattached to politics. History narrates stances in
which the prince or even the Khalif used to stand in

front of the judge in a defensive position, in order to
be sued by an opponent prosecutor
(8) Al-Khateeb, Waddah, Among the Stories of Arabs, chapter:
Stories about the smart ones. Al Hekma House, Damascus.
In history, we find some aspects of the political life,
such as the struggle over power or the throne, and
the tendency to win the complacency of the Khalif or
the leaders of society who are mainly scientists,
poets and others. One of these aspects of the
struggle is the situation in which the Khalif is
controlled by soldiers, especially if he is young and
immature. In addition to that, books and reports tell
us a lot of information about the strong attachment
of the Arabs to nature; its trees, plants and animals,
to the extent that many of the names of Arab male
children were very often names of animals, or
derived from animal titles or cognomens, due to
their virile attributes that can cause a shriek of terror
to their enemies (9) .
(9) Abdul Hakeem Shawki, Popular Tales and Epics, Al-Hadatha
Dar, Beirut 1984.

The above-mentioned introduction is meant to say
that history has a prolific world or even worlds that
are very rich and fertile. The excavator in history
can dig into the past, in order to derive what
he/she needs for the drama, taking into
consideration that the storyteller/narrator is not a
historian, and that the story can do without many
of the aforementioned materials. Before delving
into this, we will stop at the mistakes in which the
historical T.V. drama falls, and then we will move to
elaborating the writers' dilemma between history
and drama.
III. The Mistakes in Historical Drama: There is no
doubt that each work is subject to trips and faults
and that is part of human nature. But, it is the duty
of the scholar to refer to them, because some errors
can be avoided. Many a time would specialists,
historians, critics, artists and linguists, each
according to one's domain and specialization, come
to cease upon something in the work which they
regard as defective, though they themselves are
subject to errors in what they conceive, but the

accumulation of all efforts would definitely lead to a
clearer vision that would eventually enable
everybody to come closer to correctness, and
fairness.
These are the levels on which mistakes occur:
1- On the level of events: Despite the fact that the
historical drama relies basically on history as it
appears from its name, it is obvious that some of
these works are not examined by history specialists.
In other words, historical works don't receive a
proper historical scrutiny. It is well-known for
historians that not everything in history must be
taken for granted as being correct and acceptable.
Since each science has its own methodology,
Moslems, unlike the rest of the nations, had a very
distinguished method of approaching history; a
method which entails tracking both the historical
item, and its narrators. In addition to their unique
method of scrutinizing tales, they had other skills
which are related to collecting news and intersecting
them, in a manner that enables the researcher to

reach an image that is as close to the truth as
possible.
An example of such mistakes is the soap opera
"Khaled Ibn Al-Waleed" which raised several debates
and critiques. One of the mistakes made in that
drama was its portrayal of Khaled Ibn Al-Waleed in
the battle of Mo'tah as a man seeking power and
investing any chance to be a leader, though books
narrate in their depiction of that battle that after the
fall of the third flag-captain Abdullah ben Rawaha,
the flag was taken by Thabet Ben Akram who in his
turn gave it to Khaled, addressing him: "Take the
flag, ye, father of Sulaiman!". Khaled said: "No, no, I
will not take the flag; you deserve it more than me.
You lost a tooth in the battle of Badr". Thabet said:
"Take it! You are a better fighter than me, and I
swear by Allah that I only took this flag to give it to
you". Then, he called upon the army: "Do you accept
the commandment of Khaled? They said: Yes! So, he
took the flag and led the battle" (10) .
(10) Ibn Al-Atheer ( Alkamil fi Altarikh) 1/114, Dar Al kitab Al
Arabi, Beirut.

One of the most problematic matters in that regard
is that the writer might ignore some very significant
issues. For example, in the soap opera "The Kings of
The Cults", there was an important event that should
have been illustrated to project the present reality—
which is one of the most important tasks behind the
return to history. It was the event in which the
Yousef ben Tashfeen's cousin abandons chieftaincy
in a very clear and pure atmosphere for the sake of
maintaining the public interest of the nation. This
instance would make it clear to the viewer that
these are the spirits that are entitled to achieve
victory (11) .
(11) http://islameiat.com. "Historical Drama", Al Sheikh Abdul
hameed al Kabti, 4 June, 2006.
What could be annexed to that level is exaggeration
in reflecting one side of the story rather than the
other, or at the expense of the other. An example on
that is the tendency to over-expose obscenities in
"The Kings of The Cults", and I understand the need
for that. But, why should I neglect the other side

which is very significant, especially when our
purpose is to re-connect with history to benefit from
it? The part which was totally ignored was the role
of the scientists (12) who were the intellectual
leaders of the Islamic history. Of course, nobody can
question the prosperity of Andalusia and its being
the greatest gate of science and knowledge to
Europe. Nevertheless, the drama did not do anything
to reveal the cultural and scientific movement in
Andalusia.
There is the tendency to magnify side issues,
especially with regard to women. Hence, we see the
wife of Al-Mu'tamed whose name is E'timad, as
being distinguished in everything; in politics, wit,
cleverness, education, coquetry, and playfulness.
Besides, she is friendly, playful and flirty with her
husband. As for Zeinab, Ben Tashfeen's wife (13), she
plays a dead role, for she has nothing to do but to be
the wife of Ben Tasheen. Although we say in

proverbs: "Behind every great man, there is always a
woman", she is not seen as being great at all.
2- On the level of Characterization: We know that
the main pillar in a historical novel is the event, but
in both the bibliography/case-history, or in the
historical drama, that pillar becomes the character,
because any error in its portrayal influences the
justification of the events. Here, mistakes are very
subtle and hard to determine. Hence, understanding
the character is almost always considered one of the
most controversial issues in drama. But there are
some common aspects in characters that are agreed
upon, so it is wrong to ignore or manipulate them.
Usually, the author is driven unwillingly to fall in that
mistake in characterization, due to the dramatic plot
which forces him/her to depict the antagonist in a
very ugly manner, even when it is not the case.
Consequently, the writer deprives the anti-hero of
any dignity, honor, and goodness, as in "Al-Zeer

Salem" in which Jassas is portrayed as a mean and
debased coward, void of any noble attribute. He is
seen as someone who insults women in a manner
that is not done by the lowest of the low among
Arabs, let alone a noble man. Since the heroes of the
historical drama in Islam are human beings who
might represent the role model of the prophet, or
who might deviate from that role model, it is our
duty in drama to show where the deeds of those
heroes meet with their principles, and where they
deviate from them.
3- On the Level of Time and Place: The time and the
place are important in history, but we notice that
the drama does not give them their due value, and
that tendency to underestimate them leaves its
impact on other elements in the work. For example,
Mo'ta, the place in which the battle took place in
Khaled ben Al-Waleed's soap opera, was a village
chosen by the Moslems to be fortified in, lest they
should stand – while they are few thousand fighters-
in a flat vast place in front of the Romans and the
Christians of the Arabs who were two hundred

thousand fighters. Nevertheless, the drama had
portrayed the place as a vast one—which is not the
case. Had the place been that vast, the Moslems
would have become an easy and accessible target to
the Romans. Besides, the battle that lasted for
several days, and that witnessed the death of three
commanders, before the fourth commander khaled
started to maneuver prior to his retreat, appeared to
have taken place in one day in the soap (14).
(14) http://sha3teely.com. "A Dramatic Failure in all Standards",
Wael Ateeli, 4 October, 2006.
4- On the Level of Decoration and Costumes: There
are some who deal with decoration and costume
matters in a reckless manner. Hence, the viewer
does not notice any difference between the scene
that takes place in the royal court of Baghdad during
the Abbasid era, and the one that takes place in the
Andalusia royal court during the Umayyad era. The
viewer does not even notice any distinctive marks
that denote the changes in the place, though such
marks could be significant traits and features of
famous places that have an epistemological value to

the viewer. Some dramatic works even keep the
decoration and the costumes to be used in other
works. Contrary to the previous neglect of
decoration and costume, there is interest in that
issue on the part of others who are aware of the fact
that you cannot ignore such aspects if you want to
introduce the viewer into the environment you are
discussing in your work. Consequently, in "The Roof
of the World", the design of foreign clothes was
supervised by Noël Howard, the one who supervised
the fashion of Mel Gibson in "Brave Heart".
5- On the Level of Language: Here, I don't only mean
to refer to grammatical, verbal and pronunciation
mistakes in the work, but also to a more crucial
issue, which is language itself. In order to be able to
re-live the historical past, we have to listen to its
language. However, it is notable that in some of
these dramatic works, the heroes, who belong to the
pre-Islamic era, that is the era in which the Arabic
language was at its heyday, speak a language that
contains a lot of impaired phrases and expressions
which we hardly hear anywhere these days, except

in official news bulletins, or in boring political
commentaries.
In an old movie about "Salah El-Deen", I remember
that I once broke into laughter upon hearing the
actor who is supposed to play the role of Salah El-
deen himself, or a soldier in his army- as far as I
remember- saying: "Our religion says that "religion is
for God, and homeland is for everybody'". By this
statement, he wanted to reveal the justice of Islam;
its humanity; and the freedom of human beings and
their responsibility to choose their religion. But, had
he said something such as, our religion stipulates
that "there is no compulsion in religion", or another
phrase such as "You are all the offspring of Adam,
and Adam is made of dust", that would have been
more comprehensible. Indeed, saying things in such
a manner was funny and incredible, even if they had
been uttered by an actor playing the role of Sa'ed
Zaghloul in the twentieth century, let alone Salah El-
Deen or one of his soldiers eight centuries ago.

Similarly, there are many other sentences that can
never be used by an Arab whatsoever, not because
they are wrong, but because they are not commonly
applicable by Arabs in their discourse. An Arab, for
instance, uses an exclamatory expression such as:
"What do you have to do with Zaid!", and "Zaid
changed to me, or he is avoiding me", but she/he
does not say: His treatment changed with me".
Besides, an Arab never utters expressions, such as:
"currently, or at the time being…, and so on and so
forth".
IV. The Dilemma of the writer between
understanding history, the dramatic work, and the
current reality: It is wrong to assume that writing
the scenario is merely a literary and an artistic work,
for it might also be a scientific work on top of that; a
work that has vital rules and basic structures that are
indispensable for the artistic success of the work.
1- Before writing the text, the writer has to give the
work its due right of scientific and historical
research, and a lot of reading as well. Writers usually
start to have a specific vision that is derived from a

story or an event that they once read, but after a
thorough reading, they find out that all the facets of
the character have become different, and what they
used to imagine about that character was a mere
fantasy. Hence, it is better to abandon the character
altogether if it is no longer perceived as having an
artistic or intellectual value.
2- To guarantee the success of the historical drama,
several issues have to be maintained, such as the
choice of a strong and credible subject, and a
powerful artistic means of demonstration. In other
words, it has to succeed both in form and content,
unlike non historical movies (like many of the
American movies) which could have no content at
all, but they allure the viewer by mastering the
technical industry.
3- The historian is sincere to the truth, whereas
writers oscillate between sincerity to the truth and
sincerity to structuring the character. However, it is
not permissible for writers to curtail the truth in
favor of the character and the love they have for it.
4- In historical drama, folk tales and legends, the axis

of the drama is often the hero; whereas in history,
the axis is the importance of the event.
5- Any intellectual –no matter how creative he/she
is- is doomed by the society, in which she/he lives.
An underdeveloped society forces the writer to
retreat behind his/her peers, because he/she is
scared of being judged by society, or to have one's
work rejected by it. In relation to this point, there is
the oscillation of the writer between idealism and
objectivity. When Michael Na'eima wrote the
biography of Jibran Khalil Jibran, people raged at
him, because they saw Jibran as a sort of a prophet,
while he saw him as a good friend who sometimes
errs, just like as any other human being.
6- What follows is the realization that historical
awareness and the balance in comprehending
history is not only a mission that must be
accomplished by the dramatic work alone; it is a task
that has to be fulfilled by the dominant social and
educational culture as well. Therefore, hundreds of
years ago, it was not strange to find prominent

people in the Islamic history, who were more
objective in their views about the others and
themselves. Hence, we find someone like Al Imam
Abi Hamed in his autobiographical book The Savior
from Going Astray, and a man like Al Imam Ibn
Hazem in his book The Cincture of the Dove, who
both talk very openly and in a transparent, and
objective manner about their lives, and they do not
show any signs of fear of censorship or
accountability, even though they both were very
distinguished and renowned jurisprudents. This
reflects the freedom that used to exist in society at
that time.
7- One of the problems that face dramatic works is
the barriers that exist between the writer and the
director. They probably do not come to see each
other. The work is usually purchased and presented
to the director who would actually start working on
it, without any interaction with the author. Of
course, each one of them might have a different
understanding of the character, but the writer is the
keynote judge in this regard. Sometimes, the

director, for pure materialistic or artistic reasons,
might resort to changing some scenes and situations,
and that would harm the work and shake the image
that writer wanted to create for his/her
heroes/heroines, thus making the whole work
appear to be quaky and unstable. Hence, the
relationship between the director and the writer has
to be at the utmost level of harmony and
consonance, or else the whole work will be lost
between the two sides.
8- It is very hard or even futile for someone who is
remotely distant and detached from the Islamic
heritage and sciences to write about the Islamic
history. In addition to understanding the culture, the
writer has to understand the nature of each age, and
people's understanding of Islam. It is true that Islam
is still one and the same, but people's understanding
of it changed from time to time, regarding some
issues which are probably important, such as
woman's issues, governorship and the relationship
between Moslems and the others. The writer must
comprehend these thorny issues in their historical

context, thus making a distinction between times of
peace and times of war, or between society in its
state of underdevelopment and society in its state of
prosperity.
Whoever wants to understand history has to live in
the past, not in the present reality, and the more the
person indulges in history, the more he/she can
understand, interpret and introduce it. It is essential
for the person to try to leave behind the present
reality at all levels, especially the current political
reality, which is indeed a unique reality that never
existed before in such an influential manner that
leaves its stamp on everything. (Discussing economy
and the veil became a sort of a political critique and
a forbidden interference. Besides, the subject of
polygamy is prohibited by a political decision, and
the state is in charge of either spreading the
institution or banning it, whereas in the past, the
foundation of Wakfs (endowments) used to be in the
hands of society, and that gave a chance for the
existence of institutions that played a role in

developing the society, even while its politicians
were underdeveloped ).
V. Is it Possible for Drama to Succeed in the Eyes of
All? Despite the fact that obtaining the satisfaction
of all people is an impossible end, the dramatic
historical work has to achieve a high proportion of
success in the eyes of everybody; writers, historians,
critics, viewers, directors and actors. But the raised
question entails other relevant questions: How to
attain success? And, do we have to change history
for the sake of realizing the success of drama? Let us
have a look at the elements of the Dramatic
Structure! Our main purpose in such a hurry is not
to illustrate how TV drama is written, which is an
important task that has its specialists, but the aim
is to present brief examples that clarify the idea.
1- Event: the foundation of history is built in a
way that revolves around an event, not a
character. Although the arts of folktales,
legends and historical dramas almost

always revolve around a character, the
character itself cannot be materialized,
except through an event Again, we repeat
that the event plays one of the first primary
positions in the work, and this event is
usually what illuminates the character of
the hero, and what makes the writer
choose the work. Antara, for example,
suffered from his father's denial of him, but
when the events of invasions and war
emerged, his folk needed him, and so his
character started to become more visible.
Born to a slave mother, he was in a struggle
against the values of his community to
regain his freedom, and against the
occurring wars and invasions, in addition to
his struggle to win his beloved woman Abla
from her father who demanded lots of
things to disable Antara and to make feel
incompetent.
Thus, anyone dealing with that story does
not have to insert a substantial event, but it
is possible to insert secondary events that

shed light on the lives of the Arabs, and the
acceptable practices in their real life at that
time. Had anyone of us returned to the
days of the Arabs during which the Abs
tribe appeared, he/she could have read
names that might be helpful in weaving
some threads derived from the partial
stories. That sort of matrix does not cause
any harm to the essence of the original
work.
Despite the fact that our history is full of
books by biographers and erudites, our
writers do not consider returning to any of
these autobiographical books to read about
the most important tokens of knowledge in
their time and place. We also notice that
values, such as freedom, excellence, and
self-sacrifice for the beloved one had
always been universal human values, with
which the twenty-first century individual
would interact just as the tenth-century
individual did. This is an essential remark
that should not escape the attention of the

writer. Similarly, motifs such as jealousy,
envy, and the quest for love and stability
had always been amongst other immortal
human motives that are visible everywhere
at all times.
2- Characters: In Antara's story, there are
several types of primary and secondary
characters. We see the hero Antara and the
anti-hero who is his rival in winning Abla, in
addition to the supporting hero who could
be his brother Shaiboub. We also see
Shaddad who is Antara's father, and his
mother Zabiba, and we might create a
struggle between them; a struggle in which
one of them is with the hero and the other
one is against him. Some other characters
appear and disappear depending on the
stream of the events. Each of these
secondary characters has to shed a light
either on a part of the story, or on the main
characters. For the character to achieve its
mission in the historical drama, the private

and the public have to be intermingled (15)
,because the cause of the hero has to be a
public one that is shared by any human
being (justice and injustice). The hero is a
generous, brave, self-sacrificing, poor and
bare intellectual, who suffers from the lack
of equal opportunities, favoritism,
regionalism, and sectarianism, but in the
gown of his own age, not ours.
(15) Khoursheed, Farouq, Folktales' Literature,
Lebanon Publishers, Beirut, 1994.
In drama, we must avoid falling in the trap
of the American movies that make the
American hero a Superman, who is capable
of doing anything. Everything he does is
justified, and the American white man is
very often the winner in the end. It is
permissible for him to exterminate the
whole tribe, or even the whole world, in
order to rescue his darling girlfriend or his
daughter from captivity. He bears grudge,
and manages to take revenge even after a

while, in addition to many other things of
the sort. It is clear that what controls their
culture is not what controls us/our culture.
Indeed, the Rambo Culture is not the same
as the Culture of forgiveness, elaborated in
the famous saying of the prophet to his
enemies: "Go! You are free". Power was
used as a means of achieving justice, and
not as it is the case nowadays with the
"unjust Veto" in which justice is a weapon
for safeguarding power.
In dramatic works, it is obvious that the
hero often appears as a hero from the very
beginning. However, the art of
storytelling/narration reveals the factors
which made him a hero; it exhibits the birth
of the hero two times (16) . The second birth
of the hero comes during the crisis that
stirred the struggle in the first place. And
the more we witness events, the more we
come to discern other aspects of heroism.
In historical works, the character of the

anti-hero is one of the most problematic
and complex characters in history.
However, many writers tend to expose it as
a very bad one, for the sake of uplifting the
character of the hero. Usually, the writer
forgets that he/she is portraying history,
and not anyone who stands in the face of
the hero is a conspirator, a traitor who is
hateful and envious. It is ironic that Antara,
in his poetry praised the knight whom he
had a duel with, before describing the
situation in which he quickly stabbed him.
In so doing, Antara managed to expose his
own chivalry and bravery by praising the
strength and heroism of his rival, instead of
belittling him.
(16) Ibrahim Nemat Allah, Arab Folk Tales, Al
Matbuaat Publishing Company, Beiurt, 1994.
In the realm of characters, one should not
forget the woman and what she represents
in the lives of the Arabs. The woman is the
invincible mother, and the protected

honor; she stands for sacrifice and
victimization, for love and longing. For her
beauty, poetry was written, and at her
departure, homes cried. For her own sake,
bitter pains became sweet, and for the sake
of her eyes, awful events were fought.
Among her kinfolk, she remained honored,
immune, and defendable. But if she was
held as a captive, she would become weak,
humiliated and vulnerable. A final note to
the writers of Television Drama who do not
conceive their success apart from the
portrayal of maids and mistresses: It is not
necessary for the success of the historical
dramatic work to impose a romantic love
story with a maid, a mistress or a slave.
Even though we do not deny the existence
of similar affairs in our history, there is a
need to project the loving woman who
could be a mother, a wife, a daughter or a
sister

3- Style of Narration and Dialogue:
Television drama has a very spacious range
in terms of style. It is true that the outer
dialogue is the dominant one, but the
writer can use the monologue and the
soliloquy. The writer can also resort to the
flashback technique to mention an old
event or a side story. It is even possible to
exhibit a silent scene, but the most
important thing is to know when to use
each of these techniques. One should not
forget the role of modern technology in
emitting the inner dialogue (monologue) as
if it were an exterior one, and in
broadcasting music and echoes, in addition
to the power of the camera, and the
likelihood of presenting Al-Hakawati, the
storyteller. All these things enrich the
dialogue and make it diversified in a
manner that escapes of the routine of the
regular dialogue. A significant matter that
can waste the whole work altogether- if not
taken into consideration- is the allusive,

expressive and articulate language which is
used by the writer. This is one of the
biggest challenges that face the writer of
the historical drama, who should master
the Arabic language in all its eloquence and
power of articulation. The writer has to
know how to make each character utter the
words that are normally said by someone
like it.
4- Setting (Time and Place): In historical
drama, setting is more significant than it is
in any other dramatic work, because most
of the mistakes that occur in the historical
drama can be attributed to the failure in
setting the time and the place. The writer
has to connect between the people and
their area; its circumstances and history.
The character should not be examined
apart from the environment that surrounds
it, because that surrounding is indeed the
framework that would convey the events
and present the characters. Hence, the

writer has to create a balance between
contradictory milieus; between the life of
debauchery, and the life of the intellect;
between good and evil, taking into
consideration that society at large was
neither a totally intellectual one that is
engaged in reading and recitation, nor was
it a dissolute society that is merely indulged
in lewdness and debauchery that are
normally associated with lives in palaces.
The early scholars have preserved for us
the greatest and the most prestigious
books that can help us depict the
environment; they left behind travel
literature, such as the Travels of Ibn
Battouta, and Ibn Jubair. The erudite can
find in these books many interesting and
enriching images that might be helpful in
depicting the environment, and in securing
a plenty of ideas that could be inserted in
side scenes. It is odd that our ancestors left
us books that are dated by day and others

that are dated by years. Some of these
books even date whatever took place in a
particular area, such as the history of
Damascus and the history of Baghdad, in
which everything that might come across
the mind of the researcher is mentioned.
There are recent studies that tend to
portray the social life in historical ages, and
such books rely mainly on literature books
and the narratives that exist in both poetry
and prose. The researcher can also resort
to court files, especially during the late
centuries, or to some Islamic books that
discuss legal issues that were common in
society and that disturbed the jurists, such
as the mocha (coffee), hashish, and legal
wiles. We should not forget the books on
plants and animals and the dictionaries
about countries and proverbs that
constitute a very prolific and abundant
material for any writer. It is noteworthy
that we rarely find in drama anything that

attracts our attention to the diversity of the
environment; its variation, imparity and
difference, or that tempts us to read
history, even though this is a valuable
objective that the Arab drama might drive
the audience to attain.
Conclusion: It is not easy for the writer to
absorb history, to internalize it, or to deal
with it in a properly correct, modern and
unconstrained manner. In our modern age,
any mistake in the historical drama evokes
the pens of critics to accuse the working
people of treachery, as part of the
conspiracy theory. Nevertheless, drama can
be applied in a manner that creates a
common ground and meeting point
between the human being and other fellow
humans, so as to bring them together.
Consequently, it would enable both parties
to perceive the past, to be able to
understand the present, and ultimately to
foresee the future. Today, the nation feels

plundered, ravished and violated, starting
from its land, going to its honor, dignity and
religion, and finally reaching its history.
That feeling makes the nation lose its clear
objective outlook. Hence, it is the task of
the writer to be aware of that and to be
lenient in one's demonstration. It is a good
idea to have symposiums and workshops to
discuss any of these issues, or to have a
team of qualified and professional
researchers to investigate and to delve into
the topic that the writer wants to elaborate
in his/her story.
Depending on such efforts, it is possible for
the writer to indicate, at the beginning of
the work or at its end that all efforts have
been exerted to attain the artistic and the
documentary success of the work.
Eventually, this is the realized vision that
has come to light. Thus, since there are 'no
gains without pains', each hardworking

person will reap the fruits of one's labor.
*****
Written by Mohammad Ali Bahri, Damascus
30/9/2007
mabahri@gmail.com
Translated into English by Dr. Iman Al-Ghafari
Damascus, 6 December 2007 Iman.gh@scs-net.org
References Ibrahim Nemat Allah, Arab Folk
Tales, Al Matbuaat Publishing Company,
Beiurt, 1994. Al-Thaalbi Abou Mansour,
Jurisprudence of Language, "In Food and
Drinks and What comes with them". Al-
Jawzia Ibn Al-Qayyem, Women's Reports,
Dar Al Mada, Damascus, 2001. Al-Khateeb,
Waddah, Among the Stories of Arabs,
chapter: Stories about the smart ones. Al
Hekma House, Damascus. Khoursheed,
Farouq, Folktales' Literature, Lebanon
Publishers, Beirut, 1994. Zalzala
Mohammad Sadek, Titbits and Funny
Stories from Arabic Literature. Dar Hilal,
Beirut, 2001.

Abdul Hakeem Shawki, Popular Tales and
Epics, Al-Hadatha Dar, Beirut 1984. Al-Attar,
Maha, The Artistic Narrative in Arabic
Literature, M.A., Damascus University. Al-
Kasimi, Zafer, Social Life among Arabs, Dar
Al Nafaes, Beirut, 1981. Mohammad,
Khaled Mohammad, Men around the
Prophet, Dar Al Kitab Al Arabi, Beirut. Al
Naeimi, Abdul Kader Al Dimashqi, The
Scholar in the History of Schools, Dar Al
Kutub Al Ilmiah, Beirut, 1990.
http://islameiat.com. "Historical Drama", Al
Sheikh Abdul hameed al Kabti, 4 June, 2006.
http://sha3teely.com. "A Dramatic Failure
in all Standards", Wael Ateeli, 4 October,
2006.
******
Mohammad Ali Bahri, Damascus 30/9/2007
mabahri@gmail.com

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