{"id":24155,"date":"2023-02-25T00:03:26","date_gmt":"2023-02-25T04:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/?p=24155"},"modified":"2023-02-25T00:29:22","modified_gmt":"2023-02-25T04:29:22","slug":"mr-amin-maalouf-happy-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/2023\/02\/25\/mr-amin-maalouf-happy-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Amin Maalouf: Happy Birthday!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mr. Amine Maalouf’s picture was taken from L’Express<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Born in Beirut on February 25 (1949), Mr. Amin Maalouf is a Franco-Lebanese writer (https:\/\/bit.ly\/3Zm6VWb<\/a>) who received the prestigious Prix Goncourt<\/em> (1993) for his \u201cLe Rocher de Tanios<\/em>\u201d and was later (2011) elected to the French Academy. What a pride for both Lebanon and France!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like readers around the world, Bambi is a fan of Mr. Maalouf. Thus, using his own words, her post is a tribute to his incredible talent. The selected citations found online are filled with a much needed wisdom in today’s society, which seems to be too obsessed with identity characteristics (skin colour, gender, religion, etc.). The original French citations appear first, followed by an English translation in bold characters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To conclude, Bambi will allow herself to offer this inspiring writer Mr. Yves Duteil\u2019s famous song about the beauty of the French language, as spoken all the way from France to North America, in addition to a musical performance of Happy Birthday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, dear Mr. Maalouf, for your productivity. Happy Birthday! Joyeux Anniversaire \u00e0 vous! \u201cAkbel el Mieh\u201d in your and in Bambi’s mother tongue!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Moiti\u00e9 fran\u00e7ais, donc, et moiti\u00e9 libanais ? Pas du tout! L\u2019identit\u00e9 ne se compartimente pas, elle ne se r\u00e9partit ni par moiti\u00e9s, ni par tiers, ni par plages cloisonn\u00e9es. Je n\u2019ai pas plusieurs identit\u00e9s, j\u2019en ai une seule, faite de tous les \u00e9l\u00e9ments qui l\u2019ont fa\u00e7onn\u00e9e, selon un \u2018dosage\u2019 particulier qui n\u2019est jamais le m\u00eame d\u2019une personne \u00e0 l\u2019autre”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHalf French, then, and half Lebanese? No way! Identity is not compartmentalized, it is not divided into halves, thirds, or partitioned areas. I don’t have several identities, I only have one, made up of all the elements that have shaped it, according to a particular \u2018dosage\u2019 that is never the same from one person to another<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“L’identit\u00e9 n’est pas donn\u00e9e une fois pour toutes, elle se construit et se transforme tout au long de l’existence”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIdentity\nis not given once and for all, it is constructed and transformed throughout\nlife\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“N’h\u00e9sitez jamais \u00e0 partir loin, au-del\u00e0 de toutes les mers, toutes les fronti\u00e8res, tous les pays, toutes les croyances”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNever hesitate to go far\naway, beyond all seas, all frontiers, all countries, all beliefs\u201d. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLe fait d’\u00eatre \u00e0 la fois arabe et chr\u00e9tien\nest une situation fort sp\u00e9cifique, tr\u00e8s minoritaire, et pas toujours facile \u00e0\nassumer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fact of being both Arab and Christian is\na very specific situation, very minority, and not always easy to assume.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLes m\u00e9dias refl\u00e8tent ce que disent les gens, les gens refl\u00e8tent ce que disent les m\u00e9dias. Ne va-t-on jamais se lasser de cet abrutissant jeu de miroirs ?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe media reflects what people say, people reflect what\nthe media says.<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Are we ever\ngoing to get tired of this mind-numbing game of mirrors?\u201d<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cC’est notre regard qui enferme souvent les autres dans leurs plus \u00e9troites appartenances, et c’est notre regard aussi qui peut les lib\u00e9rer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is our gaze that often locks others into their narrowest affiliations, and it is our gaze that can also liberate them\u201d.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abL’amour se nourrit de patience autant que de d\u00e9sir\u00bb.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLove feeds on patience as much as on desire\u201d. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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