The Universal & the Communicative by SHIRAZ AZZABI

THE UNIVERSAL & THE COMMUNICATIVE

An Essay that represents an observation on the role of the universal that

goes hand in hand with the communicative.

Written & Edited by

Miss. SHIRAZ

AZZABI


By Miss. SHIRAZ AZZABI

MORNAGUIA, 10th of December 2013 An Essay written by Miss. SHIRAZ AZZABI (BEHRI)

Subject: The Universal & the Communicative

alking about universality or

universalism brings to mind

the idea of quality versus

quantity. When we talk about what

is universal, we think already about

what unites the human masses. In

other words, we think about all the

people in the world or in a particular

group who are being knitted and

involved in what is agreed upon for

being always true or false at all

times and in all places. The universe,

as we all probably know, is rich with

lots of creatures but we tend to

select only the species of human

beings in order for us to draw a full

understanding of the mechanisms of

the cosmos. We are haunted by ‘the

human’. The human is the one who

owns the tools of communication

i.e. language. In other words,

wording (i.e. expressing oneself with

letters, words, and numbers) can

only be a human specialty and a one

hundred percent human prestige

and superiority over the other

subdued and inferior so-to-speak

creatures. Human beings are

universal communicators but they

remain also universal dictators. They

hold the world with a tight grip

because they have that invincible

arm with double-edges: language.

Man makes use of language to

distinguish himself from his

fellowmen.

In the name of power, money,

gasoline, and religion, man rules the

world with a word and I mean here

the ‘English word’. At this stage, we

are talking about the genesis of

Americanization, globalization, and

or call it if you like ‘universalization’.

T



They serve as umbrella terms for

man’s selfish view of the world. This

stronger man, who owns the media,

the means, the shares, the ballots,

and the mechanics of thought, gives

himself the cue and the right to

communicate his power by force

and by fraud under the nickname of

“the universal”.

What is universal means then,

the best model (in the eyes of the

stronger man of course), the right

path, but it is also the only and the

one lifestyle that can help the other

nations improve and develop. This

belief can ascend to become the

only solution to all unborn yet

issues, tumors, failures, and

backwardness. We are then, led and

misled because we are unable to

give a substitute. We were always

amazed by the European theater

because we suck such a pleasure out

of watching without being asked to

act, react, judge, or, and object. We

learnt from our daily religion but to

deify Him (Allah, God, and the

OTHER) and He deserves that by all

means because he is the Almighty,

the powerful, and the invincible. The

universal is only deified by us and

that is wrong. It is true that we need

to pray but we also need to think.

Stagnation, though we know that it

cannot build a healthy nation, is still

delicious for us. That is why we still

buy tickets to watch our failure in

this Vaudeville Theater that I call

‘the communicative universality’.

The universal obeys to

standardization. We put a group of

something in one pot until they melt

and they become homogeneous.

Universality kills differentiations and

differences. It leaps over

contradictions and controversies to

establish a bridge to link different

peoples who belong to different

ages, different schools, different

cultures, different countries,

different ethics, etc…

We communicate the human

throughout the currency of

universalism. Universality is the rival

to silence, solitude, selfishness, and

capitalism (though the world

nowadays is based on this financially

speaking, universal system). Our life

is pregnant with contradictions. We

are drowned in the typhoon of

capitalism because we are neither

masters of the world nor of

ourselves. Submission is a normal

consequence to our beloved inertia.

We do not recognize the atrocity of

receiving shipped values, principles,

ways of life, cultures, eating habits,

and even clothes. We survive due to

our hand-made umbilical cord that



nourishes and nurtures itself from

the mercy of the flea markets of the

Western culture. We used to talk

about an Old World (EUROPE), a

New World (AMERICA), and a Third

World (All the Arabic countries

added some Asian countries), but

now we barely use these

expressions because we moved

from a distinguished world i.e. ‘Third

World’ to an invisible constituent of

this universal melting pot called

‘universalism’. No one searches for

us and no one cares if we make part

of that whole or not for the only

reason that our presence and our

absence too cannot make a

difference. However, we are making

our best to be in touch with the

other components of that big pot

because we need to communicate.

We need to feel the warmth of

someone’s presence besides us. We

are social creatures despite our low

rank (but not potential) in the

ladder of modernism and

modernity. The ‘other’ for us can be

heaven, hell, or, and the absurd, yet

we still need to communicate to the

extent to which everyone wants to

learn English. We will buy that

exported merchandise at any cost.

We will even steal it if the price will

happen to be expensive. We are

buying already our addiction though

we are sure one hundred percent,

that no cure waves a hand at the

horizons.

I have always been amazed by

the English proverb ‘The pen is

mightier than the word’ because I

believe that it narrates something

nostalgic on the victories of my

Arabic then Islamic origins. I am

afraid to belong to a nation that

killed itself by its own will and

desire. This Arabic civilization which

made one of the pillars of the old

times turns to be a retired watch-

dog owned by the Western culture.

The reasons behind this

subordination are uncountable.

However, the moot point of this

issue is the understanding and the

practice of DEMOCRACY. A magic

word that seems to haunt the

nations who ride behind the

unreachable dreams: freedom,

rights, justice, equity, happiness,

comfort, etc…

The Western culture proves its

superiority by dint of statistics. It is

behind the helm of success stirring

the latter in all directions:

education, economics, politics,

social, artistic, medical, scientific,

and technologically speaking to

name but a few. Where are we in

this entire blizzard! Open-mouthed,



we are watching their success.

Drowned in the gutter of subjection,

we found ourselves in warm water

despite its dirtiness: backwardness

in all fields and fanaticism in

religion. This is has been called at

first intolerance, then dependence,

and finally it was labeled terrorism.

This is a compound trilogy of

laziness, meanness, and servitude.

In the middle-ages, the Western

cultures had got rid of the church’s

despotism and fake promise of

repentance throughout its so-called

repentance’s bills. They went also

from being free religious countries

to irreligious ones.

In the name of freedom and liberty,

they give themselves the right to

forsake religion because they think

that life is about daring, living

adventures, and giving a try to

everything. Life is not synonymous

with what is forbidden, illegitimate,

impossible, and illegal. Life should

be fully lived without any traffic

lights. However, the Eastern

cultures cannot heal themselves

from religion. This latter guides their

lives and highlights their freedom.

The problem with this is that

religion wears the veil of traditions,

mores, customs, and old habits.

Religion in the Third World is

abused. People do not make any

effort to question religion. They do

not refuse a western education,

style and thinking but religion for

them is still a red line. They do not

get close to it and they do not allow

others to touch it. However, this

seeming conservatism raises lots of

questions. To what extent the

Eastern world is attached to

religion? Are they weak nations

because of their religion or because

of their understanding of religion?

Who cannot touch or get close to

their religion: their own fellowmen

or the outsiders (including

foreigners)? Why is terrorism

hatched and raised in the Eastern

world and territory? One should

even ask this question: who

manufactured this universal

chewing-gum ‘Arabs are terrorists’?

The answer is not available because

the one who first used this

expression had made of it not only a

descriptive phrase but a whole

culture. It is the dark culture that

needs to be manacled with

worrisome in order for the superior

cultures to attract the refugees who

fled that dark experience. Terrorism,

according to this explanation, is the

excuse built around the Arabs by the

Western cultures for fear to lose

their popularity, reputation, stature

and status. It is the game of



deletion. The superior and the

strong countries are deleting the

inferior and the weak countries. The

arm of deletion called terrorism, this

badge of shame, will cling to Arabs’

veil and jibbah because the Western

culture wants so. The stronger

countries will rule the world and the

means by which to understand the

words of the human mind. Thus, we

communicate our language because

of our potential to govern the world.

Though the human world is

different from the animal world yet

the desire to shepherd is universal

because only power can

differentiate between the subject

and the object.

NELSON MANDELA is the best

example of the communicative

universality or universalism. He has

made of the inferior black man the

spokesperson of peace. He even

went too far as to make of himself

an ambassador to a continent:

Africa. With his ever shining smile,

he seems to defy all those

derogative terms that had always

alienated the Africans from the

political and the social scenes. That

same smile seems also to mock the

high barriers that worked hard to

siege the will and to stunt the height

of the African man and woman.

Despite the fact that he tasted the

rust of jail and the lust of

oppression, NELSON MANDELA

never had that harbored desire to

retaliate. Peace and love were his

only catharsis. This cornucopia of

bounty and love was the trumpet

that whistled the success of BARACK

HUSSEIN OBAMA in the first

elections of 2009. He symbolized

the figure of neutrality. Though

there is a striking physical similarity

between NELSON MANDELA and

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, people

had never realized that. OBAMA

won an international election

because somehow he played on our

nostalgia and trust in black men

who once elected, according to our

previous experience with figures

such as NELSON MANDELA,

MARTIN LUTHER KING, and

MALCOM X, can be the best

representatives of love and peace

because they knew before the flavor

of bondage, the smell of hatred, and

the sound of war’s drums. However,

we may be misled by such a

legendary explanation because

someone like President BARACK

HUSSEIN OBAMA was elected for

the second time on 2013 which

means that the latter’s policy had

worked miracles for him and for us.

The myth or rather the spill of the

fair African black ruler is still



working on us and it is still

fashionable. Black is in vogue again.

President BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

communicates through his black

skin with the Africans, Arabs, and

the Eastern cultures in general while

he gets in touch with the Western

cultures throughout his position as a

President of the strongest country in

the world and then through his

double-edged tongue which speaks

the Africans’ dreams and ambitions

but which speaks too Americans’

dear pursuit of happiness. The

question one should derive from

this observation is this: did

President BARACK OBAMA make

use of his origins to suck empathy

for himself? We can say that his

popularity seems to have no ending

chapter yet.

In my opinion, I think that

President OBAMA represents three

famous literary figures drawn by

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: OTHELLO,

HAMLET, and MACBETH. However, I

will use these three characters as

stages in OBAMA’s political life.

First, we can say that he

represented the character of

OTHELLO when he first ascended to

the throne of the WHITE HOUSE. He

was the loved ruler who gained

fame and people’s love because of

his bravery and chivalry. He was and

still an excellent orator and

negotiator. He bewitches you by his

sound argumentation and even by

his sober silence which allows you

to speak your mind with the length

and time you acquire only because

he knows that at the end you will

surrender to his views and

arguments.

1 Martin Luther king’s words are here briefly used.



BARACK OBAMA borrows from

OTHELLO all his might and

cleverness in the time of war but as

HAMLET, OBAMA is unable to wage

a real and realistic war against his

enemies. He seems to revel either in

the comfort of procrastination or in

its burning coals. However,

President OBAMA represents too

the personality of MACBETH only in

this latter’s juvenile ambition to

reign. OBAMA represents a golden

age where the black man ‘is no

longer judged on the color of his

skin but on the content of his

character’1. However, this ambitious

black man is not crippled neither by

the innocence of some

DESDEMONA nor by the over

ambition of some LADY MACBETH.

President BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

enjoys the company of MICHELLE

OBAMA: a woman who has all the

love of OPHELIA to HAMLET but also

who knows when and where to

appear, speak, and intervene unlike

HAMLET’s OPHELIA. But no one

knows what goes behind the scenes.

Unlike the current President of

the United Nations of America, the

previous President GEORGE W.

BUSH JUNIOR communicated his

position towards the Arabs with

nothing but war on IRAK and the

execution of its previous President

not only publicly but on the Arabs’

first day celebration of the Aid.

SADAM HUSSEIN was scapegoated

publicly on a day which was

supposed to bring some happiness

for the Arabic and Muslim

communities despite their sadness

for PALESTINE’s unsettled issue and

their unhealed wound of such a

bleeding country. War and peace

are then different means of

communication that can codify

people’s positions and point of

views. However, they are

interchangeable because what

seems to be a dredge of peace for

you can be described as the one of

war and vice-versa since humans

tend to personalize people’s

attitudes and measure their own

benefits in regards of such attitudes.

GEORGES W. BUSH JUNIOR feels no

shame or regret when he looks

behind to what he did. He may even

feel proud because he was a

missionary. With no doubt, when he

waged war on IRAK he spoke in the

name of democracy as if democracy



is a taste and exactly as the proverb

says ‘there is no accounting for

taste’. One may object to this

explanation and tells that there is a

big difference between war and

peace but I do believe that people’s

yearning to reach their ends

benedicts for them all forms of evil-

doing or sin. People tend to knead

the clay of self-love and shape it, in

psychologically speaking, suitable

social garbs. Someone like BUSH is

not a political oddment because he

represents others’ dreams of

sovereignty from which ADOLPHE

HITLER is an instance. Hence, for

me, GEORGE W. BUSH JUNIOR is a

living example of WILLIAM

SHAKESPEARE’s RICHARD THE

THIRD whose thirsty sword seems

not to reach a final satiety. It is as if

killing while making the world watch

that oozing blood makes of the killer

or the missionary as he always saw

himself so, a virile figure and a

masculine force. Peace is thus

understood as the pillow of

feminine figures and effeminate

characters. Back to HARLEM

RENAISSANCE, we can

psychologically read BARACK

HUSSEIN OBAMA’s position of

peace and obedience as someone

who still sympathize with women

(black and white) and black men

because he still sense frailty and

inferiority in his long ago enslaved

body. History seems to orbit in the

same sphere. We are speaking here

about two historical circles: the

horizontal, social, and profane

historical circle (that I call here war)

versus the vertical, solitary, and

divine historical circle (that I call

here peace). Both of them are in a

constant mobility. They neither push

humanity forward nor drag it

backward because their only

mission is to regenerate human

beings. People then belong and

come from different circles and

different positions. Each one of

them communicates what he thinks

right and suitable for his fellowmen,

and because he is selfish by human

nature, he will do his best to make

of his believes a universal language.

Once this goal is fulfilled, he will go

back to society backed up by the

excuse of sociability, to integrate

himself again by force and

fraudulence. Man is then a sociable

equivocator as the witches in the

opening scene of MACBETH said:

2 William Shakespeare, Macbeth: The Complete Works

of William Shakespeare (Wordsworth Edition: 2007), p.

858.



“Fair is foul, and foul is fair…”2

This quotation justifies man’s means

to reach his ugly ends since he

bends religions, laws, and feelings to

suit his interests to the extent to

which he cheats and calls what is

good evil and vice-versa.

Finally, man is endowed with

the need to survive despite all what

awaits him at the horizon: disease,

illness, pain, injury, depression, and

death. Man has always felt the need

to govern something or someone

because he denies the world’s tight

grip on him. Sovereignty is a

universal law that man wants to

share with GOD. It is as if by

worshipping HIM at first, man

harbors a desire of splitting himself

away from HIS MIGHT and avoiding

HIS WRATH while he waits, in his

mental corner, for the right moment

to rebel and to set himself free from

GOD by claiming that he rules the

world by a delegation from HIM.

Unfortunately, man has always

proved to be a kaleidoscopic

hypocrite.

HYPOCRITE

Man thou hast all the power to

obtain

The so-called fruit of pithy

knowledge,

But thou haven’t the will to

maintain

Neither thine promise nor thy

bridge,

Man thou art full with saucy

masochism

But thine bravery denies all

accusations

For thou art called the knight of

sadism

While thou art burnt ago in

delegations

Thou came in clouds wrapped up in

chauvinism

To pour divine words in mine human

ears

That found pleasure in the call for

altruism

Which could never end man’s selfish

tears

Written by SHIRAZ AZZABI

The Universal & the Communicative by SHIRAZ AZZABI

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