Barriers to the Broad Dissemination of Creative Works in the Arab World

摘要

The difficulties involved in the production and distribution of creative works in the Middle East cannot be separated from the overall political and social climate of the region. A series of United Nations (UN) reports identified three fundamental deficits in the Arab world: in political rights, in womens rights, and in knowledge. Related to these deficits are three critical sources that pose barriers to the greater dissemination of creative works in the region. This monograph addresses barriers to the broad dissemination of such works as they relate to Arabic literature and other genres of the printed word. Three major barriers confront the dissemination and consumption of Arabic literature. The first barrier is censorship, which is a significant problem in the Middle East. Nearly all Arab Middle East countries employ government censors. Censorship is often aimed at stopping the publication or distribution of content deemed politically, morally, or religiously sensitive. Religious institutions, such as al-Azhar, Cairos center of Islamic learning, often assist government censors by recommending books to be banned. A second barrier is the small market for literary material in the Arab world. Book production and, presumably, reader consumption are relatively low in the Middle East in comparison to other regions with similar socioeconomic levels of development.