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Akram ʻOsmān
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Arley Loewen
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'Real Men Keep Their Word': Tales from Kabul, Afghanistan Paperback – January 12, 2006

by Akram Osman (Author), Arley Loewen (Author)
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This English translation of Akram Osman's collection of Dari short stories will help readers understand traditional Kabul culture. The stories bring to life the popular folk culture of urban Kabul during the mid-twentieth century.
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  1. Print length
    213 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  4. Publication date
    January 12, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    8.5 x 0.5 x 5.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0195471148
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0195471144
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Editorial Reviews

Book Description

A fictional insight into the folk culture of mid-century Afghanistan

From the Author

One of the best ways to learn about another culture is to read their stories. Akram Osman's short stories provide a delightful window in social relations, status expectations and other cultural dynamics of urban Kabul life in the 1970s and 1980s. ATribute to Dr. Akram Osman
Ifrequently run leadership seminars for government officials, managers and NGOleaders in Afghanistan. Dialoguing with one young intellectual from Herat, Iwas amazed at how much medieval and modern literature he had read. When wementioned some of the stories from Dr. Akram Osman's first collection of shortstories, Real Men keep their Word, he said ever so succinctly, "Akram Osman reallyunderstand our Afghan culture."
Well,that seems trite and obvious, but to genuinely "understand one's culture",reflect upon it and then explain it through entertaining short stories - thatis a rare talent. Dr. Akram Osman was gifted with this unique insight and capacity.
Yearsago, before 9/11, I spent a few months in Pakistan working on some mediaprojects. In order to improve my Dari language, I hired a part-time languagehelper for a few weeks. I have forgotten who he was, but he suggested we shouldread some stories written by Dr. Akram Osman. I am very indebted to this man howhe opened up a new world of Afghan society to me, as we read together and discussedthe cultural innuendoes, fascinating idioms and clever satirical rhetoricreflected in the stories.
Here,in his stories, Dr. Osman tells me about Afghanistan. He talks to me about the differenttypes of people of Afghanistan,about life in Kabul, the Old City, its winding, narrowalleys, ancient sites and crowded streets. He laughs as he describes an averageAfghan government official and his hopes and pretensions. He reflects the youngAfghan boy as he falls in love and then out of love. He writes about you, aboutme, how we long for a real sense of identity and significance, how we wantfreedom - inner and outer freedom. Many an Afghan can see themselves in one ofthe stories.
Itis good to read stories that reflect life in Kabul prior to the terribleupheavals that began after 1978. Afghans deeply admire the heroic acts of Sherin the story, مرداره قول اس (Real Men Keep Their Word) and KakaAkbar in وقتى كه ني ها گل ميكنند (When the Reeds Bloom) and see these stories as reflecting anideal virtue of magnanimous sacrifice. On the other hand, readers from awestern perspective wonder what Sher and Kaka Akbar benefited from theirsacrifices and loyalties.
Manyof Osman's characters grapple with their own identity in light of a traditionalsociety facing the burden and confusion of modernization. In stories such as مغزمتفكر خانواده  (The Thoughtful Brains of the Family) or دشمن مرغابى (TheEnemy of Ducks) or ميانه رو (The Moderate Politician), Osman mocks those who considerthemselves superior to the average Afghan. The rural protagonists, Daryab in نقطۂ نيرنگى )The Deceptive Object) and Nabi in ازبيخ بته (From the Root of a Shrub) struggle withwho they are in a modern, urban setting and wonder where they really belong. Inthe stories, آن بالا و اين پايين (UpThere and Down Here) and آنسوى پل، انسوىدريا (The Other Side of the River) when themain characters are confronted with the painful reality of being different fromthe so-called popular and elite of society, they are given the traditionalwarning to remain where they are, expressed in the proverb, هوش كنى پا از كليمت فراتر نگذارى"Take care not to step outside your carpet." Does theauthor hint one should simply stay where they are or is he satirizing thisconservative sentiment? This is for the reader to decide.
 In the contemplative story, دروندار (InnerStrength), Osman explores the self and asks questions that are normally avoidedbecause of the possible pain and shame associated with them. Very few people inreal life ask themselves such penetrating reflective questions.
Osman'sability to reflect this personal and intense struggle of identity - a strugglethat individuals in communal societies face repeatedly because of the everpresent expectation to sacrifice one's personal desires for the sake of thecommunity - helps the reader to draw back the masks of their own life and dareto self-reflect.    
AkramOsman's fiction is filled with local and traditional idioms. This made translationboth a delight as well as herculean task as each expression carries with it aworld of cultural meaning and life.
Asan outsider to the Afghan language and culture, I will never fully grasp thedepths of Afghan life and culture. However, I am deeply grateful to Dr AkramOsman for the profound role he has played in my life, helping me learn andunderstand so much more about the people of Afghanistan.
Afew comments on the English translation of مرداره قول اس. OxfordPakistan published it in 2005 and reprinted it a few years later. It is now outof print. We are working on a new English edition with Rahmat Publications inAfghanistan. At the same time, Rahmat Publications continues to print anddistribute the Dari edition of مرداره قول اس, now in its 5th print-run.
ArleyLoewen (Ph.D. University of Toronto)

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press (January 12, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 213 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195471148
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195471144
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.5 x 5.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 2 ratings

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  1. Akram ʻOsmān

    Akram ʻOsmān

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  2. Arley Loewen

    Arley Loewen

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    I grew up in rural mid-West Canada, in a small Mennonite farm. But so much changed in my mid-20s. I flew to Pakistan to help with Afghan refugees there - over 40 years ago. I have lived in a Persian-Afghan context and studied the culture for many years. In the 1980s, I studied Persian at a university in Pakistan and graduated with an MA in Persian Literature. I wrote my dissertation in Persian – an analysis on the ethics in the Gulistan of Shaykh Saadi of Shiraz. Indeed “Persian-Immersion”.

    My wife and I moved to Toronto, Canada in 1989. Here I pursued graduate studies and completed a PhD in Middle Eastern Civilizations, from the University of Toronto. For my thesis I analyzed the Persian hero – jawanmardi (literally: young manliness). This research helped me tremendously after we moved to Afghanistan in 2003, where I developed a leadership – management training program for Afghan professionals and students. I explore how modern leadership and management concerns relate to shame / honor and patron-client societies. In other words, how can we be truly honorable leaders and managers.

    Now living in Canada again, I continue as a educational consultant with the faith-based charity, Operation Mobilization. I teach on cultural and faith issues, with a special interest on Christian-Muslim relations, in churches and colleges.

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  • RRRichardson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Quick delivery and enjoyable
    Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2013
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    The provider of the book had it to me so quickly that I did not even have time to think "when is that getting here?" The book is a great collection of stories that I am enjoying very much. I recommend the book and the seller.
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