In the context of discussing the role of reading in building critical thought, the Moroccan thinker and academic, Mohamed Noureddine, invoked the “general psychological situation of Moroccan society,” saying: “You may say that this is a formal topic, and it is not final either, but rather it is a major topic. Reading is encouraged by psychologists as a form of therapy, especially after “Corona.” Specialists consider that 48 percent of Moroccans suffer from psychological depression. Do we have the psychological readiness to accept criticism? Do we have the necessary patience to actually address each other in a critical language? And we judge policies in critical ways? And we discuss ideas in critical ways? And we talk to each other in critical ways?
This came within the third session of the Passion for Reading Forum, organized Tuesday at the Faculty of Educational Sciences in Rabat.
Under the slogan “The Role of Reading in Reviving Critical Awareness,” by the Fqih Tetouan Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, and in cooperation with the National Reading Project.
Afaya defined criticism as being inseparable from the act of thinking, which is self-reliant, and it is “a responsibility and an effort that begins with reading and other tools related to the research of others,” and then he added:
“Criticism, on the other hand, requires a climate of freedom, and the fact is that it is not rooted in our prevailing culture, far from marginal spots here and there. Our culture is a culture of answers, not a culture of questions, and not a culture of criticism, in our homes, universities, and institutions, with the exception of cases that are keen to be for thought and encouragement. Motivating him and criticizing him have essential roles.”
The same academic continued: “Criticism often turns into an attack, and is understood as an attack on the person, or it may be understood as hostility and defamation. There are great thinkers in Morocco who do not acknowledge each other. Abdullah Al-Aroui, for example, does not refer to anyone, and Muhammad Abed Al-Jabri discussed Al-Aroui from another perspective and then forgot about him. Cognitively theoretically, it presents an argument against a contrary argument, to develop knowledge; Note that whoever writes should be encouraged, even if we have critical comments, it is obligatory, because writing is a very big existential decision.”
The Moroccan thinker continued: “Criticism may be just an opinion that we express and requires comfort in listening, for evaluation, based on concrete evidence and documents, but we are afraid of criticism, just as we are afraid of freedom, for freedom is a great responsibility, which may be given to us and we do not know how to deal with it. We are accustomed to flattery, praise, compliments, and saying yes, and often we do not have to question ourselves.”
In addition to the questions of the German philosopher Kant: What can I know? What should I do? What am I allowed to hope for? What is human? The Moroccan philosopher Afaya added a question: How do we live? As a question, like its predecessors, it cannot be avoided; “To give meaning to our thought and our lives.”
Regarding the questions of reading and education, the speaker stated that there was no answer to the question: “What human being and citizen do we want to create?” “We will continue to flounder,” then he added, explaining: “There is often preachy rhetorical exaggeration about the importance of reading in formation, with a severe and tragic deficiency in acquiring and using languages, whether in reading or communication (…) and there has been great political confusion in implementing the strategic vision for education, while emptying it.” Among its goals are to achieve a quality school for all and advance the individual and society. This is in addition to an inaccurate translation, and may even be distorted, of levers mentioned in the new development model (…) regarding school teaching of reading and artistic education for self-sharpening.”
The author of the book “The Suspended Renaissance” added this to “the various forms of waste and forgetfulness we suffer from.” Among them are the “Pentecostal Report,” “Total Wealth,” and the “New Development Model,” saying: “Ultimately, we do not work on implementation, and we rethink every five years.” The opportunity to reform education in the ‘Strategic Vision’, and I am speaking here from within it, was historic, but politics played a major role in obfuscating this matter. This is a flaw, because we may understand the rotation of decisions in certain sectors, but it is difficult to subject the education system to partisan considerations and balances, which change from one government to another, and each minister comes with his own vision and arsenal to cancel what his predecessor approved.”
He renewed his criticism of the “waste” facing “the inflation that Morocco has in reports, books, recommendations, and countless suggestions, to the point of glut and boredom.”
Regarding the transformations in reading, and the issues of the country and the era, the same thinker asked: “Within the noise surrounding us, do we still have the capabilities to perceive what surrounds us, through the five windows of the body to the world, that is, the senses, and to differentiate between the real and the virtual?” And in the attention economy, do our students, our students, and us… do we still possess the necessary components of attention in light of forgetting our phone numbers, the names of those dear to us, and the severe addiction to the point of turning us into slaves to other forms of alienation, which distort the capabilities of the mind, whether we read or not? ?
One of the issues affecting the human relationship with information and knowledge is an issue related to the state. That is, “in which country?”; Because there is, according to the speaker, “an official discourse on ‘citizen ownership’ and this is a beautiful and constructive thing; But how do we gradually free ourselves from authoritarianism? And we arrange exchange and participation?”, noting that there are “wonderful (official, existing) initiatives to encourage reading.”
Afaya raised “the issue of societal differences.” Because researchers “do not actually have a picture of readability in Morocco, and we receive annual reports from the King Abdul Aziz Foundation in Casablanca on reading and publishing, but today we do not have a real sociological study on reading in Morocco,” and he added: “I tend to think that medium and small cities read more than Big cities, but we need real research on reading in Morocco. I was surprised that an international book fair took place in Morocco, a major event, that did not result in any research work on the books that are read, who are the visiting groups, and where did they come from?
Muhammad Nour El-Din Afaya defended that “reading is not just a means, but rather one of the great levers of existence for a person, to find answers to his existential anxiety, in his way of thinking, and to illuminate the details of his life,” then he pointed out opinions that say that criticism is an extra name; It is linked to all intellectual discourse, that is, to all “awakened thinking.”
The same academic continued: “Criticism is questioning intuitions, or what appears to be so, and disrupting the frameworks of thinking that aim to distort minds, seize wills, disturb freedom, distract people with the appearances of things, and the temptations of consumption, and resisting submission to what provokes perception and emotion. Critical awareness can always be acquired, and the new generation can acquire it through reading or otherwise.
Women in society have a major role in reading, and reading societies are those in which women read, such as Denmark and Germany, where we find that female readers are at the forefront of those who rush to buy books, more than men. If we truly want to expand the circle of reading, we must necessarily educate girls and encourage women and girls to read more. When the children open their eyes to the mother opening a book, this will necessarily attract their attention.”
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2024-06-15 11:03:18