Is the computer replacing the book as the most relevant instrument for culture, asks Mohamed Sid-Ahmed In trying to discern the direction in which things are moving, some events stand out as significant signposts of what the future may hold. One such signpost is the importance given by the new Egyptian cabinet to Information Technology (IT), which has become the prism colouring its perception of the world. Another is the high priority Egypt is giving to the International Book Fair, which opened in Frankfurt yesterday, and at which the Arabs have been accorded guest of honour status. At both government and party levels, IT is seen as the key to reform, and steps are already being taken to introduce electronic data bases into key ministries and public organisations in a bid to overcome both the stultifying bureaucracy in state organs and the apathy of the people. Critics of this approach believe that Egypt's massive problems require more than a technocratic solution. They point out that while an enormous effort is being furnished worldwide for the classification of information in terms of objective rules, no similar effort is underway to create the necessary channels to assimilate information subjectively; that is, for knowledge to settle down in the psyche of every individual. There is no denying that the computer is an extremely important invention that has totally transformed contemporary life and opened new vistas for human development. But at the end of the day it is just an instrument designed to classify, store and access information, not to generate ideas that feed the imagination and the soul. It is not in itself a source of creativity. From this viewpoint, it is the book, not the computer, which holds the key position. Herein lies the importance of the Frankfurt Book Fair, one of the most significant cultural forums in the world, especially this year, where Arab books and literature will be put into prominence. But despite its lack of any creative ability, the computer does enhance both the input and output of information, making computer literacy a vital requirement of progress in the information age. Reading a book, on the other hand, is a free choice for each individual, not a collective societal process. Literary and artistic creativity does not flourish or decay in conjunction with the progress or decline of technology. Backward societies can produce outstanding writers and artists, and the opposite is also true. Awesome technological advances can go hand in hand with mediocre literary production, for the value of a book lies in the subjective talent of its author, regardless of the objective reality in which he lives. For example, the great French author and playwright Jean Genet was a petty criminal and repeat offender who wrote some of his best works in prison. Recognised as an outstanding literary talent by no less a personage than Jean-Paul Sartre, who wrote a landmark essay on his protégé entitled "Saint Genet, Comedian and Martyr," Genet is living proof that creative abilities can flourish in the most unlikely environments. The Frankfurt Book Fair reflects the literary and artistic output of society, not of the state. The stability, wealth and progress of a state are no guarantee of literary and artistic excellence. By the same token, a state could be passing through a serious crisis and still produce high quality art and literature, even if this takes the form of violent criticism of the state and of its failings. The relationship between the flourishing of art on one hand and of technology on the other is not direct. The elements that affect one of these processes are not the same as those that affect the other. The outcome of the Frankfurt Book Fair can be very positive this year despite the desperate situation in many Arab countries. But it can also be very negative if Arab intellectuals continue bickering among themselves instead of seizing the opportunity to rectify the negative image of the Arab and Islamic worlds. There are those who believe that information technology is bound to affect the future of literary and artistic activities and that books are on the way to extinction. The rapid pace of life leaves little time for leisurely pastimes like reading, forcing desperate writers driven by the profit motive to resort to sensationalism, injecting their novels with heavy doses of sex, suspense and violence. Many bestsellers today are based on totally unnatural situations only conceivable in an imaginary world of virtual reality. Although both books and computers are related to culture, their roles in society are very different. Books deal with the issues of content in culture, ie, qualitative issues, while computers deal with aspects of form in culture, i.e. quantitative issues. The Internet has made it possible to make a gigantic leap forward in providing the citizen with information in a wide variety of fields (an issue of quantity), but books are essential to understand the meaning of this information (an issue of quality). The feeling that books are on the way out is due to the fact that computers have greatly developed how written material is presented, while written material itself has not changed to the same extent in content. This has given the impression that the role of the computer has overshadowed that of books. But cell phones give an idea of what can be developed in future. Such phones now produce pictures, not only text, and not only sound. If the text in question is extended in length it could become a book which, thanks to computer techniques, can perform other tasks as well. Thus, computers make book material more flexible and easier to manipulate. In other words, books are enriched by computers, not impoverished. It thus appears that IT is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to promote human development in the present period. Books have tremendous importance and a computer is no substitute for a book. The Frankfurt Book Fair still plays a very important role, especially for Arabs and Muslims this year. Yet concern for the Arab book and for IT in the Arab world has not reached the point it needs to reach in a contemporary environment. As Egypt is now concerned with the problems of education and education curricula, there should be an equal concern with culture, reading and the handling of books. This does not only mean eradicating illiteracy (though still a serious handicap), but also providing books at reasonable prices that people can afford to buy in the present difficult economic situation. From this viewpoint, calling for the help of computer techniques in producing books is an imperative. There are also the transformations at the global level, the collapse of the bipolar world order and the displacement of the more acute confrontations from East/West to North/South, to a confrontation between the Judeo-Christian world and the Arab/Islamic one. In such conditions, a thorough knowledge of the Other is a must. The Frankfurt Fair is fundamental from this viewpoint. Arab intellectuals will not be forgiven if they miss this opportunity to take advantage of the Frankfurt Book Fair to make their case better understood in one of the world's most prestigious forums.
