The Arab of the Future

The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984: A Graphic Memoir
Date	2015
Page count	160 pages
Publisher	Metropolitan Books
Creative team
Writer	Riad Sattouf
Artist	Riad Sattouf
Original publication
Language	French

The Arab of the Future (French: L'Arabe du futur) is a graphic novel by award-winning French-Syrian cartoonist Riad Sattouf.^[1] The work recounts Sattouf's childhood growing up in France, Libya and Syria in the 1970s and 80s.^[2] The first volume of L'Arabe du futur won the 2015 Fauve d’Or prize for best graphic novel at the Angoulême International Comics Festival.^[3][4] Sattouf’s father influenced the name of the book through his ideal of raising his son as an Arab of the future. Purposefully written from the perspective of a child, Sattouf employs simplistic yet comprehensive drawings that are more rudimentary yet not entirely dissimilar to his other works such as “La Vie Secrète des Jeunes”, his column in the famous satirical French magazine, Charlie Hebdo.^[5] Both “La Vie Secrète des Jeunes” and The Arab of the Future are written from Sattouf’s point of view: The Arab of the Future being his childhood and “La Vie” being his daily observations as an adult.

Plot

Sattouf was the oldest son of Clementine, a modest French woman, and Abdul-Razak, a flamboyant Syrian man. He was born in France in 1978 but moved to Libya after his father declared the French to be racist and was offered a job as associate professor. Muammar Gaddafi, the Prime Minister of Libya, abolished private property so that all housing was free. Sattouf’s two friends from Libya were Abani, a Hindu girl and Adnan, a Muslim boy. Each day, the citizens would line up to get food from a cooperative, which was usually bread, eggs, and Tang (orange juice). Gaddafi declared war, ready to take on America and kill Reagan. Riad left Libya in 1982 when he was 4 years old.

Part one of three volumes, The Arab of the Future begins with Sattouf’s childhood in France. He describes himself as “perfect” with “long, thick, silky, platinum-blonde hair” and “bright puppy-dog eyes.” With a particular charming demeanor, he portrays himself as a natural at living and beloved by all, especially women who wanted to hold him and ogle at such an adorable child. Quickly, in an uncharacteristic move, Sattouf seamlessly moves from his memories to the memory of how his parents met. Here he introduces his mother a French woman named Clémentine and his father an idealistic Syrian man pursuing his Ph.D. at Sorbonne University, Abdul Razak Sattouf. Although Sattouf does not use his mother’s name in his book, he recounted her pseudonym to a reporter from the New Yorker.^[6]

After his father finishes his dissertation and accepts a job as an associate professor, the family moves to Libya. In Libya, the group is astonished to find that there are no locks on their house, a move instituted by the then-Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi to abolish private property. After being forced out of their small apartment once, the family finds refuge in another apartment that Riad and his mother guard while his father is at work. It is there, as Riad plays in the hallway that the audience is introduced to his first friends, Adnan and Abani. In Libya, Sattouf and his father stand in line for food rations and the audience hears Abdul Razak’s political opinions regarding Arab unity, racial biases, and his obsession with eating creatures.

After visits from his Syrian grandmother, who Sattouf delights in the smell of her sweat, and his French grandmother, who smells like perfume, the family moves to France for a short period where Riad meets his French grandfather, and goes to public school for the first time. In France, Riad is praised for his drawings of French president Georges Pompidou, lives in his grandmother’s ghost-haunted house, and learns of his baby brother. After this, the family moves to Abdul Razak’s hometown in Syria. Here he encounters an explicit amount of bullying in which his cousins mercilessly bully him for looking like a Jew. Riad is also subject to strict gender segregation, his father’s feud with his brother, and another stint at school, although this time Riad is unable to understand because he does not speak the Syrian dialect. Here, Riad meets his first true friends, Wael and Mohammad, who teach him Syrian Arabic and play with him. After this, Sattouf and his family move back to Paris for a short respite before moving back to Syria.

Critical Reception

The Arab of the Future has received widespread critical acclaim and is considered an instant classic among graphic memoirs. The text has been translated into sixteen languages,^[7] demonstrating its international appeal.

Michel Hazanavicius, Academy Award winning director of The Artist, proclaims “Seriously funny and penetratingly honest, Riad Sattouf tells the epic story of his eccentric and troubled family. Written with tenderness, grace, and piercing clarity, The Arab of the Future is one of those books that transcend their form to become a literary masterpiece."^[8]

The New York Times described the graphic memory as "“Exquisitely illustrated, and filled with experiences of misfortune bordering on the farcical, Mr. Sattouf’s book is a disquieting yet essential read."^[9]

References

External links

• The Arab of the Future website.