The Pioneering Spirit Is Fading Amid the Proliferation of Publishing Channels

• Abdulaziz Al-Saqaabi: “Pioneering status has begun to fade amid the proliferation and ease of publishing channels.”

• Hatem Al-Jadiba: “Cultural pioneering has not disappeared; rather, its structure and framework have been reshaped.”

• Fatimah Al-Marwani: “The media did not eliminate pioneering status, but it broke its monopoly.”

Ahwal Al-Ma'rifa: Special Report

The discussion among Saudi writers about the concept of pioneering and pioneers continues. Today, short-story writer and novelist Abdulaziz Al-Saqaabi, poet Hatem Al-Jadiba, and poet Fatimah Al-Marwani contribute new perspectives.

Two days ago, Ahwal Al-Ma'rifa magazine published a cultural investigation into the concept of pioneering and pioneers, considering it an important aspect of the Kingdom’s cultural landscape. With the emergence of multiple generations of Saudi writers and their growing presence in the age of media, has the great pioneering tradition disappeared, and has the presence of pioneers in literature and art declined?

A number of Saudi male and female writers participated in that discussion. Following contributions from writer Muhammad Al-Shiqaha, Dr. Abdulmohsen Al-Qahtani, Dr. Zakia Al-Otaibi, Dr. Zainab Al-Khudairi, Dr. Abdulmohsen Al-Haqeel, writer Abdulwahid Al-Ansari, and writer Kafa Asiri, these new contributions seek to define the characteristics of pioneering and pioneers through different concepts.

A Virtual Space

Abdulaziz Al-Saqaabi says:

“For years, before the information revolution, the dominance of media, and the rise of new media, when printed books, newspapers, and magazines still held a central position, we knew where we stood among the generations of our cultural movement. There were the pioneers, followed by the generations that came after them. In this way, we formed part of a logical historical progression of literary and artistic development.

“Each generation had its own identity, characteristics, and distinctiveness. In literature, for example, we can see how the pioneering generation, represented by figures such as Ahmed Al-Sibai, Aziz Diaa, and Muhammad Hassan Awwad, differed from the generations that followed. Some of those later generations represented a continuation of their predecessors, such as the generation of Hamid Damanhouri, Ibrahim Al-Nasser, and Ghazi Al-Gosaibi.

“Generations then began to emerge more rapidly and evolve, producing a major and important movement, particularly in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, followed by the generation of the 1990s.

“After that, pioneering status began to fade amid the proliferation and ease of publishing channels. Literature then moved into the virtual space through computers, bringing us to the present, when pioneering status often seems to belong to whoever has the strongest presence in this new space, and to whoever can communicate with and reach followers rather than readers.”

Al-Saqaabi further explains the transformations and problems surrounding the concept of pioneering:

“Unfortunately, publishing houses today are not as concerned with your history and creative distinction as they are with your presence on social media. Your evaluation can depend on the number of followers you have.

“As a result, the voices of many writers from earlier generations have faded because they were not convinced by modern social media platforms such as X, Facebook, and others. Meanwhile, some writers recognized the importance of these platforms and became captive to them.

“Some have consequently moved from being pioneers, as they were supposed to be regarded, to becoming celebrities. This is not necessarily a flaw, but rather an attempt to establish a presence through these platforms and communicate and interact with followers rather than readers.

“It is certainly wonderful for a writer to have tens or hundreds of thousands of followers. Yet they still remain at a lower level than what might be called ‘celebrities of the absurd’, who have millions of followers while producing low-quality and unhelpful content.”

Al-Saqaabi concludes by offering a number of suggestions that, in his view, could help clarify the characteristics of different generations:

“We need to return to traditional channels so that the picture becomes clearer. We need cultural magazines that combine scholarly study with creativity. We also need to organize the publication and distribution of literary works, whether creative writing or research studies, so that the characteristics of each generation become clearer and every generation can benefit from those that preceded it.

“The ease of publishing in print and electronically today has allowed us to encounter short stories, poetry, and novels that are below the standard of what was published in earlier periods, particularly before the millennium.

“This happens for two reasons. First, some writers do not read or benefit from the experiences of those who came before them. Second, they are influenced by one another without engaging with the generations that preceded them within the same creative tradition, and therefore miss the opportunity to benefit from their vision and advice.

“I remain committed to the old concept of pioneering, and I fear that the era of genuine pioneering may come to an end, an era in which the passage of time is accompanied by distinguished cultural and literary contributions. We may eventually find people viewing those generations that achieved pioneering status as ‘dinosaurs’ that are supposedly destined for extinction.”

An Exclusive Privilege

Poet Hatem Al-Jadiba, however, offers a different perspective:

“Literary pioneering in the past was similar to an exclusive privilege granted to particular names. It was bestowed and reinforced by the media. A particular name would be cultivated and established through literary and cultural visibility, with layers of accumulated prestige added to it, until its pioneering status became firmly established, particularly given the limited number of publishing platforms available at the time.

“But with the explosion of digital spaces and the proliferation of contemporary media platforms of influence, the established pioneering status of earlier pioneers was shaken and challenged by new cultural and intellectual voices.

“Cultural pioneering has not disappeared. Rather, its structure and framework have been reshaped. The status of the pioneers has remained present, in one form or another, because of their temporal and cultural precedence. At the same time, new cultural elites have emerged with the ability to present ideas and exert influence.

“This has caused pioneering status to move toward greater plurality.”

The Monopoly Has Been Broken

Writer and poet Fatimah Al-Marwani concludes the discussion about pioneering and pioneers by saying:

“It can be said that the presence of pioneers has not declined as much as their position has changed. After once occupying the forefront of the cultural scene on their own, they have now become part of a broad and crowded landscape filled with new voices.

“Media did not eliminate pioneering status, but it broke its monopoly. Pioneering is now built on continuity and renewal rather than precedence alone.