Terry Eagleton, one of Britain’s most abrasive public intellectuals, has added to that reputation of late through his ongoing feud with Martin Amis, another British writer and intellectual over Islam. And now he has written a book that sees Jesus as a Palestinian insurgent.
According to Guardian, the feud began when Eagleton took issue with Amis’s now infamous remark, made in an interview, that after the failed plot to blow up transatlantic planes in August 2006 he felt ’a definite urge’ to argue that British Muslims in general ’must suffer’ for the actions of suicide bombers ’until they got their house in order’. By suffering he meant ’strip searching people who look like they’re from the Middle East or from Pakistan’, ’not letting them [Muslims] travel’, and ’further down the road’, deportation. These comments, Eagleton wrote.
Formerly Warton Professor of English at Oxford, currently John Edward Taylor Professor of Cultural Theory at Manchester has always looked to ’rough up the edges of the mainstream’, as he calls it
Eagleton asks the question, ’Was Christ a revolutionary?’ and answers it mostly in the affirmative.
It places Jesus on the fringe of Palestinian insurgents against Rome, in the political wing of the anti-imperialist Zealots
Meanwhile, the Vatican on Wednesday condemned the film “The Golden Compass,“ which some have called anti-Christian, saying it promotes a cold and hopeless world without God.
In a long editorial, the Vatican newspaper l’Osservatore Romano, also slammed Philip Pullman, the bestselling author of the book on which the family fantasy movie is based.
It was the Vatican’s most stinging broadside against an author and a film since it roundly condemned “The Da Vinci Code“ in 2005 and 2006.
“In Pullman’s world, hope simply does not exist, because there is no salvation but only personal, individualistic capacity to control the situation and dominate events,“ the editorial said.
The film, which premiered earlier this month in the United States and stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, is an adaptation of Pullman’s acclaimed novel “Northern Lights“.

No eminence is more exalting
than piety.

Head of Norway Storytelling Institute said that narrating stories nurtures creativity among children.
Tor Grimstone, who took part in the recently concluded Storytelling Festival in Shiraz, Fars province, further said that the event provided an opportunity to introduce Iranian culture to the world.
The artist held an educational workshop on the sidelines of the festival, which was organized by the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and the Young Adults (IIDCYA), said the institute’s Public Relations Office in a fax to Iran Daily.
“Persian tales are simple yet meaningful,“ he said, adding that unlike their counterparts in Iran, Norwegian storytellers make full use of performing arts.
He added that storytelling in Norway is going through a renaissance and attracts more people these days. “Storytelling develops creativity in children, since it helps them analyze data and not blindly accept any information,“ he said.
Grimstone further noted that governments should support storytelling institutes and allocate budget for their undertakings.
The 11th Storytelling Festival wrapped up on Friday.

Hamid Samandarian

Prominent Iranian theater director Hamid Samandarian plans to restage ’The Visit’, by Swiss author and dramatist Friedrich Durrenmatt, in Tehran’s City Theater.
Samandarian, who earlier staged the play about 30 years ago, is currently rehearsing with a full cast in Vahdat Hall.
Commenting on the play, he told ISNA that ’The Visit’ (literally translated as ’The Visit of the Old Lady’) is one of the best dramas of the 20th century, since it is an eternal work which is not restricted to a certain period.
“A good drama comprises of several dimensions and can be interpreted differently according to social and political conditions,“ he said.
Samandarian, who had also staged Durrenmatt’s ’Strindberg’s Play’ seven years ago, is now rehearsing with a 70-member troupe.
The cast includes Gohar Kheirandish, Houshang Qavanlou and Ahmad Sa’atchian as well as some of his students.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed his country’s readiness to renovate the birthplace of the great Iranian poet and mystic Molana Jalaleddin Rumi, in Balkh.
Speaking in a ceremony to mark the eighth birth centenary of the poet, Erdogan said that Molana was born in Balkh (then a city of Greater Khorasan in Persia, now part of Afghanistan). He then migrated to Baghdad and later to Konya in present-day Turkey, CHN reported.
Molana Jalaleddin Rumi was born in 1207 AD in Balkh. His father Baha Al-Din was a renowned religious scholar. Under his guidance, Rumi received his early education from Syed Borhan Al-Din.
When he was about 18 years old, the family (after several migrations) finally settled in Konya.
Molana, who is famous for his mystical insight, was trained by Shams-e Tabrizi. He died in 1273 AD in Konya and was buried there.
Despite attempts by Turkey to introduce Molana as a Turkish poet, all his famous works, including Masnavi Ma’navi, are in Persian.

The last film of the late Iranian director, Rasoul Mollaqolipour, ’M for Mother’ will be screened at the 19th annual Palm Springs Film Festival in the US which showcases a decidedly global flavor.
According to Variety, The 2008 installment will feature 222 films from more than 60 countries.
Fest, which runs from January 3 through 14, will offer 69 premieres, including the world bows of US pics ’Chihuly in the Hotshop’, ’Cosmic Radio’ and ’Hollywood Singing & Dancing’ plus ’Icons’ (US/Romania/Bulgaria).
Fest will close Jan. 13 with the French romantic comedy ’Priceless’, directed by Pierre Salvadori and starring Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh. Festivities also include the American premiere of ’Before the Rains’ (US/India) as its World Cinema Now gala.
With a nod to the upcoming Oscars, fest’s Awards Buzz program will screen 55 of the official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for foreign-language film.
A special jury of international film critics including Ronald Bergen (UK), Isabelle Danel (France) and Adam Nayman (Canada) will award prizes for foreign-language film, actor and actress.

Some 85 posters by 34 artists were selected for an exhibition featuring 25 years of Iranian theater poster, which will be held concurrent with the 26th Fajr International Theater Festival.
According to MNA, Arash Tanhaei, head of Artistic Committee and secretary of the event said that these works were chosen from among 283 entries submitted by 63 graphic designers.
Artists participating at the exhibit include Yahya Pakdel, Siyavash Fani, Hamid Nikokhah, Morteza Atabaki and Siamak Ehsaei.
The exhibition will be held in two sections: competition and review.

A retrospective of renowned surrealist artist, Iran Darroudi, will be held at Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts on April 29, 2008.
Darroudi’s paintings are mainly inspired by nature featuring flowers, crystals and pearls in a symbolic manner, said the museum’s Public Relations Office.
Darroudi was born in 1936 in Mashhad. After obtaining her high school diploma, she left Iran to study at Ecole Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She also studied history of art at Ecole du Louvre and graduated from R.C.A. Institute of New York in TV direction and production.
Her first solo exhibition was held in Miami in 1958 at the invitation of the Florida State Art Center.
Besides writing books and articles on painting, Darroudi produced and directed a 55-minute documentary film titled ’Venice Biennial 1968’. Some of her paintings include, ’The Bold Persian Gulf’, ’Eternal Marriage’ and ’Everlasting Portrait’.