Culture and literature of Saudi Arabia The cultural setting of Saudi Arabia is Arab and Islam, and features

many elements from historical ritual and folk culture such as dance and music. Traditional values and cultural mores are adapted into legal prohibitions, even for non-Muslims who are forbidden by law from publicly practicing their faith inside the kingdom, although they are free to do so in the privacy of their own homes. or e!ample, "hristmas decorations are sold in supermarkets, but you will not find "hristmas parties advertised. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited as are pork products. Saudi Arabia is well known for its uni#ue way of life which, in its own way, preserves its centuries-old heritage.$citation needed% Although Saudi Arabia used to have strict law against women, &ing Abdullah authori'ed women (obs as sale assistants for lingerie and cosmetics in addition to their (obs in the education and medicine fields. )I**MA+, T,-MAS .. /Saudi .omen Shatter the )ingerie "eiling/. +ew 0ork Times. 1etrieved 23 +ovember 4523. 1estrictions on cinema In the 2675s, movie theaters were banned, and this ban has only recently begun to be liberali'ed for special holidays, and to encourage the development of Saudi cinema. "ertain films and television shows on 8,S, and more recently 989, are prohibited, while other films and television shows are permitted with censorship. -ther forms of popular entertainment, music cassettes and "9s, novels, maga'ines, comic books, computer software, and video games are generally permitted, if they can be officially censored for immorality, or causing political offense to the government, especially the royal family. +ews media :ducated Saudis are well informed of issues of the Arab world, the Muslim world, and the world at large, but freedom of the press and public e!pression of opinion are not recogni'ed by the government. +ews stories, public speeches and other acts of personal e!pression cannot conflict with traditional Islamic values, or dissent from government policy, insult government officials, especially the royal family, and cannot delve too deeply into certain sensitive and taboo sub(ect matters that might embarrass the government or spread dissent, i.e. the role of women in Saudi society, the treatment of Shiite Muslims, damage caused by natural disasters, or social problems such as AI9S-,I8 pandemic and human trafficking. "ivil society Informal public discussion of public policy is not actively encouraged, although it is not e!pressly illegal per se, unless it is deemed to be promoting immorality, dissent or disloyalty. The government has created a national "onsultative "ouncil, and given permission for certain /societies/ to e!ist; and limited non-partisan municipal elections were held in 455<. 0et, the "onsultative "ouncil is an appointed body with limited powers, and the legal societies have little ability to influence government policy. )abor unions are prohibited, as are political parties, although a few underground political parties do e!ist.$2% Music and dance -ne of Saudi Arabia=s most compelling folk rituals is the Al Ardha, the country=s national dance. This sword dance is based on ancient >edouin traditions? drummers beat out a rhythm and a poet chants verses while sword-carrying men dance shoulder to shoulder. Al-sihba folk music, has its origins in al-Andalus. In Mecca, Medina and @eddah, dance and song incorporate the sound of the mi'mar, an oboe-like woodwind instrument in the performance of the mi'mar dance. The drum is also an important instrument according to traditional and tribal customs. Samri is a popular traditional form of music and dance in which poetry is sung. 9ress The religion and customs of Saudi Arabia dictate conservative dress for both men and women. oreigners are given some leeway in the matter of dress, but they are e!pected to follow local customs, particularly in public places. As a general rule, foreign men should wear long trousers and shirts that cover the upper torso. oreign women should wear loose fitting skirts with hemlines well below the knee. Sleeves should be at least elbow length and the neckline modest. The best fashion guideline is /conceal rather than reveal/. Teenagers are also re#uired to dress modestly in public places. @eans should not be tight fitting and low necks and tank tops are not recommended. Shorts and bathing suits should not be worn in public. .hatever their (ob or social status, Saudi men wear the traditional dress called a thobe. .earing the thobe e!presses e#uality and is also perfectly suited to the hot Saudi climate. 9uring warm and hot weather, white thobes are worn by Saudi men and boys. 9uring the cool

weather, wool thobes in dark colours are not uncommon. At special times, men often wear a bisht or mishlah over the thobe. These are long white, brown or black cloaks trimmed in gold. A man=s headdress consists of three things? the tagia, a small white cap that keeps the gutra from slipping off the head; the gutra itself, which is a large s#uare of cloth; and the igal, a doubled black cord that holds the gutra in place. Some men may choose not to wear the igal. The gutra is usually made of cotton and traditionally Saudis wear either a white one or a red and white checked one. The gutra is worn folded into a triangle and centred on the head. .hen a Saudi women appears in public, she normally wears a voluminous black cloak called an abayah, a scarf covering her hair and a full face veil. There are varying opinions regarding the wearing of the abayah and the veil; however, Saudi women cover themselves in public and in the presence of men who are not close relatives. .omen=s fashions do not stop with the abayah though if you are a male that is all you are likely to see. >eneath the black cloak, Saudi women en(oy fashionable clothing and take great pride in their appearance. They en(oy bright colors and lavish material. +on-Muslim women living in Saudi Arabia must wear the abayah by law. )iterature Some Saudi novelists have had their books published in Aden, 0emen, because of censorship in Saudi Arabia. 9espite signs of increasing openness, Saudi novelists and artists in film, theatre, and the visual arts used to face greater restrictions on their freedom of e!pression than in the .est, things are starting to change nowadays and a lot of contemporary novelists and artists are being well known in Saudi Arabia and internationally. "ontemporary Saudi novelists and artists include? Abdul 1ahman Munif-Munif Turki al-,amad Asub(ect of a fatwB and death threatsC 1a(a=a Alem 1a(aa Al Sanie, author of best-selling novel Dirls of 1iyadh Dha'i Abdul 1ahman Al Dosaibi Saad Al->a'ei Manal Al 9owayan 1a(a and Shadia Alem Abdulnasser Dharem ,aifaa al-Mansour >edouin poetry is a cultural tradition in Saudi Arabia. Sandra Mackey, author of The Saudis? Inside the 9esert &ingdom, said /the role that formal poetry, prose, and oratory play in Saudi culture is totally alien to .estern culture./ Mackey e!plained that the >edouin poet was the origin of Saudi society=s traditionally strong attachment to the concept of language. She said that poetry /can arise in the most curious of situations/ due to the role of poetry in Saudi culture. Sport ootball is the national sport in Saudi Arabia. In recent years, some Saudi players currently play in :urope. The Saudi Arabian national football team is governed by the Saudi Arabia ootball ederation AS C. The national team competed in the I A .orld "up four times, and the A " Asian "up 24 times. Some sports are prohibited in Saudi Arabia. That includes sports that involve killing. >asketball is also popular. The Saudi Arabian national basketball team won the bron'e medal at the 2666 Asian "hampionship. 1eligion Main articles? 1eligion in Saudi Arabia, reedom of religion in Saudi Arabia, and Islam in Saudi Arabia The &ingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Islamic theocratic monarchy in which Islam is the official religion; the law re#uires that all Saudi citi'ens be Muslims. 1eligious freedom is non-e!istent. The Dovernment does not provide legal recognition or protection for freedom of religion, and it is severely restricted in practice. Moreover, the public practice of non-Muslim religions is prohibited.% The Saudi Mutaween AArabic? EFGHIJC, or "ommittee for the *ropagation of 8irtue and the *revention of 8ice Ai.e., the religious policeC, enforces the prohibition on the public practice of non-Muslim religions. or this reason, Saudi culture lacks the diversity of religious e!pression, buildings, annual festivals and public events that is seen in countries where religious freedom is permitted.

English in india :nglish in the Indian Subcontinent @ust as in the "aribbean, the :nglish )anguage arrived in South Asia as a result of coloni'ation. Knlike its history in the "aribbean, however, :nglish has always co-e!isted in the Indian subcontinent alongside thousands of local languages. So for most of the population, it has only ever been a second language. The origins of :nglish in India The >ritish first arrived in India in the early 2L55s and soon established trading posts in a number of cities under the control of The :ast India "ompany. >y 2ML< the "ompanyNs influence had grown to such an e!tent that the >ritish were effectively controlling most parts of the country. This date is often taken as the start of what is referred to as The 1a( O a period of >ritish rule in India that lasted until Independence in 26PM. Initially :nglish was only taught to the local population through the work of "hristian missionaries O there were no official attempts to force the language on the masses. >ut by the 2M55s, :nglish had firmly established itself as the language of administration and many educated Indians were demanding instruction in :nglish as a means of social advancement. >y 27<M universities had opened in >ombay, "alcutta and Madras. :nglish was increasingly accepted as the language of government, of the social elite, and of the national press. After Independence After Independence, India became a nation state, and it was intended that :nglish would gradually be phased out as the language of administration. >ut there was no simple solution as to which language should replace it. At first ,indi, the most widely spoken language, seemed the obvious choice, but following violent protests in 26L3 in the state of Tamil +adu against the imposition of ,indi as a national language, opinion has remained divided. In a country with over 655 million people and more than a thousand languages, it is difficult to choose a single national language, as mother tongue speakers of that language would automatically en(oy greater social status and have easier access to positions of power and influence. :ven Dhandi, a proponent of a native variety as a national language, accepted that his message was most widely understood if e!pressed in :nglish. So, although :nglish is not an indigenous language, it remains as an QAssociate )anguageN in India, alongside ,indi, the Q-fficial )anguage of the Knion of IndiaN and eighteen =+ational )anguages=, such as >engali, Du(urati and Krdu, that have a special status in certain individual states. :nglish in India today 9espite continued pressure from nationalists, :nglish remains at the heart of Indian society. It is widely used in the media, in ,igher :ducation and government and therefore remains a common means of communication, both among the ruling classes, and between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages. According to recent surveys, appro!imately PR of the Indian population use :nglish. That figure might seem insignificant, but out of the total population this represents 3< million speakers O the largest :nglish-speaking community outside the KSA and the K&. In addition there are speakers of :nglish in other parts of South Asia, such as *akistan, >angladesh and Sri )anka, where :nglish plays a similar role. :nglish is virtually a mother tongue for many educated South Asians, but for the vast ma(ority it remains a second language. This means there are speakers whose spoken :nglish is heavily influenced by speech patterns of their ethnic language, alongside those whose speech reveals nothing of their racial background and some who are ranged somewhere in between. Asian influence There are a number of elements that characterise the more Qe!tremeN forms of South Asian :nglish. In terms of pronunciation, many speakers do not differentiate between the sounds SvT and SwT. They might also replace SthT in words like think and this with a StT and SdT sound, as no Indian languages contain these consonants. Knder the influence of traditional ,indi grammar, speakers often use progressive tenses in statements, such as I am believing you or she is liking music. Anyone who has e!perience of speech in the K&=s Asian communities will also have encountered the phenomenon of code-switching O mi!ing words, phrases or even whole sentences from two different languages within the same conversation. The occasional or even fre#uent use of a ,indi Aor Krdu, *un(abi, Du(urati etc.C word or e!pression within an :nglish sentence can

communicate a great sense of shared identity or solidarity with other speakers. This characteristic feature of Asian speech has led commentators to coin popular terms, such as ,inglish Ai.e. ,indi :nglishC or *inglish Ai.e. *akistani :nglishC. Kwentong bayan

Ang kwentong bayan ay ang mga kwentong galing sa ating bayan. Ito ay mga kwentong napasalin-salin sa iba=t ibang tao na napapatungkol sa kwento ng ating bayan. Daling pa ito sa mga nakakatanda hanggang napasalin sa mga henerasyon. )ahat ng bansa ay may sariling kwentong bayan. Ito ay isang anyo ng panitikan na pampalipas oras at kadalasa=y ikinukwento sa mga bata upang kapulutan ng aral. At ang kadalasang paksa ay mga bagay na nakapaninindig-balahibo tulad ng tungkol sa mga aswang, maligno, kapre, mga sirena at nuno sa punso. Ang kuwentong bayan ay isang maikling salaysay na nagpalipat-lipat sa salinlahi sa pamamagitan ng mga bibig. >inubuo ito ng mga alamat at pabula. ,alimbawa ng mga salaysay nito ay tungkol sa bayani at mga kwentong tungkol sa kaugalian at tradisyon ng isang pook, tribu, bayan o mga bansa. Ang batik ng buwan Maikling &uwentong U >ayan +g >isaya Mag-asawa ang araw at ng buwan. Marami silang mga anak na bituin. Dustung-gusto ng araw na makipaglaro sa kanyang mga anak at ibig na ibig niyang yakapin angmga ito ngunit pinagbawalan siya ng buwan sapagkat matutunaw ang mga bituin salabis na init ng araw. &inagagalitan ng araw ang mga anak kapag lumalapit sa kanya.Isang araw, nagtungo sa ilog ang buwan upang maglaba ng maruruming damit.Ipinagbilin niya sa asawa na bantayan ang mga anak ngunit huwag niyang lalapitan angmga ito. >inantayan nga ng araw ang mga anak. >uong kasiyahan niyang pinanoodang mga ito habang naghahabulan. +akadama siya ng pananabik at hindi siya nakatiisna hindi yakapin ang mga anak. >igla niyang niyakap ang lipon ng maliliit na bituin nangmadikit sa kanya ay biglang natunaw.,indi naman nagtagal at umuwi n ang buwan. +agtaka siya sapagkat malungkotang asawa. +aisipan niyang bilangin ang mga anak ngunit hindi nya nakita ang maliliitkaya=t hinanap niya ang mga ito kung saan-saan. ,indi niya matagpuan ang mga anak.Sa gayo=y sinumabatan niya ang asawa. /+iyakap mo silaV ,uwag kangmagsisinungalingWX,indi na naghintay ng sagot ang buwan. Mabilis niyang binunot ang isangpunong saging at tinangkang ipukol sa asawa na nakalimutan na ang kanyangkasalanan. Ang tanging nasa isp niya ay kung paano niya maipagtatanggol ang sarili saasawang galit na galit. 9umampot siya ng isang dakot na buhangin at inihagis sa nukhang buwan at dahilan sa nangyari ay nagkaroon ng batik ang mukha ng buwan. ,inabolng buwan ang araw upang makaganti sa ginawa nito sa kanya at hanggang ngayon ayhinahabol pa rin ng buwan ang araw.

Ang duwende Isang &uwentong->ayan mula sa >ikol Malalim na ang gabi at abalang-abala pa sa pananahi ang dalawang magkapatid na babae. Tinatahi nila ang mga kamisa at saya nila, na isusuot nila para sa isang misa kinaumagahan.

Ibinilin ng kanilang ina na siguruhing nakasara ang pinto at mga bintana ng kanilang bahay, kundi ay papasok ang duwende, na bumibisita sa kanila tuwing hatinggabi. Kpang malaman ng kaniyang mga anak kung ano ang duwende, ikinuwento niya ito? /&atulad lang ng mga ordinaryong tao ang mga duwende. Tuso silang mga nilalang, ngunit matulungin din. Ilan sa mga kapilyuhang ginagawa nila ay ang pagsira sa mga muwebles at mga larawan, pagbasag sa mga salamin, baso, plato, at tasa. &ung hindi sila makahanap ng mga bagay na sisirain o babasagin, kinukurot nila ang mga pisngi, braso, at katawan ng mga tulog na babae, upang maging mabigat ang pakiramdam nila pagkagising. &ung hindi kinaasaran ng mga duwende ang mga nakatira sa bahay na madalas nilang bisitahin, nagpapakita sila ng kabaitan sa mga ito. Sinasabing dinadalhan nila ang mga kaibigan nila ng mga masasarap na pagkain at ipinagtatanggol sila mula sa mga masasamang nilalang. Maraming tao tuloy ang sabik ngunit balisang makakilala ng duwende. Itinuturing nila ang mga nilalang na nagtataglay ng kakaibang karunungan dahil sinasabing alam na alam nila ang mga lihim at ikinikilos ng mga tao. +gunit kung sakaling ang mga naging kaibigan ng duwende ay biglang nagsabi ng anumang masama o nagbalak ng masama sa kanila, kahit pa hindi sila marinig ng mga duwende, ay parurusahan sila at hindi na muling babalikan. /Ang duwendeng binabanggit ko rito ay madalas sa bahay namin habang ang nanay ko, o ang lola ninyo, ay buhay pa. *arati niyang sinasabi sa aming isara ang pinto at mga bintana bago kami matulog. Isang gabi, nang nagtatahi rin kami ng kapatid ko ng kamisa at saya, nakalimutan naming isara ang mga bintana at pinto. Ilang segundo bago maghatinggabi, naroon ang isang maliit na nilalang na nakatayo sa aming pinto. Maliit siya, kasinliit lamang ng isang dalawang taong gulang na bata; pula ang kaniyang mukha; mayroon siyang mahabang bigote at maputing kulot na buhok. Maigsi ang mga braso niyang balingkinitan, ngunit malaki ang mga kamay niya-malaki para sa kaniyang braso./+ang marinig ng mga dalaga ang kuwento ng kanilang ina, natakot sila. +ang maghatinggabi, narinig nila ang mga tunog? takla, takla, takla. Dawa ito ng duwende. Takot na takot ang dalawa. )umingon ang panganay, at nakita niya ang duwende na pumapasok sa pinto. At katulad ng inaasahan, tumakbo at tumalon siya papasok ng bahay, papunta sa mga dalaga. 9ahil doon, nasipa niya ang isang gasera, na nagpaliyab sa mga kamisa at saya. Mula noon, naging maingat na ang magkapatid at ang buong bayan ng )egaspi sa duwende. Isinasara na nila ang kanilang mga pinto at mga bintana bago sila matulog sa gabi.