Milton's Areopagitica in the Arab World Today

Abstract

This paper places Milton's opinions on freedom of expression, in particular his seminal prose work, Areopagitica, into the context of the Arab world today. Areopagitica was translated into Arabic only very recently (2009) by Mohamed Enani. This study analyses the relevance of Milton's arguments about liberty in light of Egypt's current protocols with regard to book publication, and the ongoing political and social fluctuations occurring in the region. It also compares Milton's civil war context with the political and social rhetoric present in Egypt's increasingly polarised society. Through philological analyses of the translation's linguistic and religious emphases, it will be established that Areopagitica has a potential relevance not only to the sociopolitical contexts of the region, but also to the Arab world's prevailing Islamic culture. At its core, Islamic teaching emphasises the importance of both scripture and freedom. As a result, reading is an important Islamic activity, and allows the religion to be perceived as a complete way of life, concerned with both religious and worldly issues. Milton's tract touches on ideas of “religious and civil wisdom”, linking such wisdom with “discovery” and “freedoms”. While such ideas seem to match aspects of Islamic belief, this paper considers how we are to understand such issues when literacy rates of Muslim majority countries remain lower than the global average, and when censorship is in many ways rife in media, as well as in works of fiction and non-fiction. This study provides numerous links between Milton's tract and the Arab world today, drawing attention to the poet's perhaps surprising relevance to the region. It also shows how such comparisons point us towards the relevance of Milton's other works, namely his epic poem Paradise Lost, and a number of his sonnets.