In spite of the fact that the media in their modern format began to develop actively in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) only after 1971 when the state proclaimed its independence, it is possible to discuss different communication media used by the Emiratis in the early part of the 20th century. To focus on communication and media history in the UAE, an interview with Hassan Al-Otaiba was conducted to discuss the aspects of communication in the state during the first part of the 20th century.
Hassan Al-Otaiba was born in 1940 in the Trucial States. During the period of 1975-1987, Hassan Al-Otaiba was working as a consultant in the UAE newspapers (H. Al-Otaiba, personal communication, November 18, 2014). The interview was conducted on November 18, 2014, in Abu Dhabi.
The purpose of this report is to discuss the aspects in the history of communications and media in the UAE from the interviewee’s perspective, to provide personal reflections on the discussed points, and to support the discussion with the research on the topic.
The most important topic discussed during the interview was the use of falcons for communication during the period when life in the Arab countries was based on the laws of the desert. Hassan Al-Otaiba claimed that falcons were discussed as the most honored UAE symbols because falconry was an important part of the Bedouins’ life (H. Al-Otaiba, personal communication, November 18, 2014).
Hunting expeditions to catch falcons and with falcons were important to develop networks and communication channels in the desert lands (Romano, 2004, p. 112; Simonson & Peck, 2013, p. 94). During the early ages, falcons were trained only by Bedouins to support their life in the desert. However, falconry became the interest of rich sheiks who preferred hunting and chose training falcons as part of their trips in the desert to control their territories during the later periods.
Falcons were caught during the hunting sessions and then trained to perform some important functions. One of these functions was sustaining communications between sheiks (Falconry, 2012). Falcons were rarely used as the mail birds, but falconry as a tradition was actively supported to establish new contacts in the desert lands of the Emirates. Hunting sessions were the periods when sheiks gathered to discuss the further political courses in their lands (UAE culture and heritage, 2014; Valassopoulos, 2013, p. 24).
From this point, falconry was an important symbol of promoting communication between the nobles. One more important detail associated with using falcons is the fact that communication with falcons is discussed by Arabs as religiously meaningful (H. Al-Otaiba, personal communication, November 18, 2014). Falconry was discussed in connection with the idea of communications and media by Hassan Al-Otaiba’s parents, thus, this information was marked by the interviewee as remarkable.
While referring to the early part of the 20th century, it is necessary to pay attention to the role of animal mail in the Trucial States. According to Hassan Al-Otaiba, most territories of the modern UAE was organized in small communities, towns, and villages. Communication between these villages was not actively developed, and settlers received news and messages with the help of the animal mail.
Camels were actively used for transportation, and they moved from one village to another with different goods. Those Bedouins who journeyed with camels were often asked to retell oral messages for settlers in different villages, and they also shared the news. It was the period when storytellers appeared to be important messengers (H. Al-Otaiba, personal communication, November 18, 2014).
The situation changed in the 1950s when much attention was paid to the active urbanization of the Trucial States. Urbanization was associated with the use of such modern communication media as the printed press (Jayyusi, 2006, p. 90; Mellor & Rinnawi, 2013, p. 114). Still, the majority of the Arab population had no access to newspapers. In this situation, the Arab community living in the Trucial States could communicate while attending community meetings and praying meetings in mosques.
Hassan Al-Otaiba stated that preachers were always discussed as the most intelligent and informed members of the religious community (H. Al-Otaiba, personal communication, November 18, 2014). Therefore, males often gathered in front of mosques to share and discuss the latest news which was learned from a few newspapers, community members, or foreigners.
From this perspective, in spite of the fact that the first newspapers appeared in the 19th century and television was invented in the 1920s, the Emiratis used old communication media in order to contact each other and exchange news because of particular cultural features and details of the historic development.
Television in the Emirates began to develop only in 1969, and it did not have the great effect on the public because of the lack of access to the modern technologies (Chakravartty & Zhao, 2008, p. 54; Schulte-Peevers & Shearer, 2010, p. 14). Such elements of the Arab culture as falconry, transportation with the help of camels, Bedouins’ journeys, animal mail, and meetings in front of mosques were used as alternatives to the modern communication sources and media.
While comparing the past and present approaches to communication and exchanging information, it is possible to state that the Emiratis used all the available resources in order to contact each other and to share the information in spite of distance and other challenges of the life in the desert.
That is why communication and media played an important role in the Emiratis’ life. That is why the focus on advanced or improved means of communication became typical for the Arabs only when the UAE became independent and focused on the economic and social progress.
The interview with Hassan Al-Otaiba can be discussed as helpful to understand how the Emiratis used different communication sources and media in the past and how those approaches differed from the modern ones. Having analyzed the findings, it is possible to state that the Arabs’ approach to supporting communication and contacts was mainly based on religious ideals, cultural principles, and historic and geographic realities.
References
Chakravartty, P., & Zhao, Y. (2008). Global communications: Toward a transcultural political economy. New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Falconry. (2012). Web.
Jayyusi, L. (2006). Communication and consequence. Global Media and Communication, 2(1), 89-103.
Mellor, N., & Rinnawi, K. (2013). Arab media: Globalization and emerging media industries. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Romano, A. (2004). A historical atlas of the United Arab Emirates. London: The Rosen Publishing Group.
Simonson, P., & Peck, J. (2013). Handbook of communication history. New York, NY: Routledge.
UAE culture and heritage. (2014). Web.
Valassopoulos, A. (2013). Arab cultural studies: History, politics and the popular. New York, NY: Routledge.
Schulte-Peevers, A., & Shearer, I. (2010). Oman, UAE and Arabian Peninsula. New York, NY: Lonely Planet.