The London-based graphic designer and linguist Marwan Kaabour talks to us about his first book, 'The Queer Arab Glossary.'
was growing up in Lebanon, a mean kid called him “foofoo”—the English equivalent of “sissy,—a word he had never heard before and didn’t understand. Even at the age of five, he could sense it was negative, intended to pass judgment. At the time, he was confused and hurt, but that insult opened a door to another world, sparking in Kaabour a lifelong interest in queer terminology specific to different Arab regions.
When Kaabour arrived at my office dressed in a sleek GmbH sweater, the handsome flirt was brimming with enthusiasm. He’s in the U.S. for a month-long book tour, with stops at New York University, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, and Harvard. Everywhere he goes, he’s receiving joyful affirmation, especially from young Arab queers delighted to finally see their specific style of gay culture reflected back at them.MARWAN KAABOUR: Just under a week. It’s been busy.
BULLOCK: In the foreword, the writer said, “One of the first things any group does when forming an identity is play with language They will change dialects, invent words, introduce new meanings to them.” I think every group of people can relate to the process of making language their own. KAABOUR: And the etymology. My father is a musician but also used to teach Arabic in school. He was obsessed with Arabic. So whenever I’d ask him about a word, not only would he tell me what it means, but he told me the whole historical background of every word and the etymological roots. In that way, this is very much a continuation.KAABOUR: Book-making is about storytelling to me.
BULLOCK: In New York, they started a counter parade because so many people thought the mainstream Gay Pride Parade was too commercial. The first year, the alternative parade had a banner over their stage that said, “No one’s free until we’re all free.” And the banner over the stage for the mainstream Pride parade said, “Acceptance Matters, MasterCard.”KAABOUR: Basically.
BULLOCK: That certainly paints the picture. That’s a nice segue into the visuals you chose for this book?
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