' The situation now is so mixed up that it makes It very difficult for the writer to have the old role of the carrier of a banner. Which banner and in which direction? ' The tradition which requires an Arab writer to reflect public consensus as much as private emotion has become increasingly difficult and dangerous in the turbulence of modern
Arab politics. Dr Robin Oslle of the School of Oriental Studies, talks to Arab writers and critics about the problems they face and describes how their attitudes have changed in order to survive.
Producer THOMAS SUTCLIFFE