Celia Easton Koehler
Geog. 201 Term Paper
Discussion Section: Friday 10:00 am
The English Patient: An exploration of Perception of Desert Expeditions to Libya and
Egypt in the 1930’s
The film the English Patient takes place in parts of the Egyptian and Libyan
deserts, particularly the Gilf Kebir, the Great Sand Sea, and the surrounding areas. It also
takes place in rural Italy, Cairo, and snapshots of London, during World War II. The film
flip-flops between two distinct time periods; one in the late 1930’s in the precipices of the
war and the second as the war is coming to a close in 1944. In the first, a group of
geographers from the British Royal Geographic society are exploring the desert. In the
desert the film introduces a Hungarian cartographer named Almasy and Katherine and
Geoffrey Clifton, three main characters. The part of the film set in 1944 takes place in a
monastery in rural Italy where ‘The English Patient’ is burned badly and is being taken
care of by nurse Hana. The film later reveals to us that ‘The English Patient’ is Almasy.
Here the film introduces Kip, a sikh bomb de-activator and Carravaggio, a canadian
intelligence officer out to avenge the loss of his thumbs.
The English Patient, although a work of fiction, uses cinematic lense to illustrate
the uses of the Libyan and Egyptian desert in the 1930’s and the desert’s role in
international affairs. This project will employ the information given in the film and
historical accounts of desert expeditions to the Libyan and Egyptian Deserts in the
1930’s, particularly by a man named Major R.A. Bagnold, who was a member of the
British Royal Geographic Society and a well known explorer at the time. Both historical,
real-life accounts of desert expeditions in the 1930’s and The English Patient carry with
them two stories of the desert, one that works as the guise for the other. One desert
narrative shows the desert as a canvas for a montage of languages, cultures, and beliefs
and the proliferation of education about such things; this desert is a shared place which
resists boundaries, uses, and categorization. The second braided narrative, however,
shows the desert as a blank canvas that begs to be explored by Almasy and crew
(fictitious) and Bagnold and crew (non-fictitious). The second desert is treated like a toy
for the explorers. The first narrative allows the second narrative to live on; it paints a
picture where everyone works together towards one goal, which allows for the British (in
this case) to pursue its interests in the desert without persecution. Note: Although Count Almasy
is a real person in history, the film makes itself clear in the credits at the end that it is a work of fiction, and so for the
purposes of this project when Almasy is mentioned, unless otherwise noted, it is in reference to the fictitious character.
In 1934 at the Royal Geographical Society’s meeting a speech described
the desert area of interest:
“The Gilf Kebir is a huge plateau or shelf resting on the Libyan Desert, in the
form of a triangle with the apex to the south. The centre of it is about 450 miles west of
the Nile and 600 miles south of the Mediterranean Coast. Its area, so far as we can guess,
is roughly that of Switzerland. The escarpments on the west and east are precipitous....The plateau slopes gradually towards the north and finally becomes submerged
in the Sea of Sand to the north and north-east. The Great Libyan Sea of Sand is a
configuration which I do not think exists in any other part of the world. There are
thousands of square miles of sand, more sand, and still more sand...” (Penderel, 449).
Although there may be more up-to-date information regarding the area of the
desert cited, this project is working with material based in the 1930’s and so will use
accounts from that time to describe the area. The description reveals that the area is far
from water, the plateau has a commanding presence in the desert--its large and its edges
are steep, and the Sand Sea that surrounds it is contrasting. The description also reveals
the interest and excitement in the area in the 1930’s.
In the Said’s Dictionary, a book developed to aid the understanding of
Edward Said’s opinions on orientalism, the author acknowledges two ways the Orient is
examined. One of those ways is exemplified by one of the quotes in the precipieces
Said’s book On Orientalism. The quote reads “The East is a career” (Radhakrishnan, 78).
The Said dictionary presents an issue with this portrayal of the East: “When the East is
named and Identified as a career, automatically the Orientalist scholar or ‘knower’ from
the Occident/West is anoited and certified as the professional with a destined career in the
East...What is taking place is literally the forced ‘orientation’ of of those areas with
reference to the authority of the professional West...” (Radhakrishnan, 78). The narrative
referred to above, of the desert as a blank canvas in Bagnold’s and the fictional English
Patient’s 1930’s world that begs for exploration, fits this portrayal of the East; both the
fictional and historical explorers are framed as the ‘knowers’ and the ones with the power
to define the desert, with their cartography.
Count Almasy from the beginning of the film, claims to be neutral and to possess
a disdain for ideas of ownership and seems to take no interest in politics. While he is
being questioned in Italy after his accident (at this point he is referred to as the English
Patient and not Almasy, because he has forgotten his name) he espouses “What could it
possibly matter” in reference to a question about where he is from (Minghella et al., 14).
The dialogue presents a picture of an explorer who works in the name of his profession
and for the better understanding of the desert. The dialogue is reinforced by the notebook
he keeps: Almasy always carries with him a copy of the book Herodotus, inside of which
he scribbles notes and drawings, like a scrapbook. The film allows the viewer a glance
inside and the book reveals itself as a canvas for Almasy’s scrawls of love for Katherine
Clifton inspired by the desert and artistic, flowing sketches of the desert terrain. The
centrality of his notebook in the film portrays the desert as a muse for creativity and
romance, which in turns, makes his purpose in the desert, map-making, seem to effuse
from the same creative and romantic gieser.
The focus on literature and art, and the sidelining of the technical aspects of desert
exploring, such as recording coordinates and measuring dune angles, provides a mask for
the political purposes of the journey in the film. This is particularly stark when the clan
after much ado comes accross the legendary Cave of Swimmers, a cave full of ancient
paintings of figures swimming. The discovery confirms that at some time the area
contained an oasis with water access and suggests that perhaps an oasis in the area still
exists. The film hosts a long scene where the characters huddled in the cave, sighing in
awe at the miraculous pictures, it then cuts to a short scene of the crew unloading from
the trucks boxes of ambiguous and unidentified instruments. The watcher understands,
through the dialogue and long and detailed scene of the cave, the excitement of the
findings. They are not made to understand, however, other than the pure beauty of the
caves, the reasons for the excitement. This project suggests the lack of explanation for the
tools is deliberate and a way to sideline and mask the political and national interests the
crew has in mapmaking.
Bagnold as well is framed as someone who takes a personal curiosity in the
desert. His personal curiosity and passion transpires from his accounts of one of his trips
to the Gilf Kebir. His account is not filled with scientific information and coordinates, as
one might expect a cartographers’ account to be full of, but instead reads like a piece of
literature, or poetry, with emotion seeping through. Bagnold describes a sandstorm in the
Gilf and the peculiar noises that ventured with it: “It was accompanied by a great deal of
hooting and booming on the part of our dune. Maybe the sand which blows over the Gilf
peculiarly prone to hooting? I will not call it singing, for the note is too low and pure? but
we heard it on three occasions” (Bagnold et al., 285). He later admits that “Afterwards I
imitated the noise quite easily, in a small way, by scrunching the butt-end of a whisky
bottle in the sand.. “ (Bagnold et. al., 285). Bagnolds’ comparison of a sandstorm to a
singer or a hooter, paints him as a deep thinker in tune with his desert surroundings. The
later description of his attempts to imitate the sound further his portrayal as a playful
adventurer type. A parallel to the film can be made between Bagnold’s account and
Almasy’s use of his notebook: both take on personal, instead of business, dimensions.
The descriptions from his account, aided by his similes and personal anecdotes, take on
an almost diary form that provides a shield for any political motives for mapping and
exploring the desert.
Someone, such as Almasy, who claims he does not think it matters where an
individual comes from does not have preconceived notions about ‘what coming from
somewhere’ means, or does not care.’ ‘Coming from somewhere,’ however does mean a
lot, during World War II. Allegiances matter and power matters. Where you come from
and who you relate to determine potentialities for power. Both Hana and Caravaggio
point this out when they are in the Italian monastery together taking care of the English
Patient. Almasy questions, once again, the stress and strict restrictions put on peoples’
relationships to a place and Hana responds “There’s a war. Where you come from
becomes important” (Minghella, 1996). Hana understands the games of allegiance and
power and domination that go on in a war. Caravaggio highlights the same point when he
questions whether or not The English Patient (Almasy) has really forgotten his name. He
says to Hana that maybe someone would forget events in their lives but “you never forget
your name” (Minghella, 1996). Through the people surrounding Almasy’s dialogue the
film debunks the narrative he creates, as if calling it a lie, a guise for another purpose.
Almasy claims that his interest is in the desert itself, in its forms, its history, the secrets it
holds, but the film demonstrates how that interest can be morphed into a use and abuse.
Almasy’s myth is completely debunked when Katherine Clifton admits to Almasy
that her husband has not gone to Cairo for a meeting like he said, instead he is on an
aerial expedition because “The British Government want aerial maps of all of Northern
Africa.” This moment in the film shows the futility to the romanticization of the desert
explorers because the people who fund them, the British Government have a clear
agenda, which with a war encroaching is clearly political. Almasy, in this scene, uses the
word ‘lie’ and the choice of vocabulary proves useful for the point that the concentration
on the artistic fluff of the desert is just that, a lie, or a mask for the secondary purpose of
the expeditions.
Bagnold and his crew also exemplify the masked uses for the expeditions.
However, in real life as opposed to film, the debunking of the myth results less obvious
and remains hidden underneath the formalities in writing and mapmaking. In regards to
one of his attempts to find the lost oasis of Zerzura a media fountain described his
journey as “an opportunity for the young adventurer” (Kelly, 1). The word opportunity
frames the exploration of the desert not in terms of personal fulfilment, but instead puts a
focus on success. The desert provides opportunity which gives the desert a use and
frames almost as a commodity. The words ‘young adventurer’ play to both narratives, on
one hand, it sounds sweet and innocent, conjures images of a little boy playing pretend
discoverer, but it also matches up with the ‘east is a career’ lens. By calling oneself ‘the
adventurer’ and by determining a land to ‘adventure in’ there appears a relationship
of the named and the namer, the discoverer and the discovered. In a secondary account
of Bagnold’s expeditions into the Libyan and Egyptian desert he and his comrades are
described as “desert detectives” who had the foreboding task of exploring in an
environment that was “the most forbidding in the world” (Kelly, 2). The vocabulary used
places Bagnold and his crew into a realm of brave heroes facing a mysterious and
daunting task. It is a framework which evaluates and places one place or idea above
another, in its essence it refuses neutrality.
Another strategy used to impart professionalism and show the explorer as a
dominant figure is the ways in which the actual, physical structure of the desert was
described in accounts of desert expeditions in the 1930’s. Robert Clayton, a
contemporary of Bagnold’s went on a expedition to the west end of the Gilf Kebir which
they describe as “until 1923 entirely unexplored” (F. J. R. R., 254). By using the word
‘unexplored’ the desert is given an air of mystery, and also of emptiness, as if unexplored
space was empty and begged to be filled or accounted for. The title ‘unexplored’ gave
expeditions a reason for existence: explorers needed to account for all that ‘empty’ space.
In Clayton’s account he described a hill they visited that they called Clayton’s hill (F. J.
R. R., 251). By naming an object, the explorers made an assumption that the object was
not previously named and assume a responsibility and right to name it. Naming and
ownership come hand in hand--you name a dog because its your pet. The connection
between naming and ownership bring up the issue of use and abuse of the desert as a
geographical space. In The English Patient at one point Almasy’s friend and fellow
explorer says to him “in a war if you own the desert you own North Africa,” which
reveals militaristic and nationalistic advantages to the possession of the power to name a
geographic formation (Mighella, 1996). So, although Clayton and crew calling a hill
“Clayton’s hill” might be innocent and merely for the convenience of having a reference
point, it shows the underlying assumptions and attitudes of dominance. Clayton’s account
plays towards the narrative that portrays the desert as an empty canvas, literally, by
inscribing a name to the hill.
Another point that reinforces the lack of neutrality is the third party
interests in the exploration and findings, both in fictitious English Patient’s and in
Bagnold’s world in the 1930’s. A woman travel explorer who ran in the same circle as
Bagnold wrote about how there was “much excitement over my Kufra journey” (Kelly,
7). She refers to returning to Cairo, and then after that England, and attending fancy
functions where she would tell of her glamorous journey through the rough desert and
people would stare on, captivated. The account describes her taking a photo between the
King and Queen, all three of them holding up a banner of the map she drew of the area of
the desert she explored (Kelly, 8-9). The King and Queen of England take a photo with a
map of the Libyan desert and the woman who drew the map, which shows that they have
interest and stake abroad. Their interest abroad lends a certain amount of acclaim to the
explorer.
Another example of a third party interest in the desert expeditions is oil interests.
Guy Pendergast, part of Bagnolds’ crew on one of his expeditions,
explained of Bagnolds’ vast connections in the business world “...he had good contacts
all over Cairo, like Shell co...and these were invaluable in helping us” (Kelly, 18). The
reference is vague and abrupt, but it suggests that Shell Co. gave monetary aid towards
the expeditions. Why would an oil company give money to a desert explorer? Perhaps
they hoped to find oil and have the fortunes returned to them. The idea that acclaim and
monetary benefits can be gained from providing maps of the desert further debunks any
claim the desert explorer has to a pure role about curiosity fulfillment and the betterment
of the education of the people; its political purpose rings clear.
In the English Patient there are also sly references to a third party’s interests in the
map-making and exploration of Almasy and his crew, one that is connected more to
nationalistic interest: at one point in the film Almasy is accused of handing over some of
his maps to German spies. The film and historical accounts suggest that cartographic
expeditions were never isolated from political and nationalistic motives and supporters.
Clayton took with him on his journeys a Squadron Leader in the RAF (The British Royal
Air Force) as a result of a favor in spotting his expedition with air equipment (F. J. R. R.,
249). The exchange of favors Shows that the RAF had an interest in obtaining maps and
intel regarding the makeup of the desert.
The relationship between cartographers in the 1930’s and the political and
national tensions arising in World War II are further confirmed by the descriptions of
nationally segregated cartographic base camps that became increasingly interpreted as
territorial claims. “In 1931 the Italian colonial army occupied Kufra and any journey into
the Uweinat region became highly important source for British intelligence” (Gyozo
Torök, 196). This quote exemplifies maps and notes from the explorers’ journeys began
to possess a nationalistic dimension and shows how the mapping of the desert became a
competition between nations. In november of 1933 it was reported by cartographers
Almasy and Clayton that the Italians had a permanent base at Ain Dua, Uweinat, that
seemed to be taking on the proportions of a military base camp, not just a expedition one.
In response, the British government ordered the RAF to occupy the Oasis Merga and
Karkur Murr at Uweinat (Gyozo Torök, 201). Although the cartographers plans were not
to take national interests, it was their maps and the information from their expeditions
that the Italian and British military and governments used to wage a war.
The English Patient provides a jumping-off point for a discussion on the
representation and uses of the desert in the 1930’s. One on hand, through personal
accounts, the desert is represented as a place with deep cultural and artistic value, and as
a place that provides a haven for personal education and benefit. Along with this
narrative, however, comes the narrative framed by the quote “The East is a career” which
employs the desert as a canvas, or tool, for political and nationalistic interests. The
second narrative is revealed in the film through dialogue regarding ownership and
allegiance to place. In both the fictional and historical accounts it is revealed through
third-party interests in the desert expeditions and the titles bequeathed to individuals’ that
place a explorer and explored, namer and named binary on the characters and the desert.
The two narratives work well together because when braided the separate motives for
desert exploration become muddled and unclear, and it becomes difficult to question the
morality of the expeditions.
Bagnold, R.A., O. H. Myers, R. F. Peel and H. A. Winkler. An Expedition to the Gilf
Kebir and 'Uweinat, 1938. The Geographical Journal , Vol. 93, No. 4 (Apr., 1939), pp.
281-312
F. J. R. R., A Reconnaissance of the Gilf Kebir by the Late Sir Robert Clayton East
Clayton. The Geographical Journal , Vol. 81, No. 3 (Mar., 1933), pp. 249-254
Gyozo Torök, Zsolt. Crossing Borders: Cartographic and Military Operations and the
International Borders in the Libyan Desert before WW II. Advances in Cartography and
GIScience. (2011): 187-205.
Kelly, Saul. The Lost Oasis, The Desert War and the Hunt for Zerzura. Boulder:
Westview Press, 2002.
Mighella, Anthony. The English Patient Miramax Films 1996. DVD
Minghella, Anthony, and Michael Ondaatje. The English Patient A Screenplay. New
York: Hyperion, 1996.
Penderel, H.W.G.J. . The Gilf Kebir. The Geographical Journal. no. 6 (1934): 449456. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1785494?origin=JSTOR-pdf (accessed may 20th,
2013).
(Penderel, 1934)
Radhakrishnan, R.. A Said Dictionary. Hoboken: Wiley, 2012.
http://orbis.eblib.com.libproxy.uoregon.edu/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=867648
(accessed June 03, 2013)
(Radhakrishnan, 2012)