An unfulfilled desire has no sanctuary other than remembrance. Radwa Ashour’s novel, The Woman from Tantoura (Hoopoe Fiction, 2019), explores the ramifications of memory and how its story is told. Chronology, while important, plays a lesser role than emotions, while memory takes on its own trajectory. “The story moves on, but sometimes not completely, because as…
Tag: PALESTINIAN MEMORY
Spirit of Return featured in online Palestine art expo
My watercolour painting, “Spirit of Return”, was chosen by rights group Staat Van Beleg for inclusion in an online art expo about the Palestinian Nakba. More about the art feature in this link.
BOOK REVIEW: The Palestinian Novel from 1948 to the present
Bashir Abu-Manneh’s detailed study “The Palestinian novel: From 1948 to the present” (Cambridge University Press, 2016) combines the historical processes of Palestinian memory and postcolonial and literary theory in a manner which brings the various narratives and experiences of Palestinians to the fore. There is a unifying factor identified by the author – dispossession –…
BOOK REVIEW ‘Mahmoud Darwish: Literature and the politics of Palestinian identity’
Far from accentuating the glorification that is synonymous with Mahmoud Darwish and his beautiful poetry, the new biography “Mahmoud Darwish: literature and the politics of Palestinian identity” by Muna Abu Eid (I.B. Tauris, 2016) is a competent exercise in revealing the intricacies of Palestinian collective memory combined with the complex persona of the man himself….
BOOK REVIEW:Life Lived in Relief — Humanitarian Predicaments and Palestinian Refugee Politics
Refugee narratives beyond those which reach the mainstream media are fraught with complexities, while humanitarian aid remains insufficient. Ilana Feldman’s treatise “Life Lived in Relief — Humanitarian Predicaments and Palestinian Refugee Politics” (University of California Press, 2018) focuses on the discrepancies between the political and purportedly apolitical dynamics of the humanitarian sector. Feldman’s overview of…
BOOK REVIEW: Jerusalem Stands Alone
Space, silence and encroachment intertwine, while a prevailing solitude emanates from the pages of Mahmoud Shukair’s novel ‘Jerusalem Stands Alone’, translated by Nicola Fares and published by Syracuse University Press. The title itself is an intense metaphor that is felt throughout the book. Jerusalem is alone and its inhabitants navigate the space between community relations,…
“The wound before winter” – Impressions of Palestinian Memory in Watercolour
The Wound Before Winter” is the prelude to the impressions which I have attempted to convey in this selection. Painted in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump’s declaration on Jerusalem, the colors used, as well as the focus on land, seek to convey the ramifications upon Palestinian territory, rather than an isolated focus as…
BOOK REVIEW: The Palestinian Novel from 1948 to the present
Bashir Abu-Manneh’s detailed study “The Palestinian novel: From 1948 to the present” (Cambridge University Press, 2016) combines the historical processes of Palestinian memory and postcolonial and literary theory in a manner which brings the various narratives and experiences of Palestinians to the fore. There is a unifying factor identified by the author – dispossession –…
RAMONA WADI 