Palestinian literature

Palestinian literature refers to the Arabic language novels, short stories and poems produced by Palestinians. Forming part of the broader genre of Arabic literature, contemporary Palestinian literature is often characterized by its heightened sense of irony and the exploration of existential themes and issues of identity. [cite book|title="Literature and Nation in the Middle East"|author=Ibrahim Muhawi et al.|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2006|url=http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zlbtyGIZyZQC&oi=fnd&pg=PP6&dq=%22palestinian+literature%22+%22arabic+literature%22+palestine&ots=gFLjwFI8CJ&sig=w55tGU7QDj54Efwx9mo7qo_drgI#PPA32,M1] References to the subjects of resistance to occupation, exile, loss, and love and longing for homeland are also common. [cite web|title=Palestinian Literature and Poetry|publisher=Palestinian National Information Center|accessdate=2007-07-28|url=http://www.pnic.gov.ps/english/Media_culture/Literature_Poetry.html]

Overview

Palestinian literature is one of numerous Arabic literatures, but its affiliation is national, rather than territorial.cite web|title=Hebrew Translations of Palestinian Literature — from Total Denial to Partial Recognition|author=Hannah Amit-Kochavi|publisher=Beit Berl College, Israel|accessdate=2007-08-17|url=http://www.erudit.org/revue/ttr/2000/v13/n1/037393ar.pdf] While Egyptian literature is that written in Egypt, Jordanian literature is that written in Jordan etc., and up until to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Palestinian literature was also territory-bound, since the 1948 Palestinian exodus it has become "a literature written by Palestinians" (ibid., p. 9) irrespective of their place of residence. Since 1967, most critics have theorized the existence of three "branches" of Palestinian literature, loosely divided by geographic location: 1) from inside Israel, 2) from the occupied territories, 3) from among the Palestinian diaspora throughout the Middle East.cite journal|title=Scattered like seeds: Palestinian prose goes global|author=Steven Salaita|date=1 June 2003|journal=Studies in the Humanities|accessdate=2007-09-06|url=http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-17848_ITM] Hannah Amit-Kochavi recognizes only two branches: that written by Palestinians from inside the State of Israel as distinct from that written outside (ibid., p. 11). She also posits a temporal distinction between literature produced before 1948 and that produced thereafter. In a 2003 article published in the "Studies in the Humanities" journal, Steven Salaita posits a fourth branch made up of English language works, particularly those written by Palestinians in the United States, which he defines as "writing rooted in diasporic countries but focused in theme and content on Palestine."

Palestinian literature can be intensely political, as underlined by writers like Salma Khadra Jayyusi and novelist Liana Badr, who have mentioned the need to give expression to the Palestinian "collective identity" and the "just case" of their struggle.cite web|title=Art of Resistance|author=Adnan Soueif|date=21 October 2006|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=2007-09-06|url=http://www.arabworldbooks.com/News/artofresistance.htm] There is also resistance to this school of thought, whereby Palestinian artists have "rebelled" against the demand that their art be "committed". Poet Mourid Barghouti for example, has often said that "poetry is not a civil servant, it's not a soldier, it's in nobody's employ."

Poetry

Poetry, using classical pre-Islamic forms, remains an extremely popular art form, often attracting Palestinian audiences in the thousands. Until 20 years ago, local folk bards reciting traditional verses were a feature of every Palestinian town.cite book|title=Palestine: A Guide|author=Mariam Shahin|publisher=Interlink Books|year=2005|page=41- 55]

After the 1948 Palestinian exodus, poetry was transformed into a vehicle for political activism. From among those Palestinians who became Arab citizens of Israel and after the passage of the Citizenship Law of 1952, a school of resistance poetry was born that included poets like Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim, and Tawfiq Zayyad.

The work of these poets was largely unknown to the wider Arab world for years because of the lack of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab governments. The situation changed after Ghassan Kanafani, another Palestinian writer in exile in Lebanon published an anthology of their work in 1966.

Palestinian poets often write about the common theme of a strong affection and sense of loss and longing for a lost homeland.

Children's stories

The art of story telling is part of the cultural life in Arabic speaking countries. The tradition of “Tales from a thousand and one nights” is not an exception. In Palestine in each small town or village an itinerant story teller or hakawatis would visit. The tales of the hakawatis once told for all ages are now emerging from the Palestinian Diaspora as children’s books. [Sonia Nimr, Hannah Shaw, Ghada Karmi (2008) “Ghaddar the Ghoul and Other Palestinian Stories”, frances lincoln ltd, ISBN 1845075234]

References

ee also

*Palestine Festival of Literature

External links

* [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/819/cu2.htm Review of the anthology "Qissat: Short Stories by Palestinian Women"]
* [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=InfOhtl03awC&printsec=frontcover&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U1XauDT2Fm6-pXpnB_J_BuYSkhJzg Google Books] Sonia Nimr, Hannah Shaw, Ghada Karmi (2008) “Ghaddar the Ghoul and Other Palestinian Stories”, frances lincoln ltd, ISBN 1845075234
* [http://imeu.net/news/literature.shtml Palestinian Literature: News and Reviews at IMEU.net]