A Map of Absence: An Anthology of Palestinian Writing on the Nakba

by Atef Alshaer (Editor)

Overview

A Map of Absence presents the finest poetry and prose by Palestinian writers over the last seventy years. Featuring writers in the diaspora and those living under occupation, these striking entries pay testament to one of the most pivotal events in modern history – the 1948 Nakba.

This unique, landmark anthology includes translated excerpts of works by major authors such as Mahmoud Darwish, Ghassan Kanafani and Fadwa Tuqan alongside those of emerging writers, published here in English for the first time. Depicting the varied aspects of Palestinian life both before and after 1948, their writings highlight the ongoing resonances of the Nakba.

An intimate companion for all lovers of world literature, A Map of Absence reveals the depth and breadth of Palestinian writing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780863569906
Publisher:	Saqi Books
Publication date:	09/24/2019
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	740,038
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Atef Alshaer is a lecturer in Arabic Studies at the University of Westminster. He was educated at Birzeit Universityin Palestine and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he obtained his PhD and taught for a number of years. He is the author of several publications in the fields of language, literature and politics, including Poetry and Politics in the Modern Arab World, and Love and Poetry in the Middle East (editor) and Language and National Identity in Palestine: Representations of Power and Resistance in Gaza, both forthcoming. Alshaer regularly contributes to academic and media outlets, including the BBC, Independent, I-Newspaper, Electronic Intifada and Radio Monocle.

Table of Contents

Writings before the Nakba

Ibrahim Tauqan (My Homeland and Red Tuesday, Translated by Issa J. Boullata)
Abu Salma al-Karmi (We Will Return)
Abdel Rahim Mahmoud (The Martyr)
Samira Azzam (Bread of Sacrifice, Translated by Salma al-Jayussi; or Man and His Alarm Clock, Translated by Joseph Farag)
Aref al-Aref (Excerpt from: The Catastrophe: The Catastrophe of Jerusalem and the Lost Paradise)
Wasif Jawhariyyeh (Excerpt from the Storyteller of Jerusalem: The Life and Times of Wasif Jawhariyyeh (1904-1948, authored by Salim Tamari and translated by Nada El-Zeer)
Ishaq Musa al-Husayni (Excerpt from: Memories of A Hen)

Post Nakba

Constantin Zureiq (Excerpt from The Meaning of the Disaster)
Mohammad Izzat Darwazeh (Excerpt from: Memories of Mohammad Izzat Darwazeh)
Fadwa Tauqan
Ghassan Kanafani (The Land of Sad Oranges)
Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (excerpt from Hunters in a Narrow Street)
Samih al-Qassim (So What If; Kafr Qasim; The End of A Discussion with A Travel Guard; Travel Tickets)
Muin Bisisi
Emile Habibi
Mahmoud Darwish (Two Poems: Record I am an Arab and At the Train of a Station which Fell of The Map; To the Land and Standing Before the Ruins of el-Birweh, I am from There)
Tawfiq Ziad (Like Twenty Impossible, We Shall Remain)
Taha Muhammad Ali (Exodus)
Rashid Hussein (Without a Passport)
Salma Khadra Jayussi
Ahmad Dahbur
Tawfiq Sayigh (To Enter A Country)
Yahya Yakhlif
Sahar Khalifeh
Mourid Barghouthi
Walid Khalidi

1993

Ghassan Zaqatan (Remembering the Grandmother and Beyond That)
Raja Shehadeh (Excerpt from: A Rift in Time: Travels with My Ottoman Uncle)
Edward Said Excerpt from After the Last Sky)
Ghada Karmi (Excerpt from In Search of Fatima)
Ibrahim Nasrallah (Excerpt from The Time of the White Horses)
Antun Shammas (Excerpt from Arabesques)
Ribai al-Madhoun (Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and the Nakba)
Elias Khoury (Excerpt from Men in the Sun)
Liana Badre
Atef Abu-Sayf
Adaniyya Shibli
Fawaz Turki
Jean Said Makdisi
Salman Abu Sitta (Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir)
Karl Sabbagh (Palestine: A Personal History)
Lisa Suhair Maja (Fifty Years On / Stones in an Unfinished Wall)
Najwan Darwish (Excerpt from Nothing More to Lose)
Remi Kanazi
Sharif S. Elmusa
Sayed Kashua

Editorial Reviews

‘This collection sings of more than just suffering - remembrance and beauty, too.’

From the Publisher