Palestinian literature

Three men cross the desert hidden in the empty tank of a lorry to reach Kuwait, under a sun that turns the metal into an oven: Men in the Sun, published by Ghassan Kanafani in 1963, gave Palestinian literature its harshest image. Since 1948 this writing has been divided between exile and the inside, between the novel of dispossession and the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, who turns the land into a language. Emile Habibi adds the irony of the survivor, neither quite an optimist nor quite a pessimist.

works 5

• Poetryوحدي مع الأيامFadwa Tuqan · 1952not translated into EnglishIn the Nablus of the forties, a young woman from a great family does not go out alone; she publishes under pseudonyms.Literature
• NovelMen in the Sunرجال في الشمسGhassan Kanafani · 1963Fifteen years after 1948, Palestinian refugees look for work in the oil countries, at the mercy of smugglers.Literature
• NovelThe Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimistالوقائع الغريبة في اختفاء سعيد أبي النحس المتشائلEmile Habibi · 1974Around one hundred and fifty thousand Palestinians remained in Israel after 1948, under military administration until 1966: the novel tells of their lives in a satirical mode.Literature
• NovelIn Search of Walid Masoudالبحث عن وليد مسعودJabra Ibrahim Jabra · 1978The Palestinian generation exiled in 1948 made its life in the Arab capitals; the novel gives it voice through several narrators.Literature
• PoetryFewer Rosesورد أقلMahmoud Darwish · 1986When the PLO leaves Lebanon in 1982, Palestinian exile begins again, and the poet writes from Tunis, Nicosia and Paris.Literature