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The Palestinian Novel: From 1948 to the Present

Abu-Manneh, Bashir (2016) The Palestinian Novel: From 1948 to the Present. Cambridge University Press, 244 pp. ISBN 978-1-107-13652-6. (KAR id:55304)

Abstract

What happens to the Palestinian novel after the national dispossession of the nakba, and how do Palestinian novelists respond to this massive crisis? This is the first study in English to chart the development of the Palestinian novel in exile and under occupation from 1948 onwards. By reading the novel in the context of the ebb and flow of Arab and Palestinian revolution, Bashir Abu-Manneh defines the links between aesthetics and politics. Combining historical analysis with textual readings of key novels by Jabra, Kanafani, Habiby, and Khalifeh, the chronicle of the Palestinian novel unfolds as one that articulates humanism, self-sacrifice as collective redemption, mutuality, and self-realization. Political challenge, hope, and possibility are followed by the decay of collective and individual agency. Genet's and Khoury's unrivalled literary homages to Palestinian revolt are also examined. By critically engaging with Lukács, Adorno, and postcolonial theory, questions of struggle and self-determination take centre stage.

Item Type: Book
Subjects: P Language and Literature
P Language and Literature > PE English philology and language
P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of English
Depositing User: Kate Smith
Date Deposited: 06 May 2016 10:34 UTC
Last Modified: 02 Jan 2024 09:32 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/55304 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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