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Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature

Salma Khadra Jayyusi (Editor)

Columbia University Press, New York 1992

Reviewed by Fuad Abboud for the Palestinian-Canadian Student Society 

A common literature defines and unifies a people, and at a time when the Palestinian people are under siege more than ever before, this is a timely book. This anthology is a labour of love prepared under the auspices of PROTA (Project of Translation from Arabic), founded and directed by Salma Khadra Jayyusi, a Palestinian poet and scholar. As Jayyusi says, it was an arduous book to produce because "Palestinian poets and writers are scattered over so many countries".  Finding the financial resources to bring forth a book of this quality and size (over 700 pages) on a subject that is not mainstream often is an insurmountable obstacle. Jayyusi's success speaks much of her dedication and that of her family and friends since the production of Anthology was subsidized by a handful of Palestinian professionals and businessmen.

Anthology covers most of the 20th century except the closing decade (the subject of a forthcoming PROTA book -- End of the Century Poets, New Voices in Arabic Poetry).  It includes works of 65 poets and 39 writers in prose, spanning several generations of writers, from Khalil al-Sakakini (1887-1953) and Ibrahim Tuqan (1905-41) to Kamal Qaddura (born 1961).  This was a tragic time for Palestinians and naturally, their experience as an unwanted people, dispossessed and living in exile or living as foreigners under occupation in their own land permeates our literature. Indeed, one critic has described modern Palestinian poetry as "the poetry of occupation".

Anthology is divided into a poetry section and a prose section which includes excerpts from short stories, novels and personal accounts. The poetry section includes poets who write in English, the best known being the political activist Hanan Ashrawi. Each selection is preceded by a brief biographical note about the author, which is essential as it provides the background and helps the reader understand the work. Since the political events that befell the Palestinians are never far removed from their thoughts, the book also includes a Chronology of Modern Palestinian History followed by a detailed introduction by Jayyusi and ends with brief biographical notes on the translators.

From the poem "Letter to Fadwa" by Kamal Nasir, assassinated in 1973 in his home in Beirut:

If my songs should reach you

despite the narrow skies around me,

remember that I will return to life,

to the quest for liberty,

remember that my people may call on my soul

and feel it rising again from the folds of the earth.

Here is an excerpt from the poet Abu Salma (1907-1980) who became known as "The Olive Tree of Palestine":

In the West man's rights are preserved

but the man in the East is stoned to death.

Justice screams loudly protecting Western lands

but grows silent when it visits us!

Anton Shammas born 1950 in Galilee is unique in that he writes in Hebrew and Arabic and has received widespread recognition for his works in Hebrew:

I open the map of the world

searching for a village I lost,

searching in the pockets of a grandfather I never got to know

for fragments of tales and rare fragrances.

Tawfiq Zayyad born in 1932, former mayor of Nazareth and tireless fighter for Palestinian rights wrote:

Do your worst.

Here we shall stay.

We guard the shade

of Olive and fig.

March 30, Palestinians celebrate the Land Day, remembering five young girls killed when the Israeli army opened fire on student demonstrators in 1976.  Mahmoud Darwish (born 1942 in Galilee) wrote Poem of the Land in their memory:

In the month of March

               in the year of the uprising

                              earth told us her secrets

In the month of March

               five girls at the door

                              of the primary school

Came past the violet

               came past the rifle

                              burst into flame

With the roses

               and thyme

                              they opened

the song of the soil

               and entered the earth

                              the ultimate embrace

In the prose section, there is an excerpt from the diary Khalil al-Sakakini kept throughout a life that saw the end of two empires, the Ottoman and the British. Here is the entry for Sunday, November 1917:

"For the past nine days the Ottoman government has been withdrawing from Jerusalem, because the English army's now knocking at the gates. Opinions differ as to what the fate of Jerusalem and Palestine will be. Some say it will become British because the English are the victors. Some say it will become part of Egypt, while others say it will be free ..."

Ironically, this reminded me of adult discussions I overheard in Haifa, around 1947, that the British would never leave Haifa because it was too important to them!

Hisham Sharabi (born 1927) writes in Embers and Ashes about his grandparents who had to abandon their home in Acre in 1948 and go to live with relatives in Beirut:

"My grandfather died in 1950. In his last years he would periodically try to sneak out of the house unnoticed and return to Acre.

"I'm only going home," he'd say when they caught him in the street. "My home's in Acre. Why don't you let me go back home?"

Then he'd take a key from his pocket, and say, "You don't believe me, do you? This is the key to my house."

No selection of Palestinian writers would be complete without Salah Ta'mari (born in Bethlehem 1942) and Mu'een Bseisso (born in Gaza 1927-84). Ta'mari spent more than a year in Israeli jails, of which three and a half months were in solitary confinement. Anthology includes an excerpt from his diary Journey into Hades: Diary of a Palestinian in an Israeli Prison describing his experience.  Bseisso, poet and essayist, describes in Palestinian Notebooks his imprisonment and torture, this time by Egyptian authorities.

I conclude with one of my favourite poets, Fawwaz Turki (born 1940 in Haifa) who now lives in the US and writes in English. In his poems he portrays the sense of loss, poignancy and melancholy that pervades much of Palestinian poetry and captures the spirit and resilience that has enabled the Palestinians to struggle against tremendous odds. Here is an excerpt from The Seed Keepers:

I do not fear your tyranny.

I guard one seed

of a tree

my forefathers have saved

that I shall plant again

in my homeland.

Anthology is the type of book that you would browse through, picking what pleases you and coming back for more. It is a good introduction to Palestinian literature and a jumping-off point for further exploration.  Check it out for yourself, the Calgary Public Library has a copy!

Fuad Abboud is a true Sabra, born in Haifa, Palestine of Palestinian parents. He grew up in Lebanon as a refugee after his parents fled Palestine in 1948. He did his undergraduate at the American University of Beirut in Mathematics and graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and SUNY at Stony Brook (Ph.D. in Physics) and University of British Columbia (LL.B.). He was admitted to the Bar of Alberta in 1976 and practiced law in Calgary until 1996 when he retired from legal practice to pursue other interests.

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