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Literature and War: Conversations with Israeli and Palestinian Writers
Novelist Runo Isakson, confronting the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, found himself wondering: How can literature play a role in helping one side to see the other? To answer this question, he interviewed fifteen pre-eminent Israeli and Palestinian writers, asking them what role literature plays in creating dialogue, ending war, and building peace. The conversations that result are deeply personal and political, both reflective and urgent; both complicating and clarifying our understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The collection includes interviews with acclaimed Israeli writers David Grossman and Amos Oz ("In a conflict, few people are capable of imagining other people's suffering"). Palestinian novelist Sahar Khalifeh discusses feminism, literature, and occupation. Poet Mahmoud Darwish and novelist Izzat Ghazzawi appear together, discussing how "knowledge about the other is an obligation." These dialogues transcend national boundaries and the narrow language of conflict and invite readers around the world to take a first step toward peace.
- GenresNonfiction
222 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2008
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May 1, 2012
Norwegian writer Runo Isaksen went to Israel and the West Bank in 2002 and 2003 to determine through interviews with novelists and poets whether a reading of one another's literary output would help bring an end to the hostilities between Jews and Arabs there. It's an idealistic notion, in spite of the fact that a similar exchange helped lead to the end of apartheid in South Africa. That it's a weak analogy to the political situation for Israelis and Palestinians is brought home over and again by writers on either side who point out to him that a cultural exchange will have no effect as long as Israel continues to occupy the West Bank.
The interviews are illuminating in many other ways, especially as the Arab writers, on either side, point to how the minority Jewish population from Europe, with the legacy of the Holocaust defining their understanding of themselves, dominate Israeli culture. Jewish and non-Jewish Arabs, who make up the majority of Israelis, complain that their own diverse cultural heritage has been systematically marginalized. The response to this ranges in emotions from patient hope to rage, and it all makes for fascinating reading. As a reader of Israeli and Palestinian fiction, I appreciated being introduced to writers that I had not known before, and I look forward to reading their works as they are increasingly translated into English. Isaksen's book includes an extensive bibliography.
The interviews are illuminating in many other ways, especially as the Arab writers, on either side, point to how the minority Jewish population from Europe, with the legacy of the Holocaust defining their understanding of themselves, dominate Israeli culture. Jewish and non-Jewish Arabs, who make up the majority of Israelis, complain that their own diverse cultural heritage has been systematically marginalized. The response to this ranges in emotions from patient hope to rage, and it all makes for fascinating reading. As a reader of Israeli and Palestinian fiction, I appreciated being introduced to writers that I had not known before, and I look forward to reading their works as they are increasingly translated into English. Isaksen's book includes an extensive bibliography.
Displaying 1 of 1 review