Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature - by Salma Khadra Jayyusi (Paperback)

About the Book

This unique and definitive anthology offers the widest selection ever compiled of modern Palestinian literature. Presented here are translations of poems, stories, and excerpts from novels, as well as works by Palestinian poets who write in English. Also included are personal narratives by Palestinian writers depicting the varied aspects of Palestinian life from the turn of the century to the present. These images capture life in Arab Palestine before 1948 and during the wars of 1948 and 1967, and vivify the ensuing calamities experienced by Palestinians in the diaspora and under occupation.

Many generations of Palestinian writers are represented-those still living in their own land, either in Israel proper or on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and those who write as exiles from the perspective of the Palestinian diaspora.

Biographical sketches introduce the authors, and a comprehensive chronology of modern Palestinian history provides background for some of the events and places referred to in the selections. The introduction provides a concise but thorough critical history of Palestinian literature during the twentieth century.

Book Synopsis

Jayyusi presents in English translation a Palestinian world view characterized by intensity, paradox, aspiration, and eloquence. Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature will certainly become indispensable to anyone with a serious interest in contemporary Arab culture.

From the Back Cover

This comprehensive anthology traces the written record of a people beset by nearly a century of conflict, exile, and dispersal. This collection includes poetry, fiction, and personal narratives by both establishing and rising Palestinian creative writers of the modern period.

Review Quotes

This massive, well-edited, translated, and researched volume is a living monument to the culture of a nation, now represented in English for the first time with remarkable results in coverage, accuracy, and authenticity.Far from a folkloric or exotic record, this anthology admits the Palestinian contribution to world culture at an eminent pace.-- "Edward Said"

About the Author

Salma Khadra Jayyusi, one of the Arab world's most distinguished literary personalities, is widely known for her poetry, literary criticism, and scholarship. She is author of the two-volume critical history Trends and Movements in Modern Arabic Poetry and editor of Literature of Modern Arabia, as well as Modern Arabic Poetry: An Anthology and Modern Arabic Fiction: An Anthology for Columbia University Press