The wandering Palestinian as reflected in the novel Imra'at al-risāla by the Palestinian writer Rajā' Bakriyya

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Abstract

The article examines the writing of Rajā' Bakriyya, who is considered a prominent new generation Palestinian woman writer in Israel, focusing on her latest novel, Imra'at al-risāla (The Letter Woman, 2007). It points to the way Bakriyya feminizes the novel from every possible aspect, even the national-political dimension which is integrated into the novel, creating a narrative which is truly her own. The article focuses on the integration of the national-political reality into the text, especially the female protagonist's journey of wandering between homeland and exile, which is presented as a metaphor for the wandering Palestinian. Bakriyya articulates this journey in a unique way, as a journey between the beloved and a lover. Leaving the homeland is described as leaving the beloved while returning to the homeland is described as a returning to the eternal beloved one. The uniqueness of the novel lies in the innovative and unconventional way in which it describes this journey.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)565-581
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Semitic Studies
Volume64
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the University of Manchester. All rights reserved.

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