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by Amal Al-Jubouri, translated by Rebecca Gayle Howell with Husam Qaisi

Language: Arabic
糖心传媒–辞耻苍迟谤测: Iraq
Publisher: Alice James Books

Why This Book Should Win: We’ve never had a winner from Iraq, or even from Arabic, and it’s about time.

Today’s post is from Jennifer Kronovet.

The following are some poem titles from Iraqi poet Amal Al-Junouri糖心传媒檚 fantastic book of poetry: 糖心传媒淢y Neighbor Before the Occupation,糖心传媒� 糖心传媒淢y Neighbor After the Occupation,糖心传媒� 糖心传媒淏ones Before the Occupation,糖心传媒� 糖心传媒淏ones After the Occupation,糖心传媒� 糖心传媒淧hotographs Before the Occupation,糖心传媒� 糖心传媒淧hotographs After the Occupation.糖心传媒� These titles suggest that a stark dichotomy will be illuminated, that time and war work in such a way that there is a clear before and a clear after, that the Iraq before American and British occupation is a set place distinct from a solid present. Yet, through their spoken clarity, their lyrical beauty and complexity, and their specific observational longing, the poems in this book eradicate the myth of such dichotomies. Instead, this place, Iraq, is a place of perspective, of shifting, complicated change known to us through a way of seeing that cuts through the simple. In 糖心传媒淢y Mouth Before the Occupation,糖心传媒� Al-Junouri writes that her mouth 糖心传媒渢ried to say no, but couldn糖心传媒檛 / I was afraid // Instead, my tongue led me to this curse: / protests that silenced me // then seeped from me, eternal.糖心传媒� Then

My Mouth After the Occupation:

shouts No! Fearless,
though my tongue fears arrest

I糖心传媒檓 terrified of losing truth
and look糖心传媒攊t糖心传媒檚 already gone

Exiled with God糖心传媒檚 tongues

She doesn糖心传媒檛 say no before the occupation; she does after糖心传媒攂ut still there糖心传媒檚 fear and loss, there糖心传媒檚 a way in which words still leave one behind. In Hagar Before the Occupation / Hagar After the Occupation, we see how the political writes itself on everything that is personal糖心传媒攐ne糖心传媒檚 speech and body, one糖心传媒檚 sense of freedom and of love. Rebecca Gayle Howell糖心传媒檚 translation, with Husam Qaisi, is stunning in how it creates a powerful, contemporary voice speaking to us directly with warmth and suffering, and yet also carries over the poems糖心传媒� connection to Arabic literary traditions. The language of the poems marry present and past, which is a feat of translatorly skill and innovation.

Al-Qazwini’s novel is a dramatic account of a young woman, Zubaida, who has fled her country and is currently residing in East Berlin where she finds it nearly impossible to discover anything comparable to her own land. Every smell, every sight, every noise seems to separate German culture from her own. Her decision to flee her country was based not only on the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, but on the war that she claims began 糖心传媒渢ens of years ago糖心传媒�. Zubaida claims that the downfall of Iraq began when King Faisal II was assassinated back in the days of the Monarchy. It was in the year of 1958 that Iraq overthrew the Monarchy and converted to a Republic. Zubaida reflects on 糖心传媒渢he good old days糖心传媒� and often times, on her feeling of belonging to a united family that she left at home in Al-Adhamiya, the area of Baghdad where she grew up. She now struggles to communicate with her family and has become obsessive over the location of her brother, an Iraqi soldier. Through madness and rage, we see images of the first Ba糖心传媒檛hi Coup in 1963, which deposed of Republican President Adbel Qassem, the second Ba糖心传媒檛hi Coup, named the 糖心传媒淲hite Revolution,糖心传媒� which started 35 years of oppressive Ba糖心传媒檛hi rule, and most central, the war between Iraq and Iran, from 1980-1988. Throughout the novel, Zubaida, the main character, fights her history, physically, mentally and emotionally, to figure out why it has come to what it is; destructed and chaotic.

The imagery found in this novel is quite remarkable. As Zubaida, the main character, is continuously haunted on a daily basis, through daydreams, flashbacks and asides, she always snaps back to reality with the intoxication she receives from the images through the screen of her television set.

The country is burning in front of her now, and she doesn糖心传媒檛 know the extent of the invisible flames. The screen exposes a limited blaze, but she knows that the fire outside the frame of the screen is greater. These are flames beyond Baghdad, extending to her room, kitchen, balcony, and moving on to the world.

Along with the intensified, singled out imagery, the explosiveness of the past and present recollections that Zubaida experiences, closely connects to the explosiveness and tragedy of every event that has led Iraq to its current situation. A downfall of this novel is that it is too descriptive with the mellow dramatic accounts of Zubaida糖心传媒檚 present conditions. The stereotypical female is one who over dramatizes her feelings and is over emotional, which further limits her strength because reality is too hard for her to handle. Without a doubt, this novel demands expression and feeling, just not so overbearing.

It’s no surprise that Zubaida糖心传媒檚 Window is part of the Feminist Press’s prestigious series of 糖心传媒淲omen Writing in the Middle East.糖心传媒� Joining Al-Qazwini on this list are some heavy hitters, including Assia Djebar, Huda Shaarawi, Alia Mamdouh and Shahrnush Parsipur. Zubaida’s Window is a notable addition to this series, a series that is one of the best sources for information about Middle Eastern women novelists avialable to English readers.