In the Wake of the Poetic: Palestinian Artists After Darwish

210 Pages·2015·33.48 MB·English

by  Najat Rahman

In the Wake of the Poetic
Contemporary Issues in The Middle East
Mehran Kamrava and Carol Fadda-Conrey, Series Advisers
Director’s Choice
Our Director’s Choice program is an opportunity to
highlight a book from our list that deserves special at-
tention. This work celebrates the emergence of a vibrant
Palestinian cultural scene of visual artists, filmmakers,
performance artists, and poets. It highlights the vital im-
portance of artistic expression to communicate and trans-
form experiences of dislocation and shifting identities.
Alice Randel Pfeiffer
Director, Syracuse University Press
IN THE WAKE
OF THE POETIC
PALESTINIAN ARTISTS AFTER DARWISH
N A J AT R A H M A N
Syracuse University Press
Copyright © 2015 by Syracuse University Press
Syracuse, New York 13244-5290
All Rights Reserved
First Edition 2015
15 16 17 18 19 20 6 5 4 3 2 1
∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press,
visit www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu.
ISBN: 978-0-8156-3408-9 (cloth) 978-0-8156-5341-7 (e-book)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rahman, Najat.
In the wake of the poetic : Palestinian artists after Darwish /
Najat Rahman. — First edition.
pages cm — (Contemporary issues in the Middle East)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8156-3408-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8156-5341-7 (e-book)
1. Darwish, Mahmud—Criticism and interpretation.
2. Darwish, Mahmud—Appreciation. 3. Arts, Palestinian. I. Title.
PJ7820.A7Z8265 2015
892.7'16—dc23 2015022659
Manufactured in the United States of America
To the memory of Mahmoud Darwish, the poet,
To the writers and scholars of his generation,
And to the artists after him and in his wake,
who create in the face of devastation,
restoring beauty and meaning,
profoundly touching our lives
And to all those
whose lives have had to contend
in no small part with history
and with loss

Contents
List of Illustrations ◆ ix
Acknowledgments ◆ xi
Mahmoud Darwish and Emergent
Palestinian Arts: An Introduction ◆ 1
1. Language’s Passage from Mahmoud Darwish
to Suheir Hammad, Liana Badr, and Ghassan Zaqtan ◆ 31
2. “A Coming to Language”: The Cinema of Elia Suleiman,
Hany Abu-Assad, and Rashid Masharawi ◆ 53
3. A Memory for Disappearing Archives
The Visual Art of Contemporary Palestinian Artists ◆ 76
4. “All We Have Is the Song”:
Music and the Poetry of Darwish ◆ 115
Afterword: When the Poet Becomes an Endless Poem ◆ 129
Notes ◆ 139
Bibliography ◆ 159
Index ◆ 177

Illustrations
1. Steve Sabella, In Exile 1 ◆ 28
2. Steve Sabella, In Exile 2 ◆ 29
3. Mona Hatoum, Turbulence ◆ 30
4. Rashid Masharawi, image from Laila’s Birthday ◆ 61
5. Elia Suleiman, image from Divine Intervention ◆ 67
6. Eman Haram, Waiting ii ◆ 86
7. Eman Haram, UNRWA Unit 10401 ◆ 87
8. Eman Haram, The Fall ◆ 89
9. Eman Haram, Untitled ◆ 91
10. Mona Hatoum, The Negotiating Table ◆ 93
11. Mona Hatoum, Present Tense ◆ 96
12. Mona Hatoum, Over My Dead Body ◆ 97
13. Till Roeskens, Drawing 5 ◆ 100
14. Rehab Nazzal, from A Night at Home ◆ 106
15. Sharif Waked, from To Be Continued ◆ 110
16. Sharif Waked, from Chic Point ◆ 111
ix