The Folktale as a Site of Framing Palestinian Memory and Identity in Speak, Bird, Speak Again and

245 Pages·2014·1.89 MB·English

by  Farah Aboubakr

The Folktale as a Site of Framing
Palestinian Memory and Identity in Speak,
Bird, Speak Again
and Qul Ya Tayer

A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities

2014

Farah Aboubakr Alkhammash

School of Arts, Languages and Cultures
List of contents

Abstract ............................................................................................................................ 5
Declaration....................................................................................................................... 6
Copyright Statement ....................................................................................................... 7
Acknowledgment ............................................................................................................. 8
Dedication ........................................................................................................................ 9
Note on Transliteration ................................................................................................. 10
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 11
1. Background: Palestinian Popular Culture and Folktales ..................................... 11
2. Palestinian Folk Narratives & Speak, Bird, Speak Again (1989) and Qul Ya Tayer
ريط اي لوق (2001) .................................................................................................... 14
3. Rationale and Aims ............................................................................................. 18
4. Methodology & Thesis Organisation .................................................................. 23
Chapter 1. Speak, Bird, Speak Again (1989) and Qul Ya Tayer (2001) Compilers, Data
and Context ........................................................................................................ 25
1.1 The Society of Storytellers in Palestine ........................................................... 26
1.2 The Functions of Folktales in Palestinian Society ........................................... 29
1.2.1 The Belief Function .................................................................................. 30
1.2.2 The Psychological Function ...................................................................... 31
1.2.3 The Social Function .................................................................................. 32
1.3 Compilers/Translators and Scholarly Context ................................................. 36
1.4 Muhawi & Kanaana’s Collections: Speak, Bird, Speak Again and Qul ya Tayer
ريط اي لوق ............................................................................................................. 38
1.4.1 Paratexts: Brief Overview ......................................................................... 38
1.4.2 Paratextual Material in Speak, Bird, Speak Again and Qul ya Tayer
ريط اي لوق ..................................................................................................... 41
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Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 61
Chapter 2. Memory and Identity: The Palestinian Case ....................................... 62
2.1 The definition of Memory and Collective Memory ......................................... 63
2.2 History, Memory and Narrative ....................................................................... 66
2.3 Palestinian Collective Memory ........................................................................ 76
2.3.1 Palestinian Oral History ............................................................................ 76
2.3.2 Nationalism and Language ....................................................................... 82
2.3.3 The 1948 Nakba, Trauma and Nostalgia .................................................. 89
2.4 Post-memory and Prosthetic Memory in the Palestinian Case ........................ 95
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 104
Chapter 3. Palestinian Women and the Preservation of Memory in Speak, Bird, Speak
Again (1989) and Qul Ya Tayer ريط اي لوق (2001) ............................................ 106
3.1 Gendered and Engendered Palestinian Memory and Identity:
Women’s Narrative ........................................................................................ 107
3.1.1 Mother – Daughter Narrative .................................................................. 109
3.1.2 Mother – Son Narrative .......................................................................... 114
3.1.3 Siblings’ Narrative .................................................................................. 122
3.2 Courtship, Marital Narrative and Palestinian Cultural Identity ..................... 129
3.2.1 Sexual Awakening ................................................................................... 129
3.2.2 Marriage ................................................................................................... 134
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 144
Chapter 4. Cultural Identity and the Preservation of Palestinian Memory: Folktales
in Society, Environment and Universe ............................................................ 146
4.1 Peasantry as a Site of Memory and Identity ................................................... 147
4.1.1 Recreating the Homeland ........................................................................ 148
4.1.2 Peasantry and Collective Identity ........................................................... 152
4.2 Memory and Identity: Language and Folk Religion in Society, Environment and
Universe ......................................................................................................... 157
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4.3 Food and Memory .......................................................................................... 168
4.3.1 Prospective memory................................................................................ 170
4.3.2 Sensuous Memory ................................................................................... 177
4.3.3 Food and Women: Agents of Memory ................................................... 181
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 188
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 190
1. Research Questions Revisited ........................................................................... 190
2. Areas for Further Research ............................................................................... 195
2.1 Establishing a comparative study between epic stories and folktales ........... 195
2.2 Analysing epitexts and illustrative paratexts ................................................. 196
Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 198
Appendix 1- Interview with Dr Sharif Kanaana ...................................................... 213
Appendix 2- Table of Footnotes ................................................................................. 225
Appendix 3- Summaries of Tales in Chapter Three ................................................. 229
Appendix 4-“The Old Woman and Her Cat” - jūz w al-bis and
“Dunglet” ū ......................................................................................... 235
Appendix 5- Summaries of Tales in Chapter Four .................................................. 243

Word count: 78,733

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Abstract

Following the trauma of the Nakba (Catastrophe) of 1948, Palestinians still suffer
from constant violations of their rights, land and culture. To fight forgetfulness and
denial, some Palestinian folklorists have sought to collect, document, analyse and
translate pre-1948 Palestinian folktales. One major example is Speak, Bird, Speak Again
(1989), a selection edited by Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana, and its Arabic
version Qul Ya Tayer ريط اي لوق (2001). The folktales, told mainly by women, are
divided by the compilers into five main groups, following the individual’s life cycle
from childhood to old age: Individuals, Family, Society, Environment and Universe.
This thesis analyses the folktales in the English and Arabic compilations along with
their paratextual elements (introduction, footnotes, afterwords etc) in order to explore
the importance of orality and folktales in framing and preserving Palestinian memory
and identity.
Structured into four chapters, the thesis starts by highlighting the cultural and social
roles of storytellers in Palestine, followed by an overview of the religious, social and
psychological functions of folktales. It then describes the paratextual elements in the
Arabic and English compilations, shedding light on the need to carry out scientifically
and academically based documentation of Palestinian folktales. The compilers’
contribution, the thesis argues, reinforces the discourse of cultural resistance and
cultural identity affirmation. The thesis takes memory studies as its main theoretical
framework. Synthesising various concepts within memory studies, Chapter Two
explains relevant ideas for analysing the folktales, such as collective memory, post-
memory, cultural/communicative memory and prosthetic memory. The discussion
connects memory to a number of generations across time and space, creating a narrative
of continuity. This chapter also explores the components of Palestinian collective
memory - oral history, language, nationalism and the Nakba; the latter the thesis
attempts to situate within the field of memory and trauma studies.
The thesis then probes the essential role played by Palestinian women in
transmitting and preserving Palestinian memory and cultural identity, and explores their
agency both as storytellers and protagonists. Through their roles as mothers, sisters,
wives and daughters, and through their narrative skills and humour, women, the thesis
argues, engender and gender Palestinian memory and identity. To understand the
interconnection between language, cultural and collective identity, Chapter Four
highlights the significance of peasantry discourse in the folktales’ pre-1948 setting,
creating a site of memory and homeland while triggering nostalgia and collectivity. Folk
religion and food culture are important markers of Palestinian cultural identity and
memory; hence, religious expressions, folktale characters and food references in the
folktales and tellings are also investigated. The thesis highlights the agency of
Palestinian women via food culture, and thus their power in promoting long established
cultural and social values as well as regenerating cultural memory.
This research sheds new light on the role of the Palestinian folklorist, folktales and
storytellers, adopting a novel approach that combines memory, trauma, and food studies
among others.

5
Declaration
That no portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an
application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other
institute of learning.
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Copyright Statement
i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis)
owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The
University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for
administrative purposes.
ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic
copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance
with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page
must form part of any such copies made.
iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trademarks and other
intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of
copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which
may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by
third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be
made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the
relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions.
iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and
commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or
Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP
Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487), in any
relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The
University Library’s regulations (see
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s
policy on Presentation of Theses.
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Acknowledgment
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisory team of Drs Ursula
Tidd, Dalia Mostafa and Siobhan Brownlie. I am particularly indebted to Dr Ursula and
Dr Dalia’s consistent and excellent feedback in the last stages of writing. Thank you all
for your advice, help and encouragement.
I am extremely grateful to Dr Sharif Kanaana, whom I had the privilege to interview in
2012. Dr Kanaana’s effort as a Palestinian thinker and folklorist is exemplary and
inspirational. Many thanks for your kindness and generosity.
I would like to extend my acknowledgment and special thanks to a number of
colleagues at The University of Manchester, who have not ceased in extending their
support, help and love all way through and during my acute illness in 2011. Thank you
Dr John Morley, Ms Amanda Mathews, Mrs Emmanuela Pantelireis, Miss Sahar
Abdulelah, Dr Salwa Mohamed, Mrs Michelle Fenlon, Mr Abdul Pathan and Miss
Rachel Sinnott for being ‘my family’ in the UK.
I am indebted to the love and care my friends have offered me throughout my happy and
sad days. I am extremely thankful to my friends in Morocco: massive thank you to
Ikram Zernin and sister Radia El Badraoui, who has been very patient, loving and
caring in spite of the distance. I would like to extend my special thanks to my friends in
the UK, whose support kept me going and smiling, to name a few: Leila, Ruselle,
Christine, Ruth, Titi, Lucia, Tohid, Mara, Rasool, Jenny, Cerys, Sensi, Sophie, Saran,
Clare, Joana, Sevinch, Kelly, Edurne, Sergi, Awo and Blessing.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my beloved parents, whose unconditional love revives
me every day. My deepest thanks and gratitude go to my soul mate and husband Ali,
whose extreme care, love and support makes me every day stronger and happier.
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Dedication

To all Palestinian children in the hope to have a better future

&

To Emile Habiby, Patrick Seale and my beloved mother
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Note on Transliteration

For the transcription of Arabic, this study follows the style used by ALA-LC (American
Library Association - Library of Congress). For Arab authors with publications in a language
other than Arabic, their names are kept in the form used with their publications. Moreover,
Arabic words or titles taken from authors’ quotations are kept in the form transcribed by
them. The symbols used to transcribe Arabic sounds are as follows:

Transliteration

ء س s ل l
ب B ش sh م m
ت T ص ṣ ن n
ث Th ض ḍ ه h
ج J ط ṭ و w
ح ḥ ظ ẓ ي y
خ Kh ع لا al-
د D غ gh ة -a
ذ Dh ف f ا ā
ر R ق q ي ī
ز Z ك k و ū
- َ -- A - َ -- i - َ -- u
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