Hadja Nakhla BEDERINA

Abstract

Amid the decades of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, many disturbing events affected the lives of millions of Palestinians and their ‘memory’. Cultural memory and trauma are both parts of ‘memory’ studies. This dissertation seeks to investigate the role of literature in representing Palestinian cultural memory and trauma. The chosen corpus for this study consists of Susan Abulhawa’s Mornings in Jenin (2010) and Raja Shehadeh’s Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape (2008). This study sheds light on Abulhawa’s narration of the loss of Palestine. As a consequence of this loss, Palestinians developed a peculiar attachment to the land, and hence, the literary imagery of the landscape and trees becomes “Lieux de memoire” that acts as holder of Palestinian cultural memory. In accordance, fruitful trees, identified as active agents of memory, not only serve as holders of cultural memory but also serve as connectors between the past and the future of the rupture between Palestinians and their lands. Furthermore, the study explores the ways in which trauma is represented in the aforementioned works. Each writer offers to deal with it differently. Abulhawa focuses on the trauma caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and posits three models of working through: either through dementia, resilience or silence. Shehadeh focuses on trauma triggered by the loss of the land and the irreversible changes conducted by the Israeli settlement through his portrayal of the confiscated lands as traumascapes