Palestinian Resistance Literature Under Occupation, 1948-1968 - by Ghassan Kanafani Paperback

Book Synopsis

Translated into English for the first time: A testament to the power of words as a form of resistance and power.

In the two decades following the Nakba, Palestinian writers faced an impossible task: preserve their language, culture, and heritage under occupation. This groundbreaking anthology, edited by legendary writer and militant Ghassan Kanafani, stands as an unyielding act of cultural and political endurance.

Bringing together the voices of Mahmud Darwish, Hanna Abu Hanna, Samih al-Qasim, and many others, this is a defiant declaration of cultural survival in the face of Israeli expansion. Through poetry, short stories, and drama, these leading Palestinian writers waged an essential cultural struggle--protecting their identity when erasure seemed inevitable.

Kanafani's powerful introduction offers both a visceral account of life under occupation and an eloquent theory of resistance literature itself.

About the Author

Ghassan Kanafani (1936-72) remains one of the most important figures in the history of Arab literature. Born in Palestine, he lived in exile from 1948, displaced by the Nakba. He died at thirty-six -- assassinated, along with his teenage niece, in a car bombing carried out by Mossad in Beirut.