Affiliation and Alienation in the Works by the Palestinian Writer Ghassan Kanafani

Authors:

Pages: 288-296
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/UBTB9882

Abstract:

Ghassan Kanafani is a Palestinian novelist whose works were translated into dozens of foreign languages and gained international recognition. He was born in 1936 that was the year of The Great Palestinian Revolt. The author constantly returned to this date in his books because of its importance in the modern history of the Palestinian people. The emigration from his early childhood also left a strong imprint on his creativity. The alienation and the threat of death during the extraordinary military events that took place in his hometown of Acre, as well as his early diabetes deeply affected him. They led Kanafani to believe that his death was inevitable. Nevertheless, he masterfully took advantage of Western literary devices to describe the reality of the Arab world and, in particular, the everyday life of the Palestinians and their survival after long wars and losses. The present paper discusses his several works that reveal a loss of identity as a consequence of alienation, and invoke readers not to remain isolated and indifferent to the fate of others and to be brave enough to change their life path, despite all the obstacles.

Keywords:

Kanafani; affiliation; alienation; identity; desert; Haifa, acre.

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