Representing Palestine : conflict, narrative and conflicted narratives : a study of how selected literature by Mahmoud Darwish and Joe Sacco portrays war and trauma in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian struggle

Abstract

Since the middle of the twentieth century, Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank have been in a state of military occupation. Today, they are still struggling to get their voice heard as a political blockade prevents the region from thriving. Despite the positive influence that literary representations of Palestine may have when drafting international law and defending human rights, literature’s role in such spheres is often overlooked. This research counters this attitude by proving that literature is an ideal vector for conveying the Palestinian experience. Through the discussion of Palestine and Footnotes in Gaza, by Joe Sacco and State of Siege, Memory for Forgetfulness and Journal of an Ordinary Grief by Mahmoud Darwish, it demonstrates that the literary medium has the power to overcome the ethical and linguistic challenges (amongst which are trauma-transference, traumatropism and alexithymia) that face all narratives of suffering. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that the literary, more than any other medium, is capable of piercing through the apathy that rules the international community in order to bring about real change — on a national and international scale — to the lives of those in pain.