Memory for Forgetfulness

August, Beirut, 1982

Fiction & Literature, Poetry
Cover of the book Memory for Forgetfulness by Mahmoud Darwish, University of California Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mahmoud Darwish ISBN: 9780520954595
Publisher: University of California Press Publication: May 13, 2013
Imprint: University of California Press Language: English
Author: Mahmoud Darwish
ISBN: 9780520954595
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication: May 13, 2013
Imprint: University of California Press
Language: English

One of the Arab world's greatest poets uses the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the shelling of Beirut as the setting for this sequence of prose poems. Mahmoud Darwish vividly recreates the sights and sounds of a city under terrible siege. As fighter jets scream overhead, he explores the war-ravaged streets of Beirut on August 6th (Hiroshima Day).

Memory for Forgetfulness is an extended reflection on the invasion and its political and historical dimensions. It is also a journey into personal and collective memory. What is the meaning of exile? What is the role of the writer in time of war? What is the relationship of writing (memory) to history (forgetfulness)? In raising these questions, Darwish implicitly connects writing, homeland, meaning, and resistance in an ironic, condensed work that combines wit with rage.

Ibrahim Muhawi's translation beautifully renders Darwish's testament to the heroism of a people under siege, and to Palestinian creativity and continuity. Sinan Antoon’s foreword, written expressly for this edition, sets Darwish’s work in the context of changes in the Middle East in the past thirty years.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

One of the Arab world's greatest poets uses the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the shelling of Beirut as the setting for this sequence of prose poems. Mahmoud Darwish vividly recreates the sights and sounds of a city under terrible siege. As fighter jets scream overhead, he explores the war-ravaged streets of Beirut on August 6th (Hiroshima Day).

Memory for Forgetfulness is an extended reflection on the invasion and its political and historical dimensions. It is also a journey into personal and collective memory. What is the meaning of exile? What is the role of the writer in time of war? What is the relationship of writing (memory) to history (forgetfulness)? In raising these questions, Darwish implicitly connects writing, homeland, meaning, and resistance in an ironic, condensed work that combines wit with rage.

Ibrahim Muhawi's translation beautifully renders Darwish's testament to the heroism of a people under siege, and to Palestinian creativity and continuity. Sinan Antoon’s foreword, written expressly for this edition, sets Darwish’s work in the context of changes in the Middle East in the past thirty years.

More books from University of California Press

Cover of the book Real Indians by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book Seeing by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book Shadow Mothers by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece, Revised edition by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book While the City Sleeps by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book The Great Han by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book Lost Names by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book The Peyote Effect by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book On Russian Music by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book Funky Nassau by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book The 1972 Munich Olympics and the Making of Modern Germany by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book Speaking Truth to Power by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book Letters from Langston by Mahmoud Darwish
Cover of the book Sex Panic and the Punitive State by Mahmoud Darwish
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy