G.Kanafani Nakba to Revolution

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

This course surveys the life and work of the acclaimed writer Ghassan Kanafani, one of the first writers to emerge from the wreckage of the Nakba. We will start with his first short story collections, composed out of his experience working with child refugees, then consider his researches into Palestinian history, Israeli culture, and contemporary Palestinian literature, and conclude with an appraisal of his novelistic experiments. As we assess Kanafani’s growth and accomplishments as an author and thinker, we will consider the methodological questions that arise while reading reading literature in the shadow of biography and history.Graduate-focused. Readings in Arabic.