Ghassan Kanafani's Literature, and the Contemporary Palestinian Crisis
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Date
2025-03-05
Authors
Fathia Nael Ahmad Abu Madi
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Publisher
An-Najah National University
Abstract
This study examines symbolism in Ghassan Kanafani's literature and the ongoing Palestinian refugee crisis. It mainly aims to compare the symbols and signs used in Kanafani's literary works and the Palestinians’ daily struggles under the military force of Israeli occupation. It also debates the language of resistance, themes, and symbols in Kanafani's novels and short stories as a predictable image of Palestinians' future after 1948. It further debates Ghassan Kanfani's prediction of the contemporary Palestinian crisis, which depicts the refugee crisis after 1948 and the collective memory of return to Palestine. The thesis employs an up-to-date postcolonial reading of the novels and short stories to indicate that the current nakbas in Palestine and the crisis of refuge for Palestinians have continued after 1948, not only in refugee camps but also in their homeland Palestine.
This study falls into two parts: the first compares the national allegories in Kanafani's literary works with the contemporary Palestinian situation and contemporary Palestinian literature inspired by Kanafani, like Abulhawa's Mornings in Jenin. The second part explores the attitude that Kanafani's literary allegories mirror in the Palestinian contemporary issue and contemporary works of literature that draw from Kanafani's symbolism. These two parts will conclude by proving the prophecy of the continuous crises of Palestinians in Kanafani's literature. The thesis concludes that the voices of writers in novels and short stories could predict the future of their nations, and this has been proven by taking Ghassan Kanafani's literature as a base of this study.