Re-imaging Palestine in selected poems from Handal’s the lives of rain

This paper investigates Nathalie Handal’s re-imaging of Palestine as the Promised Land. Such a re-imaging is crystallized through two perspectives: identity politics, which spotlights two distinctively separated groups, viz., the Palestinians and the Israelis, and shared/global identity which depe...

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Main Author: Aman, Yasser Khamis Ragab
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2021
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16550/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16550/1/43031-151967-2-PB.pdf
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author Aman, Yasser Khamis Ragab
author_facet Aman, Yasser Khamis Ragab
author_sort Aman, Yasser Khamis Ragab
building UKM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper investigates Nathalie Handal’s re-imaging of Palestine as the Promised Land. Such a re-imaging is crystallized through two perspectives: identity politics, which spotlights two distinctively separated groups, viz., the Palestinians and the Israelis, and shared/global identity which depends on transcendence to common humanity. Handal is a French-American poet, born in Haiti to a Palestinian family from Bethlehem. She has lived in different places in Europe, the US and Arab World. She reconstructs an image of Palestine from family memories and from her strong sense of belonging enhanced by frequent journeys to Palestine in the hope that she might have a home in poetry. In many poems such as “Ephratha” , “Bethlehem”, “ Regrets in Galilee”, “Jenin”, “Gaza City”, “Haifa”, “Baladna” and “Amrika” , Handal recalls a geomental image of home. However, a geopolitical image of home is put in juxtaposition in order to highlight Handal’s journey for obtaining global identity. I argue that the two perspectives, which are intricately intertwined in Handal’s poems due to her life and travels, provide a version of complete portrait of Palestine.
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spelling oai:generic.eprints.org:165502021-05-10T03:31:15Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16550/ Re-imaging Palestine in selected poems from Handal’s the lives of rain Aman, Yasser Khamis Ragab This paper investigates Nathalie Handal’s re-imaging of Palestine as the Promised Land. Such a re-imaging is crystallized through two perspectives: identity politics, which spotlights two distinctively separated groups, viz., the Palestinians and the Israelis, and shared/global identity which depends on transcendence to common humanity. Handal is a French-American poet, born in Haiti to a Palestinian family from Bethlehem. She has lived in different places in Europe, the US and Arab World. She reconstructs an image of Palestine from family memories and from her strong sense of belonging enhanced by frequent journeys to Palestine in the hope that she might have a home in poetry. In many poems such as “Ephratha” , “Bethlehem”, “ Regrets in Galilee”, “Jenin”, “Gaza City”, “Haifa”, “Baladna” and “Amrika” , Handal recalls a geomental image of home. However, a geopolitical image of home is put in juxtaposition in order to highlight Handal’s journey for obtaining global identity. I argue that the two perspectives, which are intricately intertwined in Handal’s poems due to her life and travels, provide a version of complete portrait of Palestine. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2021 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16550/1/43031-151967-2-PB.pdf Aman, Yasser Khamis Ragab (2021) Re-imaging Palestine in selected poems from Handal’s the lives of rain. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 27 (1). pp. 62-75. ISSN 0128-5157 https://ejournals.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1379
spellingShingle Aman, Yasser Khamis Ragab
Re-imaging Palestine in selected poems from Handal’s the lives of rain
title Re-imaging Palestine in selected poems from Handal’s the lives of rain
title_full Re-imaging Palestine in selected poems from Handal’s the lives of rain
title_fullStr Re-imaging Palestine in selected poems from Handal’s the lives of rain
title_full_unstemmed Re-imaging Palestine in selected poems from Handal’s the lives of rain
title_short Re-imaging Palestine in selected poems from Handal’s the lives of rain
title_sort re-imaging palestine in selected poems from handal’s the lives of rain
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16550/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16550/
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/16550/1/43031-151967-2-PB.pdf