His masterly text testifies to the heroism of the people under siege, and to Palestinian creativity and continuity. 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)? What will become of the Palestinian people? In raising these significant questions, Darwish implicitly connects writing, homeland, meaning, and resistance in an ironic, condensed work that combines with with rage. It is also a journey into personal and collective memory. With fighter jets screaming overhead, the author sets out on a journey on August 6 (Hiroshima Day) through the war-ravaged streets of Beirut in search, not so much of a “right answer” as of a “right question.” Memory for Forgetfulness is an extended reflection on the invasion and its political and historical dimensions. 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.Using as setting the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the shelling of Beirut, Darwish re-creates in this sequence of vivid prose poems the sights and sounds of a city under siege. Ibrahim Muhawi's translation beautifully renders Darwish's testament to the heroism of a people under siege, and to Palestinian creativity and continuity. 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.
Memory for Forgetfulness is an extended reflection on the invasion and its political and historical dimensions. As fighter jets scream overhead, he explores the war-ravaged streets of Beirut on August 6th (Hiroshima Day). Mahmoud Darwish vividly recreates the sights and sounds of a city under terrible siege. Mahmoud Darwish vividly recreates the sights and sounds of a city under terrible siege. 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.
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