Aborted Returns: In the Late Poetry of Mahmoud Darwish

Lecture

Thursday, October 16, 2008 12:30 PM EDT
Johnson Center, Third Floor Meeting Room A

The Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish (1941-2008) inhabited a unique space in contemporary Arab culture and politics and in the literary world at large as a major poet and one of the greatest Arab poets of the 20th century, but also a cultural icon and the voice of a a nation. How did Darwish, who lived and died in exile, grapple with, and construct "home" and "homeland" in his poetic discourse? The theme of "return" which has immense material and symbolic importance in the Palestinian context was a central thread in his later works. How is the notion of return constructed and imagined? Being a cultural and political icon, the mode in which Darwish addresses these question in his work has significant consequences culturally and politically.

Hosted by the Middle East Studies Program, Modern and Classical Languages Department and Islamic Studies Program.