In the Wake of the Poetic Contemporary Issues in The Middle East Mehran Kamrava and Carol Fadda-Conrey, Series Advisers Director’s Choice Our Director’s Choice program is an opportunity to highlight a book from our list that deserves special at- tention. This work celebrates the emergence of a vibrant Palestinian cultural scene of visual artists, filmmakers, performance artists, and poets. It highlights the vital im- portance of artistic expression to communicate and trans- form experiences of dislocation and shifting identities. Alice Randel Pfeiffer Director, Syracuse University Press IN THE WAKE OF THE POETIC PALESTINIAN ARTISTS AFTER DARWISH N A J AT R A H M A N Syracuse University Press Copyright © 2015 by Syracuse University Press Syracuse, New York 13244-5290 All Rights Reserved First Edition 2015 15 16 17 18 19 20 6 5 4 3 2 1 ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press, visit www.SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu. ISBN: 978-0-8156-3408-9 (cloth) 978-0-8156-5341-7 (e-book) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rahman, Najat. In the wake of the poetic : Palestinian artists after Darwish / Najat Rahman. — First edition. pages cm — (Contemporary issues in the Middle East) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8156-3408-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8156-5341-7 (e-book) 1. Darwish, Mahmud—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Darwish, Mahmud—Appreciation. 3. Arts, Palestinian. I. Title. PJ7820.A7Z8265 2015 892.7'16—dc23 2015022659 Manufactured in the United States of America To the memory of Mahmoud Darwish, the poet, To the writers and scholars of his generation, And to the artists after him and in his wake, who create in the face of devastation, restoring beauty and meaning, profoundly touching our lives And to all those whose lives have had to contend in no small part with history and with loss Contents List of Illustrations ◆ ix Acknowledgments ◆ xi Mahmoud Darwish and Emergent Palestinian Arts: An Introduction ◆ 1 1. Language’s Passage from Mahmoud Darwish to Suheir Hammad, Liana Badr, and Ghassan Zaqtan ◆ 31 2. “A Coming to Language”: The Cinema of Elia Suleiman, Hany Abu-Assad, and Rashid Masharawi ◆ 53 3. A Memory for Disappearing Archives The Visual Art of Contemporary Palestinian Artists ◆ 76 4. “All We Have Is the Song”: Music and the Poetry of Darwish ◆ 115 Afterword: When the Poet Becomes an Endless Poem ◆ 129 Notes ◆ 139 Bibliography ◆ 159 Index ◆ 177 Illustrations 1. Steve Sabella, In Exile 1 ◆ 28 2. Steve Sabella, In Exile 2 ◆ 29 3. Mona Hatoum, Turbulence ◆ 30 4. Rashid Masharawi, image from Laila’s Birthday ◆ 61 5. Elia Suleiman, image from Divine Intervention ◆ 67 6. Eman Haram, Waiting ii ◆ 86 7. Eman Haram, UNRWA Unit 10401 ◆ 87 8. Eman Haram, The Fall ◆ 89 9. Eman Haram, Untitled ◆ 91 10. Mona Hatoum, The Negotiating Table ◆ 93 11. Mona Hatoum, Present Tense ◆ 96 12. Mona Hatoum, Over My Dead Body ◆ 97 13. Till Roeskens, Drawing 5 ◆ 100 14. Rehab Nazzal, from A Night at Home ◆ 106 15. Sharif Waked, from To Be Continued ◆ 110 16. Sharif Waked, from Chic Point ◆ 111 ix