Terra sognata, terra perduta. L’immagine della Palestina nei versi di Samīḥ al-Qāsim e Ǧabrā Ibrāhīm Ǧabrā
(The dreamt land, the lost land. The image of Palestine in the verses of Samīḥ al-Qāsim and Ǧabrā Ibrāhīm Ǧabrā)
in La rivista di Arablit, a. XIII, n. 25, giugno 2023, pp. 39-66.
After the Nakbah the life of the Palestinians changed in an irrevocable way; since 1948 they have been living in a condition of alienation: they perceive themselves as foreigners in their homeland and they are refugees in the countries they moved to. These events have influenced the production of Palestinian artists who have been trying to give their personal responses to such a condition. The individual experiences of Samīḥ al-Qāsim, who decided to live in Palestine after 1948, and Ǧabrā Ibrāhīm Ǧabrā, who moved to Iraq after the Nakbah, highlight how the conditions mentioned above marked their production and the way in which they represent their homeland in their poems. In al-Qāsim’s verses Palestine is the beloved woman he is fighting for in order to free her from the oppressor, in Ǧabrā’s poems Palestine is represented through the poet’s childhood, the period when he lived his happiest years with his family in Bethlehem. Studying Samīḥ al-Qāsim and Ǧabrā Ibrāhīm Ǧabrā’s works comparatively provides insights into the enduring impact of the Nakbah on Palestinian identity, liberation struggles, and the complex relationship with their homeland. It reveals the resilience and creative resistance of the Palestinian people in the face of adversity and challenging circumstances.
