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Fragmented Spaces/Broken Time: Restoring the Absence of Story in the West Bank of Palestine

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Narratives of Forced Mobility and Displacement in Contemporary Literature and Culture

Part of the book series: Studies in Mobilities, Literature, and Culture ((SMLC))

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Abstract

The final chapter deals with possibly the most protracted displacements of our time, both historic and continuing in the form of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Apart from the millions of refugees outside of Palestine, people within these territories face displacement and what are, effectively, borders on a daily basis in the form of checkpoints, roadblocks, body searches, curfews and the need for permits, all of which cause dislocation and, in the period since the construction of the security wall, have also separated people from their land, their work and their schools. No attempt will be made to add to the extensive literature on the politics of the Occupation but simply to examine its impact in terms of literary and cultural representation—the human factor. Together with two memoirs by Mourid Barghouti, three texts will be analysed as part of this examination: a short story by Liana Badr, “Other Cities” (2006) a novella, Minor Detail (2020 [2017]) by Adania Shibli, and a reflective meditation on Ramallah, Going Home (2019) by Raja Shehadeh.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Roger Bromley

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  1. Roger Bromley
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Bromley, R. (2021). Fragmented Spaces/Broken Time: Restoring the Absence of Story in the West Bank of Palestine. In: Narratives of Forced Mobility and Displacement in Contemporary Literature and Culture. Studies in Mobilities, Literature, and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73596-8_6

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