الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract The Iraq War that began in March 2003, with the Invasion of Iraq by the Coalition forces led by the United States in the aftermath of 9/11, is a major juncture in recent history. Based on the views of many commentators and observers, it could be argued that the War in no way benefited the Iraqis or brought them any good. On the contrary, it was basically an American decision and for American interests in international domination, regardless of the ’humanitarian and liberal’ pretexts used to justify it. It represents a part of modern globalization with its accompanying neoliberal hegemony and neo-colonial interests and their entailments. It unleashed troubles whether on the political or the social level dividing the Iraqi society in a very acute way. Despite the official withdrawal of the last American forces from Iraq in December 2011, Iraq is still living with the repercussions of the War. As complex and nuance-filled as that War was/is, it occupied many writers from different backgrounds, and thus there has been a proliferation of works with the Iraq War as their subject matter. Examining the representation of the Iraq War whether in fiction or testimonies is of significant importance in the attempt to do a comparative reading of these texts. This assists in the endeavour to look into the War and to have a comprehensive view of what its representations reveal. The thesis aims to examine and compare the representation of the Iraq War/ Invasion in selected texts by Arab and Western writers. It is believed that the study of a variety of works by different authors from different background is pivotal in the understating of the representations of the Iraq War as the study seeks. As Linda Hutcheon maintains ”Writing literary historically in terms of reclaiming the repressed, the blocked out, the marginalised means openly addressing the forces that caused [emphasis added] the repressing, the blocking and the marginalising in the first place” (Hutcheon 19). Hence, the S. Abou Al Reda 2 importance of examining how this applies to the Iraq War context. Since 2003 and up to the present day a myriad of works on the Iraq War has been appearing. Although the surge of production of Iraq-War-related works on the Western (particularly American side) is more prolific than that on the Arab side, especially in fiction; the works of Arab writers have tackled the topic in an original way that echoes the Iraqi and Arab views and concerns about the War and also their experience. It is argued that examining two of the different forms of representation of the War, particularly fictional novels and testimonies, and trying to look into both Arab and western points of view is quite enriching for the study. It is noteworthy that the deficiency, if one may use the term, of fictional works by Arab writers that dealt with the Iraq War/Invasion could be attributed to a number of reasons. Although there is no accurate study, so far, of why the case is such, some initial causes can be pointed out. The experience of the Invasion of Iraq, and all what ensued it, is far-reaching and very frustrating to completely assimilate and be produced in ’many’ fullydeveloped literary works, within the current time span. Despite the official military withdrawal, the violence and the consequences of the War are continuing, which entails that in reality a form of war is still in action, thus survival is the preeminent task, giving little space to wide recognition of literary works. Another reason for that is the traumatic nature of the War experience which adds to the difficulty of the process of narrating it. Financial means and publicity may also be among the causes of that deficiency. Getting the means to publish a work in print inside Iraq and outside is not that easy, and to have it widely known is more difficult, especially with the absence of a credible, known unified database that encompasses the vast majority of recent publications by Arab writers worldwide. To limit the scope of the study, it was decided to restrict it to a number of selected texts produced during the first decade of the War, namely from 2003 to 2013. These are three novels and five testimonies. The fictional texts that the thesis studies are: The S. Abou Al Reda 3 American Granddaughter (2008, translated 2010) by the Iraqi Inaam Kachachi’s, The Sirens of Baghdad (2007) by the Algerian Yasmina Khadra (Mohammed Moulessehoul) and The Yellow Birds (2012) by the American Kevin Powers. The testimonial accounts that the study investigates are: The New Great Upheaval (Al-Fitna Al-Kubra Al-Gadida) (2009) by Egyptian journalist Muhammed al-Anwar, The Pages of the Occupation of Iraq (Safahat Ihtelal al Iraq) (2008) by Iraqi journalist Mustafa Ali al-Obaidi, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone (2006) by Indian-American journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Nobody Told Us We Are Defeated (2006) by the British journalist Rory McCarthy, and Voices from Iraq (2009) by American journalist Mark Kukis. The selected texts are significant to study as they offer different perspectives given that the characters and the authors represent different backgrounds: the Arab, the western and the hybrid one. This variety was deliberate in order to offer the possibility of having a comprehensive view of the representation of the invasion of Iraq War. Each of The American Granddaughter, The Sirens of Baghdad and The Yellow Birds focuses on an individual who is involved in the War context whether directly or indirectly and whose life is utterly transformed by the experience of the War. The American Granddaughter depicts Zeina, the Iraqi-American woman who chooses to go back to Iraq as a hired translator for the American army, thinking that by doing so she is helping her two countries. As a hybrid woman, she oscillates between the worlds of the coloniser and the colonised seeking her way through either. She finally comes to finding her own hybrid identity and discovers the reality of the War that she once believed to be for the welfare of the Iraqi people. She experiences ambivalence and mixed loyalties on the subconscious level, while still referring to herself as ”we” in relation to the American army. Zeina embodies the self, the other and the involved conflict all at once. Moreover, the portrayal of her patriotic grandmother, Rahma, and the role she plays in helping Zeina figure out the realities of her S. Abou Al Reda 4 situation is quite revealing. Iraq’s past and present and its ’natural’ life are effortlessly presented through the narrative. Zeina’s narrative ends with her acceptance of her hybrid position, her disillusionment with the American dream and her realization of the strength of her bond to Iraq. Moving to The Sirens of Baghdad, it presents the story of an unmanned Iraqi Bedouin young man in his early twenties, whom the Iraq War with its violence, humiliation and destruction transforms from a timid student of literature and a to-be-man-of- letters into a hatred-filled potential agent of terrorism. Although he is not directly involved in the War (like the protagonists of the other two novels), he represents how the War reaches the life of everyone involved in its context, and how extreme the response might be. Khadra’s novel also addresses the crucial question of the role of the Arab intellectual in/towards his society in critical times and the possible ways out of the vicious circle of terrorism and counterterrorism. The Iraqi young man chooses not to take revenge against the whole world which foreshadows his achieving a form of resignation, if not reconciliation. The third novel is The Yellow Birds which focuses on the War experience of the American soldier, Bartle, who willingly enlists in the army and is sent to fight in Iraq, where he witnesses the atrocities of the War culminating in the murder and mutilation of his close friend Murph which he is forced to cover up. The narrative marginalises the Iraqis involved in the situation to a great extent making their existence peripheral to that of the American soldier though the War is on their land. While the novel shows significant aspects of the War it does not incorporate the predicament of the Iraqis in depth. Bartle manages to achieve a degree of acceptance of what the War has inflicted upon him by the end of the novel. On the other hand, the rationale behind selecting the specific testimonies chosen for the thesis is to include testimonial accounts whether by Arab or Western S. Abou Al Reda 5 writers/editors which are largely based on living the War and interacting with or interviewing Iraqis or Americans in the decade from 2003 to 2013, and that involves first-hand experience. Two accounts by Arab writers were selected: The New Great Upheaval (Al-Fitna Al-Kubra Al-Gadida) (2009) and The Pages of the Occupation of Iraq (Safahat Ihtelal al Iraq). Both texts are primarily focused on the Iraqi/Arab perspective but American presence is evident in them. Each of the two texts combines interviews of Iraqi figures and narrations of events that the writers witnessed or were part of. Both focused on people and events in addition to offering their analysis at points. It could be argued that the accounts of the Arab writers delivered an enlightening view of the War but degrees of subjectivity were quite obvious in them. Shifting to the testimonies offered by western writers, these involved two kinds: testimonies by Americans focusing on the inside world of the American forces operating in Iraq exemplified by Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone (2006) and accounts of testimonies of Iraqis offered by western journalist as in Nobody Told Us We Are Defeated (2006) and Voices from Iraq (2009). The accounts offered in the first text are significant in their exposure of the discrepancy of the ’stated’ strategies and the actual practices taking place on the ground relating to the War. The focus on the ’imperial’ nature of American intervention in Iraq is quite interesting to note as it highlights how the rhetoric of neoliberalism is belied by its actions, making the whole process a revival of colonial interests with the change of the outline to fit the modern world. The two other accounts, are very illuminating not only in the variety of perspectives and stories they offer, but also in their emphasis on the fact that there is an awareness about the importance of ’giving voice’ to the Iraqis whose side of the War narrative was/is still not given enough space. It could be argued that one of the major reasons for considering testimonies is the necessity of giving voice to those silenced by the War. S. Abou Al Reda 6 Looking at the massive oeuvre of writings about the Iraq War reveals a number of facts about the nature of the representation of that War as well as the perspective and allegiance of the one offering the particular work examined (be that intentional or unintentional). This in turn invites for engagement in what Edward Said termed a ”contrapuntal reading” which involves taking into consideration ”both processes, that of imperialism and that of resistance to it, which can be done by extending our reading of the texts to include what was once forcibly excluded” (Said Culture and Imperialism 79). The exclusion of certain aspects in some of the examined testimonies and in fictional texts opens up questions about the interpretations of these exclusions and silences. It is true that an allencompassing representation might not be achievable; however, aspiring for objectivity without serving pre-planned ideologies can be fruitful. Said’s contrapuntal reading is considered an approach that does ”not [try] to rule others, not [try] to classify them or put them in hierarchies, above all, not constantly reiterating how ”our” culture or country is number one… For the intellectual there is quite enough of value to do without that” (Culture and Imperialism 409). Said borrowed the term contrapuntal reading from musical ”atonal ensemble” (Culture and Imperialism 386) and used it as a method of analysis. Its value is that it allows for polyphony which entails the complexity of having a multiplicity of voices, with the aim of ”the tying together of multiple voices in a kind of disciplined whole” (Said qtd in Embabi 102). Said’s interest in contrapuntal reading arises from his interest in the relationship between the western and the non-western world. Doaa Embabi sums up the purpose of this method of reading which is ”multi-layered and rich, all aspects of the experience are subject to thorough investigation, and the experience(s) of the past are projected as roots of present problems and conflicts in the hope that an appreciation of them may lead to an insight into resolving current issues” (103). Applying this to the Iraq War context, it becomes a problem S. Abou Al Reda 7 that has its roots in the traditional opposition between Occident and Orient and the claim of ’the civilizing mission’ of the more developed nations. Thus this study is based on the argument that the War on Iraq is an extension of the former imperialist discourse of the nineteenth century. Hence, Said’s contrapuntal reading allows for interpreting as well as comparing the representation of the War context giving equal emphasis to Iraqi/Arab and American/Western stories which serves the purpose of this study. Contrapuntal reading has been considered as befitting texts that involve the coloniser and the colonised enabling ”the emergence of colonial implications that might otherwise remain hidden” (Ashcroft et al. 49). Moreover, Said’s contrapuntal approach has sympathy as its goal. Embabi points out that ”[Said] is credited for foregrounding a spirit of ”reconciliation” which guides him to reach an approach to investigating cultural products from a comparative and humanist perspective” (110). This reconciliatory approach allows for comparing experiences and their cultural contexts away from the rhetoric of blame, division and hostility. By focusing on the common interests and the shared experience, Said hoped for alternative readings that would allow not only for the silenced to be heard but also for the opposition to be dissolved. In the context of the Iraq War, contrapuntal reading allows to bring various representations together in an attempt not only to compare the representations but also to process the experience reaching some form of reconciliation. The methodological frame work that the thesis employs is ’a contrapuntal reading’ of selected texts of the two forms of representation of the Iraq War. This approach allows for a comparative study of both fiction and testimonies with reference to and application of specific concepts of postcolonial criticism, especially those held by Edward Said, and trauma theory specifically Cathy Caruth’s work to achieve a comprehensive view of the representation of the Iraq War. It is worth mentioning that postcolonial criticism and trauma theory are very much interconnected in the study of the War. S. Abou Al Reda 8 Though Said’s concept was mainly dedicated to the reading of works of literature, it seems both relevant and revealing in the analysis of non-fictional works, particularly testimonies in case of this study. Said rightfully argues that ”Each cultural work is a vision of a moment, and we must juxtapose that vision with the revisions it later provoked” (Said Culture and Imperialism 79). Applying that to the context of the Iraq War, and with some liberty in the consideration of what might be termed ”a revision”, the juxtaposition of representations of the War in fiction and testimonies against each other and historical accounts becomes illuminating. It exposes a variety of aspects of the War that reveal, in addition to the violence, terrorism, colonial strategies at work that expose claims that the Invasion was to save the world from terrorism and to secure the ’welfare’ of the Iraqis. The thesis is divided into three chapters and a conclusion. The first chapter is entitled ”Historical / Literary Context of The Iraq War”. It examines the historical, social and political background of Iraq that relates to the War and its aftermath in addition to the oeuvre of major texts, whether fictional or nonfictional that dealt with the Iraq War during the period from 2003 till 2013 (the first decade of the War). The second chapter is entitled ”The Iraq War in selected Fictional Texts”. It investigates how the Iraq War was portrayed in the selected fiction from the perspective of three different authors: Iraqi, Algerian (Arab) and American. The third chapter is entitled ”Testimonies and the Iraq War” and it examines a number of testimonies on/of the War from both stances as well. Each of the second and third chapter follows a similar pattern to help achieve the comparison of certain aspects of both forms of representations: the trauma of the War, the colonial context of the War, the representation of violence and the role of media in the War. The conclusion offers a recapitulation of the issues examined in the thesis and the major findings and limitations |