Abstract
This article explores how Randa Abdel-Fattah (1979-), a Palestinian-Egyptian Australian diasporic writer, engages with the land as being ecocritically functional in her Palestinian-centred novel Where the Streets Had a Name (2008). The premise of the article is that a fictional representation of the Palestinian struggle for emancipation against occupation can be read for its environmental concerns; in particular, for the representation of the intersections of nature and culture. To this end, the article proposes a tripartite approach in reading politics of environment in the narrative by focusing on the effects of land on mind, body and voice. The analysis is carried out through the lens of ecocriticism and it reveals the symbiotic interconnections between humans and land. The findings reveal that the crisis experienced by the Palestinians in Abdel-Fattah's fiction goes beyond the need to preserve their past as the land has strong implications on their present state of mind, body and voice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 137-148 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Asiatic |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2014 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Agency
- Diaspora
- Ecocriticism
- Land
- Palestinians
- Randa Adel-Fattah
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Literature and Literary Theory
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language
Cite this
A handful of soil : An ecocritical reading of land in Randa Abdel-Fattah's where the streets had a name. / Mohd Mydin, Raihanah; Ahmed, Hamoud Yahya; Hashim, Ruzy Suliza.
In: Asiatic, Vol. 8, No. 2, 01.12.2014, p. 137-148.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - A handful of soil
T2 - An ecocritical reading of land in Randa Abdel-Fattah's where the streets had a name
AU - Mohd Mydin, Raihanah
AU - Ahmed, Hamoud Yahya
AU - Hashim, Ruzy Suliza
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - This article explores how Randa Abdel-Fattah (1979-), a Palestinian-Egyptian Australian diasporic writer, engages with the land as being ecocritically functional in her Palestinian-centred novel Where the Streets Had a Name (2008). The premise of the article is that a fictional representation of the Palestinian struggle for emancipation against occupation can be read for its environmental concerns; in particular, for the representation of the intersections of nature and culture. To this end, the article proposes a tripartite approach in reading politics of environment in the narrative by focusing on the effects of land on mind, body and voice. The analysis is carried out through the lens of ecocriticism and it reveals the symbiotic interconnections between humans and land. The findings reveal that the crisis experienced by the Palestinians in Abdel-Fattah's fiction goes beyond the need to preserve their past as the land has strong implications on their present state of mind, body and voice.
AB - This article explores how Randa Abdel-Fattah (1979-), a Palestinian-Egyptian Australian diasporic writer, engages with the land as being ecocritically functional in her Palestinian-centred novel Where the Streets Had a Name (2008). The premise of the article is that a fictional representation of the Palestinian struggle for emancipation against occupation can be read for its environmental concerns; in particular, for the representation of the intersections of nature and culture. To this end, the article proposes a tripartite approach in reading politics of environment in the narrative by focusing on the effects of land on mind, body and voice. The analysis is carried out through the lens of ecocriticism and it reveals the symbiotic interconnections between humans and land. The findings reveal that the crisis experienced by the Palestinians in Abdel-Fattah's fiction goes beyond the need to preserve their past as the land has strong implications on their present state of mind, body and voice.
KW - Agency
KW - Diaspora
KW - Ecocriticism
KW - Land
KW - Palestinians
KW - Randa Adel-Fattah
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84921984928&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84921984928&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
VL - 8
SP - 137
EP - 148
JO - Asiatic
JF - Asiatic
SN - 1985-3106
IS - 2
ER -