2011 Syrian Uprisings and Civil War

Mahā Ḥassān (1966-, Syria) –ʿAmat Ṣabāḥan Ayatuhā al-Ḥarb (‘Good morning, war’, 2017). With its focus on a Syrian family and their dead mother, and with its use of magical realism, this novel portrays the Syrian war as almost a real person, as the title says; ‘good morning, war’. The mother in the novel narrates the daily effects of the Syrian war in Aleppo, among others how its inhabitants continue to live together despite their differences which are emphasized by the war.

Marwān Hishām (?, Syria) and Molly Crabapple (1983-, US) – Brothers of the Gun (2018). Coming-of-age memoir of the author as his city of Raqqa falls under the control of the Islamic State. It describes three young men who joined the first protests of the Syrian uprisings but ended up scattered five years later. While one of them died, the other joined an Islamist revolutionary movement, and Hishām himself became a journalist in exile after working for Islamist fighters in an internet café. He also describes his changing view of these fighters (reference). Molly Crabapple illustrated the novel with black and white ink drawings.

Khālid Khalīfah (1963 – 2023, Syria) – al-Mawt ʿAmil Shāq (English trans. Death is Hard Work, 2019). This novel is set in a Syria of civil war. The elderly ʿAbd al- Laṭīf’s final wish when laying in a hospital bed in Damascus, is to be buried in his village of al-Anabiya. His three sons attempt to honor their father’s wish by setting their differences aside and embark on a life-threatening road-trip through their childhood area which has changed in a free-for-all country, with the rotting corpse of their father in the trunk.

Nisrīn Akram Khūrī (1983-, Syria) – Wādī Qandīl (‘Qandil valley’, 2017). Set in 2029, this novel describes the future of the Arab spring in Syria. Its main protagonist, Thariyyā Lūkās, returns to Syria looking for memories of the country she left when she was five. She finds the memoires of the writer Gim Haddād, who wrote about her life and friends during the war. Through this memoir Thariyyā learns about the Syrian past.

Dīmah Wannūs (1982-, Syria) – al-Khāʾifūn (‘The frightened’, 2017). This novel describes a country living in fear, where Sulīmā develops a relationship with Nasīm, who she meets in the waiting room of their shared psychologist. However, Nasīm flees the country leaving Sulīmā behind with an unfinished novel about a heroine who, like herself, comes from an Alawite minority background. The unfinished novel brings the narrator to think about the past, her family relationships, and what has become of the country (reference).

Sūmar Shaḥādah (1989-, Syria) – Huqūl al-Dhurah (‘Cornfields’, 2019). Huqūl al-Dhurah is a novel on the evolution of the Syrian revolution into a mayhem benefitting opportunists, extremists, and those in power. Its protagonist is a Mulhim, a university professor who goes into hiding after his friends were arrested for publishing an illegal newspaper.

Nabīl Sulaymān (1945-, Syria) – Layla al-Ālim (‘Night of the world’, ?). The protagonist of this novel, professor Munīb, sees all the dreams of the Syrian revolution turning into a nightmare. As his hometown Raqqa falls into the hands of ISIS, he reflects on the past and present of his country through stories of friendships with people from different backgrounds. But the novel is not all about destruction, as Munīb’s relationship with his fiancé shows the power of love, and his friendship with Kurds is a testimony to a peaceful coexistence between cultures (reference) (also in I: Ideologies and Political Movements: Terrorism).

Samar Yazbak (1970-, Syria) – al-Mashāʾah (2016, English trans. The Blue Pen, 2021). In this novel the story of the young Damascene girl Rīma coincides with the evolution of the Syrian revolution. Rīma’s love for walking leads to her mother tying her to her bed where she spent her time drawing (reference). In the course of the novel, Rīma looses those she loves: her mother is shot at a checkpoint, her brother disappears, and his friend who she hides with in a basement never returns, after which Rīma starts to draw her life story with the only blue pen she could find (also in F: Children and Family Life: Children and Adolescents: War and devastation through children’s eyes).

Refrences:

In order of appearance