- Muʾnis al-Razzāz (1951 – 2002, Jordan) – Aḥyāʾ fī al-Baḥr al-Mayyit (‘The living in a dead sea’, 1982). This novel focusses on the effects of the 1967 defeat on Arab society: from family relations to the collapse of values and institutions to the political parties that presented ideas that had nothing to do with the lived reality of the people. This later is represented through its main characters who represent different political ideologies, including Marxism, who in their theoretical view of the world stand far from reality (reference).
- Taysīr Subūl (1939 – 1973, Jordan) – Anta munthu al-Yawm (1968, English trans. You as of Today, 2016). This novel is a direct reaction on the 1967 defeat, as it describes the existential crisis of Arab youths through the story of university student ʿArabī (allegorical for ‘Arab’). ʿArabī narrates scenes from his childhood, such as the traumatic experience of his abusive father murdering a cat, and stories from his family’s history, which reflect on the decisive period of Arab history from 1948 to 1967, from a Jordanian perspective (reference). The English translation can be found in the volume You as of Today My Homeland: Stories of War, Self, and Love, which also contains two translated short stories: ‘Red Indian’ (‘Hindī Aḥmar’, about 1960s Beirut) and ‘The Rooster’s Cry’ (‘Ṣiyāḥ al-Dīk’, about a newly released prisoner).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- ʿAbdallah Raḍwān. 2009. “Shakhsiyāt (al-Muthaqafah) fī Riwāyāt Mʾunis al-Razzāz.” www.startimes.com 9 December 2009, https://www.startimes.com/?t=20764274 (last accessed 1 February 2021)
- Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh. 2001. “Taysir Al-Subul’s You as of Today in a Postmodernist Context.” JAL 32(3): 284-301, p. 288 and Sally Bland. 2016. “A nation drowning in sadness.” www.jordantimes.com, 25 September 2016, (https://www.jordantimes.com/news/features/nation-drowning-sadness%E2%80%99) (last accessed 6 December 2020)