Palestinian literature refers to the Arabic language novels, short stories and poems produced by Palestinians. Forming part of the broader genre of Arabic literature, contemporary Palestinian literature is often characterized by its heightened sense of irony and the exploration of existential themes and issues of identity.[1] References to the subjects of resistance to occupation, exile, loss, and love and longing for homeland are also common.[2]
Palestinian literature is one of numerous Arabic literatures, but its affiliation is national, rather than territorial.[3] While Egyptian literature is that written in Egypt, Jordanian literature is that written in Jordan etc., and up until to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Palestinian literature was also territory-bound, since the 1948 Palestinian exodus it has become "a literature written by Palestinians" (ibid., p. 9) irrespective of their place of residence.[3]
Palestinian literature may be subdivided into two branches: that written by Palestinians from inside the State of Israel as distinct from that written outside (ibid., p. 11).[3] It can also be divided temporally, between literature produced before 1948 and that produced thereafter.[3]
Poetry, using classical pre-Islamic forms, remains an extremely popular art form, often attracting Palestinian audiences in the thousands. Until 20 years ago, local folk bards reciting traditional verses were a feature of every Palestinian town.[4]
After the 1948 Palestinian exodus, poetry was transformed into a vehicle for political activism. From among those Palestinians who became Arab citizens of Israel after the passage of the Citizenship Law in 1952, a school of resistance poetry was born that included poets like Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim, and Tawfiq Zayyad.[4]
The work of these poets was largely unknown to the wider Arab world for years because of the lack of diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab governments. The situation changed after Ghassan Kanafani, another Palestinian writer in exile in Lebanon published an anthology of their work in 1966.[4]
Palestinian poets often write about the common theme of a strong affection and sense of loss and longing for a lost homeland.[4]