Nni'jaam an iraqi rhapsody book analysis reporting

Ijaam by sinan antoon, sinan antoon, rebecca johnson. An iraqi rhapsody by sinan antoon translated from arabic by. Allowing for some past perspective, the narrative attempts to shed light on the terrorized life of certain iraqi citizens under saddam husseins. An iraqi rhapsody washington report on middle east affairs. He has also published a collection of poems, mawshur muballal bilhuroob a prism. Ijaam, explains iraqi expatriate antoon in a prefatory note, is the arabic word used to describe the diacritical dots added to the basic alphabet to represent different phonetic characters. An undotted text calls upon us to exercise our freedom in interpreting it and to discover its hidden.

The prisoner intersperses terse reports of his ordeal among memories of a literary rebellion, friendship and love. For discussion what is your sense of the meaning of the word rhapsody. Ijaam, explains iraqi expatriate antoon in a prefatory note, is the arabic word used to. Having begun on tuesday with a video from dam, today i showed them one of subliminals videos todays big issue. This book arrives at a crucial moment in our history as the decision is being made whether to expand or terminate the u. By its nature, vantage theory is also open not only to the uni versals of color. This is a stunning debut by a major young iraqi writerinexile. The iraqi invasion of iran, i pointed out, brought together most of the issues we had focused. Since these dots can also clarify a words meaning, ijaam has come to mean. Structurally, too, this novel is a gem despite its political overtones, however, ijaam works on an aesthetic level as well.

Ijaam, an iraqi rhapsody press city lights bookstore. One of the four big questions we have been addressing all semester is the nature of the state, and this week they read naguib mahfouzs the journey of ibn fattoumeh. An iraqi rhapsody, the novelist sinan antoon takes advantage of the orthographic ambiguities of arabic to explore themes. The main character journeys the world looking for a just society, noting the. A manuscript found in baghdads directorate of general security recalls life under saddam husseins regime. An iraqi rhapsody by sinan antoon translated from arabic by rebecca c. A rhapsody can be defined as an exalted or enthusiastic expression of feeling in speech or a state of bliss or elation. Sinan antoon is an iraqiamerican author and his novel tells the story of an iraqi literature student under. An iraqi rhapsody, the novelist sinan antoon takes advantage of the orthographic ambiguities of arabic to explore themes of love, loss, identity and resistance in the face of political oppression. The bulk of the book presents furats prison diaries as transcribed and dotted by the. But i also showed them a series of images reflecting the growing cult of personality, and concluded with the 1980 invasion of iran, trying to provide the background they would need for the weeks reading, sinan antoons ijaam. One famous example in popular culture is george gershwins rhapsody in blue.