Literature
Language as a Lifeline
Writers in Gaza today, threatened by relentless bombardment and displacement and forced to focus their attention on the small details of survival, have been leaning on language to document, communicate and seek refuge from the brutal war that has now entered its second year.
Novels of Tenuous Belonging
The story of Jews in America is one of exceptional upward mobility, and the community’s literature has evolved alongside it. Early fiction often focused on poverty and antisemitism, while later authors chronicled subtler forms of social discrimination and the pursuit of a less tangible sense of inclusion.
A Malian Writer Finds a Postmortem Revival
Most academics agree that the plagiarism charges against Yambo Ouologuem fall into a “gray area” as plenty of writers, including T.S. Eliot, have used the same method of intertextuality. But the damage to a brilliant young writer was done — until a French literary event in 2021 set the record straight.
Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Nobel: The Right Award for the Wrong Reason
In a contemporary world plagued by xenophobia and racism, Gurnah’s novels nudge us to get quiet and listen, to probe beyond the surfaces of our understanding. We might ask why and with what burdens people find themselves crossing the gulfs between continents and cultures, in what peculiarities of personal experience they might locate their senses of themselves, and in what unanticipated places they might find belonging.