Writing Through the Body: Iraqi Responses to the War on Terror

by Hanan Jasim Khammas

249 pages, Paperback

Published February 19, 2024

Reviews

[Roy Duffield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was prepared for a literature book about a very specific type of contemporary Iraqi fiction, but instead have been treated to a meticulously researched, vastly wide-ranging, and unbelievably well put together treatise that has exposed me to so many things I was previously completely ignorant of (and which I think we should all be aware of) from the evils of contemporary US torture strategies to the disturbingly deep involvement of the Pentagon and the war industry in the creation of video games. While this book is critical of both pre-invasion Iraq and the US-led invasion and occupation – with a whole hilarious section on Saddam's references to moustaches in his political speeches – Hasan makes the case that the vast repetition of anti-muslim stereotypes in Western media makes it virtually impossible for us outside to see people in the Middle East for who they really are; that, finally, a kind of resistance against this marginalisation is found in contemporary Iraqi fiction, where we can read their stories first-hand; but also of the potentially dangerous effects of sharing depictions of imperial violence without the proper forethought. Especially relevant today in the context of the continued genocide against the Palestinian people. I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially anyone interested in improving their understanding of conflict in the Middle East.