في أروقة الذاكرة

by هيفاء زنكنة, Haifa Zangana

كتبت المؤلفة "في أروقة الذاكرة" كتعويذة للشفاء من الماضي وللتحرر من الكوابيس.
أنها تعويذتها أيضاً ضد النسيان.

جودي كمبرياش "الغارديان"

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle East, Memoir, School, History, World Literature

139 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2009

Reviews

[سماح عطية · Rating 3 out of 5]

وهل يعبأ الطاغية بعقيدتك التي تدافع عنها أو جنسك؟
شيوعيّ كنت أو إسلاميّ أو حتى مواليًا له و راودتك نفسك لأن تحيـد عن الخط الذي رسمه لك؛
لا يفهم المستبد عندها سوى لغة العنف والمحو؛ محوك من الوجود لا يعنيه بل سيريحه؛
يريحه فقط من ضوضائك، وإن كنتُ أشك أن تكون بـ حياة الظالم سَكينة الراحة .
والخوفُ اليائسُ النـاثر خيوطه على رؤوس الأكثرية يُغريـه بـِك.

[Gözde Türker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kitabın ismi benim için çok şey vaat ediyordu çünkü ben bu coğrafyayı anlatan kitaplar okumaya hevesliyim, aslında bu tarz kitaplar okumaya açım bir manada. Ne var ki Bağdat'ı Düşlemek adıyla verdiği sözü benim açımdan tutamadı, bir okur olarak bana Bağdat'ı düşletemedi. Yazarın burada yazdıklarını gerçekten yaşamış olması cidden üzücü, bunu asla küçümsemiyor, acılarını ve kayıplarını yadsımıyorum. Sadece kendi kendine tuttuğu bir günlüğü okuyor gibi hissettim ben. Anlatımı çok soyut ve çok dağınıktı bence. Neden bahsettiğini yakalayamadığım zamanlar oldu. Ayrıca bir şeyleri anlatırken okuyucunun Bağdat'ta, daha doğrusu Irak'ta olanlar, olayların arka planı hakkında bilgisi olduğu var sayılmış gibi geldi bana. Açıkçası benim bu konuda, kitapta anlatılanlara tam olarak mana verecek kadar bilgim yok ne yazık ki. Kendimi yabancı hissettim ve empati kuramamak, olayların nedenselliğini kafamda oturtamamak beni okuma boyunca rahatsız etti ve yordu. Dediğim gibi yazara, düşüncelerine ve üstesinden gelmek zorunda kaldığı şeylere saygım sonsuz. Fakat Bağdat'ı Düşlemek kitabı beklentimi karşılamadı, yılın hayal kırıklıklarından biri oldu.

[Özge Kükrekol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sanırım biraz daha farklı bir beklentim vardı kitaptan. Nasıl derseniz tam bilemiyorum. Acıyı hissediyorsunuz, dili sürükleyici. Hikayeler parça parça. Bir dünden, bir bugünden. Dünya üzerinde hep Acı var. Ne kötü.

[Aaliyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick but often harrowing read, hauntingly beautiful with its poetic prose.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written with passion and commitment, to show the world a reality of the Iraqi people, in the eyes of an oppressed female, during the regiment of Saddam Hussein’s. being part of military and having the opportunity of seeing the inhumane way this people were held incarcerated, the lack of space, hygiene and human rights. Dreaming of Baghdad brought my own dreams back as to what it was to experience the poor and atrocious jail system first hand in this country. Haifa Zangana shows the dark reality but at the same time she high lights the joys and pain that memories can bring. The writing in this book, left me thinking how was the power of the governmental oppression and history that she offered in her writings. The history of incarceration and exile. A great memoir

Dreaming of Baghdad

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cross-genre memoir of Zangana's time in prison in Iraq, where she was raped and tortured. Told with clarity, honesty, and tenderness, there is throughout a sense of hope that the author clings to and that saves us, the readers, from complete despair. Written part in 3rd person, part in first, and part as epistolary, the change in perspective werves to zoom Zangana in and out from her subject, one feels, as a matter of self preservation. The book was also very informative about the history of Iraq, a subject about which I was--and remain--regretfully ignorant. This book keeps you reading, keeps you wanting more, keeps you wanting to reach out and make contact. A remarkable book by a remarkable author.

[Özgür · Rating 1 out of 5]

Başına gelen kötü olaylardan kısa kısa hikayeler paylaşmış gibi, Bağdat'la pek bir ilgisi yok, kitabın bir bütünlüğü de yok ancak Batılıların Oryantalist zevklerini tatmin etmek için yazılmış gibi geliyor.

Tercüme ise başarılı olmuş, kitap belki de o sayede bir oturuşta okunuyor.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think all of our political leaders - globally - should be forced to read this book. It's an intense anti-torture memoir. Immediately from page one, I felt like this book captured me, threw me on a train, and forced me to undertake a fascinating, terrifying, and deeply sad journey, with release only at the end. The entire experience was gripping; all throughout, I felt as if I was being constantly dipped into the trenches of the psychology of the tortured. It's not pretty, but it's important to experience it. Pity the noble among us, who only serve to better humankind, and suffer cruelly for it. Well crafted and very well written. In art, there is some relief. Thank you, Haifa.

[Ferdal · Rating 2 out of 5]

siyah ve beyazdan ibaret olan, grinin hiçbir tonuna yer verilmemiş klasik batı popülizmine kurban giden bir kitap. tamamen çekilen acılar, hiçbir şekilde gerilla mücadelesi içermeyen sanki hücre evinde oturup uslu uslu kitap okurken sürekli başlarına bunlar gelmiş gibi bir anlatı var kitapta, bu da benim gözümde yazılanlaro bir anı kitabı yerine propaganda malzemesi haline getiriyor.

ve kitapta batı modasının ihtiyacı olan her şey mevcut: diktatörel rejime karşı başkaldırı, üniversiteyi kazanmış ama gidememiş kadın gerilla, ilerici bir ideoloji, ne kadar sosyalist bir örgütlenmede de olsa kadın olmanın negatif ayrımcılığı...

buram buram popülizm kokan bir kitap olmuş.
bu kokuyu duyumsamayı bırakabilseydim içinde oldukça duygusal fakat edebi değeri düşük cümlelere, yaşanılan zorluklara denk gelebilirdim maalesef koku diğer her şeyin önüne geçti.
batıda bu denli sevilmesini anlayabiliyorum yukarıda yazdıklarımdan ötürü. fakat bunun içten içe yazar haifa'nın değil de londra'daki yayımcısının işi olduğunu kırpılıp biçildiğini hissediyor gibiyim...

[Rima · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that made me so tearful, I had to hold it to my chest and weep to myself.
~
Haifa Zangana writes about her history as a political activist fighting Saddam Hussein's reign in Iraq. Moving between three prisons, she shares the story of life as a woman, a daughter and an Iraqi who longs to return home but doubts it exists anymore.
~
'That hot summer's day, Baghdad's back alleys witnessed four men chasing and shooting at a young man who thought he knew his beloved city as well as he knew himself. He fired back before collapsing to the ground, covered in blood.'
~
Have you read Dreaming of Baghdad?

[Connie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A first hand account of a capture by occupiers of Iraq of a Kurdish women said to be a revoltionary by government forces and the torture that went with it. Obviously, a survivor yet reader not informed of details regarding of her "new life" in a new land. I am sure this was a therapeutic exercise for the author and I applaud that she could have even written about it even twenty years later but this reader was eager to learn more about how she came to heal.

[Elif Derin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Güçlü bir üslubu var. Hissettirmek istediklerini hissettirmeyi başarıyor. Diğer taraftan Amerikan işgaliyle özdeşleşen Irak'la ilgili onemli bir gerçeği hatırlatıyor: bu işgal bir zalimin diğeriyle değişmesi idi.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic story of a woman in a war torn country. Needs a few read throughs.

[زينا · Rating 4 out of 5]

haunting and poetic

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good piece of writing that shows the humanity of the war. I admit, I didn't know much about what's happening over there, and this work really humanized for me. It sounds awful to think that I didn't think of the Iraqis as humans, but in some ways I guess I didn't. So what did I think of them? I guess I kind of pitied them, but did I think of them as lesser than me too? I don't know, but I guess it's eye opening to think that sometimes I don't think of humans as humans. I think of them more as connected to jobs or events. So do I think of my friends and family as not real? Well, I'm very grateful for them, and we do have great conversations, but maybe I need to work on seeing them in a more "humane" light.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me what felt like a long time to finish, though it is short in length. I think the subject matter might have played a part in the time it took me to finish, in addition to the fact that I am completely clueless when it comes to Middle Eastern affairs. I have made it a point to become more educated on the Middle East and this book has helped. I grew up during many of the poignant events that shaped the Middle East into what it is now, but as a safeguarded American I know nothing of what has transpired and continues to transpire in the Middle East. This book was heavy and detailed, and I can't say I understood the context of a lot of what happened, but it gave me a raw, first person account of life during the Saddam Hussein reign.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't really know what to expect for a book I'd never heard anybody talk about-I think most people know Haifa Zangana as an activist and not a writer-but this is one of the best books I read in the last year. Really touching stories about ba'th regime oppression as experienced by women activists specifically.

I should probably just make an Iraq shelf I have more than enough books to put on it.

[Celestine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published as "Through the Vast Halls of Memory," in 1990 "Dreaming of Baghdad" is a 2009 Feminist Press (CUNY) reprint of Kurdish-Iraqi activist Haifa Zangana's haunting memories of her 1970s activism and imprisonment under the Ba'ath party. Zangana's narrative shifts in time, place, and subjectivity, resulting in an illuminating/troubling remark on the nature of trauma and memory.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the afterword to this book notes, this is an unusual book. It was written as someone remembers events -- haphazardly and in a funny order. There were some poignant parts of the book, yet overall I wasn't sure that the idea of writing a book as someone who remembers is actually that useful a exercise in prose production.

[Sukanto · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's never easy to read first hand accounts of torture and the pain associated with war. But it's also necessary at times to embrace reality like this, in order to understand how hate spreads its tentacles. This is a touching narration by Haifa Zangana.

[Abhilash Bala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and ironically written. Not a page turner, yet the struggle is described neat.

[Guneet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imprisoned at Abu Ghraib, tortured, beaten and self-exiled, the protagonist lives in London, trying to push off memories of torture through sleeping pills.
Nice read.

[Hanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beklentimin altında kaldı. Kitaptaki anlatılanlar çok etkiledi beni dili çok sade ve anlaşılır zaten su gibi akan bir kitap.