Daughter of Damascus: A Memoir

CMES Modern Middle East Literatures in Translation

by Siham Tergeman, Andrea Rugh (Translator)

Daughter of Damascus presents a personal account of a Syrian woman's youth in the Suq Saruja ("old city") quarter of Damascus in the 1940s. Siham Tergeman wrote this book to preserve the details of a "genuine Arab past" for Syrian young people. In it, she relates the customs pertaining to marriage, birth, circumcision, and death. She writes of Ramadan festivities, family picnics to the orchards of the Ghuta, weekly trips to the public bath, her school experiences, Damascene cooking, peddlers' calls, and proverbs. She includes the well-known dramatic skits, songs, and tales of the Syrian Hakawati storytellers. And, through the words of her father, she describes the difficult period when Syrians were involved in the Balkans War and World War I. All this wealth of ethnographic detail is set in real-life vignettes that make the book lively and entertaining reading. Little has been published about modern Syrian social life. In this English translation of an Arabic memoir originally published in Syria in 1978, Tergeman appeals to a wide audience. General readers will find a charming story, while scholars can find source material for university courses in anthropology, sociology, family and women's studies, and Middle Eastern area studies. The introduction by anthropologist Andrea Rugh portrays Syrian social life for Western readers and points out some of the nuances that might escape the attention of those unacquainted with Arab culture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle East

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Longing for days of old

When this book was published in 1994, the old Damascus had already vanished. But then, in our times nothing lasts very long. We are not likely to leave behind any ancient cities. The people who live in such cities want to have the lives they see on TV and read about online. When it comes to Syria, the past has been blasted to smithereens. A war that started in 2011 is still going on, even if not in Damascus anymore. So, this paean to the past is really historic now, even if small glimpses of the world Tergeman describes may still exist.
I’ve read several autobiographies of women in various countries. Most involve family and personal experiences more than places. This one resembles a preservative museum in which a myriad things are kept for the reader’s delectation. However, if the reader, like me, was never familiar with the culture and Syrian environment to begin with, the description may prove a bit too rich. She remembers the ditties of her childhood, which was a very rosy one, at least in her nostalgic memory. Her mother—what a wonderful woman! You can read about her school days and teachers. Then there’s a chapter about food and recipes. No doubt this lady didn’t come from a poor family. You come to a vivid description about weddings and wedding customs. And let’s not omit the fact that poems and the words to songs are scattered throughout the text. Customs around pregnancy, birth, and circumcision, a winter party she remembered vividly, a short play about a dentist, funeral customs, a storyteller’s tale, the history of a palace in Damascus, a description of Syrian pigeon keeping and the varieties of pigeon to be found—this author is not leaving out much! And at last, a story of Ottoman Army service in the Balkan War and in Egypt in WW I, a story which had to be exaggerated, at least confused, or even mythical, but maybe a story by a simple man caught up in world-shaking events that he didn’t understand.
I admired the author’s purpose—to capture a bygone culture carried by people who had largely “shuffled off this mortal coil”—but unless you are familiar with Damascus or Syria, it is too much like a Whole Damascus Book and you’ll find it hard to absorb. If you’re curious about what memories a Syrian woman might have, then it’s probably worth more than three stars.
p.109 “People love the past and long for the days of old. They take it with them wherever they go along the path of Time. By holding to their memories they abolish the bitter reality called senility and old age. My father used to say to us, “Laugh and make your hearts happy with your laughter, children, for that is the secret of a long and contented life. Don’t make yourselves miserable over worries because worries are like a long staircase that only wears you out…”
I can only say “Amen” for that is true not only in Damascus, but for all of us.

December 11, 2022

[Linguafranka · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this while i was in Syria, where the autobiographical story takes place

VERY COOL peek into the daily life of an ordinary family in the ancient city of Damascus

stories told take place between the 30's and 70's. today much of old Damascus is gone or endangered, but when this was written most of it was still intact. so this book lets you see things that are either no longer there, or which are simply hidden behind the facades of the remaining 400-yr-old houses of Damascus. get yourself inside one if you go - they are incredible inside!!

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was important to read in the translator's introduction that the book had not been written for Westerners, so it was not in a linear arrangement. It was written for modern Syrians so that the traditions of the past would not be forgotten, so that the old style architecture could be remembered.

After the first chapter (which I found rambling)each did have a clear focus, and I began to enjoy the book more. My favorite was the chapter describing weddings (including the birth of the first child). I was overwhelmed at all the events that received celebration, including the birth itself. (And we thought our weddings were getting expensive!) I'm wondering what the dress style was like that the mother of a five-day-old could wear her wedding dress for the celebration. I can't imagine having fit into mine!

Also of especial interest were the two chapters on war, the Bulgarian War and World War. This time it was war on the losing side.

[Leila T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually, I want to finish reading this, one day, when I have lots of languid hours to peruse this hyper-descriptive text. I remember it as being good, but with heaps of detail. HEAPS.