Middle East/North African Lit discussion

Hello everyone,
Sorry for opening the discussion late.
Marcia will join us soon leading this discussion :)

Here, we are going to discuss Granada by Radwa Ashour. I read the whole trilogy in Arabic years before. It would be nice to revisit it again.

Who is going to join us reading the book?

Note:
This is our second read for the book, we read it in early 2015, after Ashour passed away in 2014
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I just got the book yesterday and will be joining discussion inshaAllah!

I've just started it recently and plan to post more soon...

I really loved this when I read it a few years ago, so I might reread

I just started it too

Check out previous thread, the Prizes Project, Granada by Radwa Ashour. A few goodies there. 2016

ReemK10 (Paper Pills) wrote: "Check out previous thread, the Prizes Project, Granada by Radwa Ashour. A few goodies there. 2016"

Thanks for reminding me :)
I added a link to the previous discussion in the first post.

smiles :)

Apologies! I will be joining soon -- have been entirely absorbed by the planning of the BILA HUDOOD festival (arablit.org/bilahudood) this weekend. But I love Radwa, and can't wait to discuss a re-read of this beautiful trilogy.

The festival looks interesting, Marcia!

I'm trying to figure out the other books in the trilogy. Are they all translated in English, because I cannot seem to figure this one out. I'll try to get to this one next month.

As far as I know, only the frist one is available in English, but we can check again. May be in Spanish?
The triology follows three generations of one family until they totally leave al-Andalus, after the fall of Grenada. No problem reading only the frist one.

I'm ordering this today so as to follow the thread and maybe get to participate in the discussion.

I've only been able to find the first one so far, but it should be fine to read it as a stand alone I hope.

Carolien wrote: "I've only been able to find the first one so far, but it should be fine to read it as a stand alone I hope."

Yes, unfortunately only the first one in the trilogy has been translated, and my understanding is that it has unfortunately been impossible to interest other publishers in rights for only the second two books in the trilogy -- they want all or nothing.

Carolien wrote: "I've only been able to find the first one so far, but it should be fine to read it as a stand alone I hope."

But it's a beautiful stand-alone, yes!

Reflections on Re-Reading Granada in 2021...

Ch. 1
The opening of this book is starkly memorable for its eeriness and foreboding. The image of an unknown woman, with no clothing or awareness, running through the street stays with me through the years. The effect is similar to works of art like "The Scream" or famous photographs of victims of war, the Great Depression, or other mass crises. Painting and photography, like this novel for me, are accessed in silence. But the silence seems to echo with the power of the images contained in these media. In Granada, the foreboding only increases. From the first scene, we can feel the approach of danger, violence, and historic changes.

Ch. 2
I think this is the first time I'm revisiting this text since becoming a mother. I find the depiction of the two boys here, one a little older than the other, endearing and believable. We can sympathize with how the younger boy looks up to the older boy and sees him as a new playmate. We can feel the older boy's annoyance at having a younger boy tagging along and chattering endlessly.

Ch. 3
The entrance of the Castilians into the the city of Granada, from the perspective of children. Among the puzzling news is that people are being sold in the marketplace like animals. This view of slavery as fundamentally inhuman is part of Radwa Ashour's broader work. As I read this, I remember her memoir, The Journey, that recounts her experiences as a PhD student at U. of Massachusetts, Amherst in African-American Studies in the 1960s. I think she would be following the BLM movement, and related discussions on diversity, if she were still with us today.

Melanie wrote: "Reflections on Re-Reading Granada in 2021...

Ch. 2
I think this is the first time I'm revisiting this text since becoming a mother. I find the depiction of the two boys here, one a little older than the other, endearing and believable.

Yes! I always forget how much I love Radwa's depictions of motherhood. I think there is a line of this in all of her books...at least after Tamim was born (i.e. not "The Journey").

Ashour has been on my TBR for years and I'm glad I finally read one of her books. At the beginning I found it a little (only a little) challenging to get into because I found the city to be more of a character than the characters, which I suppose isn't surprising given the title. By the end, though, I was definitely invested in the characters, particularly Saleema, partly because I think if I'd lived in Europe at this time, I would have been suspected of witchcraft, or something.

I was already somewhat familiar with the Inquisition, but only from the perspectives of Christians and Jews, so this was the first time I read about it from the perspective of Muslim characters and it's definitely confirmed my dislike for religious extremism and close-mindedness. (I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian community, which didn't torture anyone, at least physically, but certainly insisted that everyone believe the same things. Fortunately, I spent too much time at the public library reading things I wasn't supposed to!)

The only part I felt was not fully connected to the book was the Americas storyline. Maybe this book was too short to fully develop that part? One day, if my Arabic ever gets good enough, I might have to read the rest of the trilogy.

Thanks, Nicole! I've set my copy aside while family is visiting. Thanks for reminding me to pick it up when I get the chance :)

My reading is slowly moving along as I go about the rest of my day. New things are happening out of my control but not out of my shock and horror.

Sorry I really wanted to read this again. I ordered it in July and am still waiting!

*Warning: Includes Spoilers*

Here are some thoughts I had through the rest of this reading of Granada:

- Saleema, a young, curious, intellectual, stubborn woman is easy for readers to identify with. She is highly educated from childhood through medical training. Unfortunately, "Granada" ends with her being tried and convicted for witchcraft during the Inquisition.

- The themes of love, education for young girls, and other liberal values in a historical novel about al-Andalus reminded me of Tariq Ali's "Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree." Al-Andalus is a lasting space for authors to reimagine for their own purposes. In the case of Tariq Ali and Radwa Ashour, I relate to many of their purposes. But I can see that they are still participating in this process of reimagining the past to say something about the present. In Ch. 5, the beautiful Granada summer is described in ways that make me think of Elias Khoury's Bab al-Shams / Gate of the Sun. In both cases, the descriptions of "before" or early days contrasts with later descriptions of occupation. I noticed the nostalgia in this reading of Granada more than I have before.


- When I got to the end of "Granada" (which is part 1 of 3 in the Arabic version), I thought some readers who don't have access to the Arabic might wonder how the final part of the Arabic version ends. In the Arabic, part 2 is called "Maryama" and part 3 is called "al-raHiil" (meaning "The Departure"). This final part ends with Ali, 56 years old and grandson of Naeem, facing another departure or exile. He travels in a caravan that demonstrates community, caring for children (giving them food when they are hungry) and for grown-ups (making music and song). One woman dances in a way that seems like flamenco and another woman sings sad words in a strong voice. To me, this represents the strength of human resilience (particularly in Arab and Muslim communities in the case of this book) in the face of challenges. Ali looks across the vast ocean and feels detached and disconnected from the history of his Arab and Muslim family roots. There is also mention of Maryama's chest, made of olive wood and filled with books rescued from the Inquisition. It is buried. To me this represents the treasures that we can find in memories of the past. Certainly this work by Radwa Ashour provides an example of somebody using their imagination to reimagine and rediscover treasures of knowledge and experience in the past through striking characters and descriptions. There are always lots of exquisite details for me in this text :)

Melanie wrote: "*Warning: Includes Spoilers*

Here are some thoughts I had through the rest of this reading of Granada:

- Saleema, a young, curious, intellectual, stubborn woman is easy for readers to identify w..."

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about this! They are interesting! I understand what you mean about both books reimagining the past. I wish the other 2 books were translated ( or that I could read Arabic better

Melanie wrote: "*Warning: Includes Spoilers*

Here are some thoughts I had through the rest of this reading of Granada:

- Saleema, a young, curious, intellectual, stubborn woman is easy for readers to identify w..."

Jalilah wrote: "Sorry I really wanted to read this again. I ordered it in July and am still waiting!"

Thank You for telling us about the next 2 books. I have wanted to read them since first hearing about them several years ago. I wish I could read Arabic well enough but I can’t yet. If no publisher wants to translate and publish the next 2 books, there must be a grad student or emerging translator who can somehow, publish at least parts on some magazine or website somewhere. Many of us who love Radha Ashour’s work will thank you and buy whatever publication your translation is published in. How do her surviving family members feel about her work being translated into another language.