https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i4.057
From Ruins to Roots: Spatial Transformation in As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
FATHIMA FIDHA P M
Student, Department of English
Little Flower College (Autonomous), Guruvayur, Kerala, India
fidhafathie@gmail.com
DR. TERESA J. HELOISE
Assistant Professor, Department of English
Little Flower College (Autonomous), Guruvayur, Kerala, India
angelpeace143@gmail.com
Abstract: This article examines Zoulfa Katouh’s As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow through the lens of Spatial Theory, exploring how war transforms the physical, psychological, and symbolic dimensions of human experience. Drawing on the spatial concepts of Henri Lefebvre, Michel Foucault, Edward Soja, Gaston Bachelard, and Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, the study investigates the ways in which the Syrian civil war disrupts and reconstructs lived spaces within the novel. The analysis focuses on domestic spaces, contested urban environments, heterotopic medical spaces, psychological landscapes, border zones, gendered spaces, and symbolic spaces of memory and belonging.
The article argues that war functions as a profound spatial crisis, dismantling homes, cities, institutions, and forms of social stability while simultaneously reshaping individual identities and relationships. Through Salama Kassab’s experiences, the novel demonstrates how trauma, displacement, and survival are deeply mediated by space. At the same time, Katouh reveals that not all spaces are erased by violence. Symbolic and mnemonic spaces, represented most powerfully through the recurring image of the lemon tree, preserve cultural memory, sustain identity, and offer possibilities for renewal. This study demonstrates that space in the novel operates not merely as a setting but as an active force shaping loss, resilience, belonging, and hope in times of war.
Keywords: Spatial Theory, War Literature, Identity, Symbolic Space
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