https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i4.023
Memory as Resistance: War Narrative, Trauma, and Identity in Ibtisam Azem’s The Book of Disappearance
DR MEERA. K.G
Associate Professor
Department of English
MMNSS College Kottiyam, Kollam
Abstract: Memory functions as one of the most significant forms of resistance in contemporary literature shaped by war, displacement, and political violence. Ibtisam Azem’s The Book of Disappearance presents a speculative narrative in which Palestinians suddenly vanish from Israel, leaving behind silence, confusion, and unresolved historical tensions. Beneath its dystopian premise, the novel explores trauma, identity, erasure, and collective remembrance within the context of the Israel–Palestine conflict. This article examines how Azem transforms memory into a political and emotional force that preserves Palestinian identity against historical silencing. Drawing upon theories of collective memory, post memory, trauma studies, and spatial memory by scholars such as Maurice Halbwachs, Marianne Hirsch, Cathy Caruth, Pierre Nora, Henri Lefebvre, and Jacques Derrida, the study analyzes the novel’s fragmented structure, diary entries, shifting perspectives, and haunting imagery. The article argues that memory in the novel operates not merely as recollection but as survival itself. Through Alaa’s inherited memories of Jaffa, the Nakba, exile, and displacement, Azem illustrates how trauma is transmitted across generations and how storytelling becomes an act of cultural resistance. Ultimately, The Book of Disappearance reveals that even when physical presence is threatened, memory continues to preserve identity, belonging, and historical truth.
Keywords: War Narrative, Trauma, Displacement, Collective Memory, Post Memory, Spatial Memory Cultural Resistance, Historical Truth
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