The Folktales of Palestine: Cultural Identity, Memory and the Politics of Storytelling (SOAS Palestine Studies)

"Folktales are instrumental in ensuring the survival of oral traditions and strengthening communal bonds. Both the stories and the process of storytelling itself help to define social, cultural and political identity. For Palestinians, the threat of losing their heritage has engendered a sense of urgency among storytellers and Palestinian folklorists. Yet there has been remarkably little academic scholarship dedicated to the tradition. Farah Aboubakr here analyses a selection of folktales edited, compiled and translated by Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana in Speak, Bird, Speak Again (1989). In addition to the folktales themselves, Muhawi and Kanaana's collection is renowned for providing readers with extensive folkloric, historical and anthropological annotations. Here, for the first time, the folktales and the compilers' work on them, are the subject of scholarly analysis. Synthesising various disciplines including memory studies, gender studies and social movement studies, Aboubakr uses the collection to understand the politics of storytelling and its impact on Palestinian identity. In particular, the book draws attention to the female storytellers who play an essential role in transmitting and preserving collective memory and culture. The book is an important step towards analysing a significant genre of Palestinian literature and will be relevant to scholars of Palestinian politics and popular culture, gender studies and memory studies, and those interested in folklore and oral literature."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Series Foreword Acknowledgements Note on Transliteration Introduction: Speak Bird, Speak Memory The Compilers The Folktales The Storytellers Nakba and Memory Chapter 1: Collective Memory in Palestine Palestinian Oral History The 1948 Nakba, Trauma and Nostalgia Storytelling and Language Chapter 2: Palestinian Folktales: Speak, Bird, Speak Again (1989) and Qul Ya Tayer (2001) Folktales: Reality Versus Imagination Palestinian Folk Narratives The Society of Storytellers in Palestine The Functions of Folktales in Palestinian Society The Psychological Function The Social Function The Belief Function Paratextual Material in Speak, Bird, Speak Again and Qul Ya Tayer Pre-Introduction Paratextual Materials Foreword Acknowledgements, Note on Transliteration and Key to References Introduction Paratextual Materials within the Tales The Prefaces to the Arabic Compilation Qul Ya Tayer Taqdīm al-mū ҆ lifīn lil ṭab ҅ a al- ҅ rabīa (The Authors’ Introduction to the Arabic Edition) Taqdīm al-ṭab ҅ a al- ҅ rabīa (Introduction of the Arabic Edition) Afterword Footnotes Post-tales Paratextual Materials The Tales Chapter 3: Palestinian Women and the Preservation of Memory in Palestinian Folktales Mother–Daughter Narrative Mother–Son Narrative Sibling Narrative Sexual Awakening Marriage Chapter 4: Cultural Identity and Sites of Memory in Palestinian Folktales Peasantry as a Site of Memory and Identity Recreating the Homeland Peasantry and Collective Identity Language and Folk Religion in Society, Environment and Universe Groups of Folktales Food and Memory Prospective Memory Sensuous Memory Food and Women: Agents of Memory Final Reflections Appendix 1: Interview with Dr Sharif Kanaana Context, Motives and Choice of Literary Type Speak, Bird, Speak Again and Qul Ya Tayer: Publications/Editions Palestinian Folktales: Past and Present The Role/Power of the Folklorist Framing Folktales in SBSA Framing in SBSA in Relation to National Identity and Collective Memory The Representation of Women in SBSA Appendix 2: List of the Tales Appendix 3: Summaries of Tales in Chapter 3 1 Group I (Individuals) – Tale 2 ‘The Woman Who Married Her Son’ 2 Group I (Individuals) – Tale 7 ‘The Orphan’s Cow’ 3 Group I (Individuals) – Tale 9 ‘The Green Bird’ 4 Group I (Individuals) – Tale 6 ‘Half-a-Halfling’ 5 Group I (Individuals) – Tale 12 ‘Jummez Bin Yazur, Chief of the Birds’ 6 Group I (Individuals) – Tale 16 ‘The Brave Lad’ 7 Group II (Family) – Tale 22 ‘Clever Hassan’ 8 Group II (Family) – Tale 23 ‘The Cricket’ 9 Group II (Family) – Tale 25 ‘The Golden Rod in the Valley of Vermilion’ 10 Group II (Family) – Tale 24 ‘The Seven Leavenings’ 11 Group II (Family) – Tale 27 ‘Im Eshe’ 12 Group II (Family) – Tale 31 ‘The Woman Whose Hands Were Cut Off’ Appendix 4: ‘The Old Woman and Her Cat’ (Al-҅ jūz w al-bis) and ‘Dunglet’ (Ba ҅ īrūn) Tale 39 ‘The Old Woman and Her Cat’ قصة 39 _ العجوز و البس Tale 40 ‘Dunglet’ قصة 40- بعيرون Appendix 5: Summaries of Tales in Chapter 4 1 Group V (Universe) – Tale 42 ‘The Woman Who Fell into the Well’ 2 Group V (Universe) – Tale 43 ‘The Rich Man and the Poor Man’ 3 Group I (Individuals) – Tale 14 ‘Sackcloth’ 4 Group I (Individuals) – Tale 15 ‘Shahin’ Notes Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Final reflections Appendix 1 Bibliography Secondary texts Arabic texts Websites Newspapers, Periodicals and Journals Index Folktales are instrumental in ensuring the survival of oral traditions and strengthening communal bonds. Folktales are instrumental in ensuring the survival of oral traditions and strengthening communal bonds. Both the stories and the process of storytelling itself help to define social, cultural and political identity. For Palestinians, the threat of losing their heritage has engendered a sense of urgency among storytellers and Palestinian folklorists. Yet there has been remarkably little academic scholarship dedicated to the tradition. Farah Aboubakr here analyses a selection of folktales edited, compiled and translated by Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana in Speak, Bird, Speak Again (1989). In addition to the folktales themselves, Muhawi and Kanaana's collection is renowned for providing readers with extensive folkloric, historical and anthropological annotations. Here, for the first time, the folktales and the compilers' work on them, are the subject of scholarly analysis. Synthesising various disciplines including memory studies, gender studies and social movement studies, Aboubakr uses the collection to understand the politics of storytelling and its impact on Palestinian identity. In particular, the book draws attention to the female storytellers who play an essential role in transmitting and preserving collective memory and culture. The book is an important step towards analysing a significant genre of Palestinian literature and will be relevant to scholars of Palestinian politics and popular culture, gender studies and memory studies, and those interested in folklore and oral literature "Folktales are instrumental in ensuring the survival of oral traditions and strengthening communal bonds. Both the stories and the process of storytelling itself help to define social, cultural and political identity. For Palestinians, the threat of losing their heritage has engendered a sense of urgency among storytellers and Palestinian folklorists. Yet there has been remarkably little academic scholarship dedicated to the tradition. Farah Aboubakr here analyses a selection of folktales edited, compiled and translated by Ibrahim Muhawi and Sharif Kanaana in Speak, Bird, Speak Again (1989). In addition to the folktales themselves, Muhawi and Kanaana's collection is renowned for providing readers with extensive folkloric, historical and anthropological annotations. Here, for the first time, the folktales and the compilers'work on them, are the subject of scholarly analysis. Synthesising various disciplines including memory studies, gender studies and social movement studies, Aboubakr uses the collection to understand the politics of storytelling and its impact on Palestinian identity. In particular, the book draws attention to the female storytellers who play an essential role in transmitting and preserving collective memory and culture. The book is an important step towards analysing a significant genre of Palestinian literature and will be relevant to scholars of Palestinian politics and popular culture, gender studies and memory studies, and those interested in folklore and oral literature."-- Provided by publisher