Emile Habibi (1921 - 1996)
"Reality, in his (Habibi's) opinion, was definitely more abrupt and
appalling than fiction. It suffices that he looks at life as it unfolds inthe form of a sinister fictional story, an insult to reason and justice,for him to write texts that definitely fall in the realm of the impos-sible. He says that it would be difficult to absorb the social reality,therefore his novels combine the tragic with the comic. Critic Ali AlRa'i said of his novel "The tales of Said the Pessoptimist": "It's acomedy of blood and tears."Tahar Bin Jalloun,
Le Monde, June 1996
Novelist, playwright, short story writer,
and journalist, Habibi is probably one of the most renowned Arab writers
who lived inside the green line. His political articles used to engender
great political discussions and arguments. He was born in the Galilee and
joined the Palestinian communist party in 1940 to become the editor-in-chief
of the Ittihad newspaper, the official newspaper of the Party. After the
fall of Nazareth and Haifa in the 1948 war, Habibi joined the Israeli communist
party (Rakah), and represented the party in the Israeli Knesset for 19
years. His first short story collection, "The sextet of the six-day war"
was first published in 1968.
In 1974, he published what will become later
the landmark in his career, "the tales of Said the Pessoptimist", a very
intriguing novel both in its style and structure. It still retains a very
unique position within Arab literature for the heavy sarcasm, the stream-of-consciousness
narrative, based on real-life situations resulting from the aftermath of
the 1948 war and dispossession of Palestinians, particularly those who
remained in what is now Israel. The novel was reprinted many times in Arabic
and translated into Hebrew. The English version was published by Prota
in two editions (1982 and 1985). In 1983, Habibi published a play, "Luka'
Bin Luka'" and in 1985 his novella "Ikhtiyyeh" which was first published
in Al Karmel literary magazine. This novella raised great critical acclaim
because of its original presentation, and the writers' success in presenting
humour through the portrayal of tragic situations. His last novel was published
in 1992 entitled "Saraya Bint al Ghoul". Habibi's novels are a very special
contribution to Arab and world literature in their technique of instilling
mythological time into modern times, mixing tragedy with comedy, extreme
sarcasm, and heavy satirical situations.
Excerpt from one of his short stories
Um al Rubabeeka (the woman selling junk
furniture)
- "Have you never met the wandering ghosts?"
She asked me coyly.
- "Wandering ghosts??"
- "Men and women from Gaza, from the West
Bank, and from Amman, even from Kuwait, across the bridge, walking our
alleys in silence, looking over at the balconies and windows in silence.
Some of them knock on the doors and ask politely to be allowed to come
in and take a look and get a drink of water, and then walk on in silence.
This was his house. Some of them are met with a smile of pity by the residents
of the house. Some of them are met with a smile of misery. Some of them
enter their homes, Others don't have the doors opened."
"Some of them don't knock on the doors, but
search with their eyes for a dark complexioned passer by to ask him: was
there a stone-house here? The dark complexioned man would either stop and
try to remember and remembers, or he would say: "I
was born after that time, uncle!"
"My house, however, is not visited by these
wandering ghosts. They have not heard of my treasures."
"Did you write in your newspaper about my
treasures? … Will you promise me to write about my treasures so that the
wandering ghosts will come to visit me?"
When I promised her, she went to an old box
and took out a package of worn out papers. She gave them to me and said:
"this is a present from me to you. Letters I used to write and never send
to their owner. From these letters you will know why I have remained in
the valley."
- "Why only now?"
- "Because only now I can be with you all:
you are my children, don't leave me again."