Artistic features of the novel by the Palestinian writer I. Azim “The Book of Disappearance”: the decolonization of the theory of trauma

Abstract

The loss of the right to historical presence and the traumatic experience that haunts Alya’s family
problematize definitions of belonging and identity. These concepts and the traumatic memory of Palestinian
history are revisited in the 2014 novel “The Book of Disappearance” by Palestinian author Ibtisam Azim.
This article examines the artistic features of this novel and questions the theory of trauma in relation to the
interpretation of the Palestinian experience. The relevance of the theory is also assessed for tracing the images
of the main characters: Alya, a Palestinian from Israel, and his grandmother, the primary witness of the 1948
Nakba. A brief review of the literature on the theory of trauma is made, as well as the shortcomings of the
Eurocentric approach to this theory of trauma are analyzed, the possibility of decolonizing the theory of trauma
in relation to the Palestinian experience based on the novel “The Book of Disappearance” by Ibtisam Azim,
written in the genre of psychological realism, is considered.
According to the novel “The Book of Disappearance”, traumatic events are passed on to subsequent
Palestinian generations and thus preserve and maintain the minority’s national identity in Israel. This shows
how traumatic memories can serve as a form of resistance to the erasure of the personal and collective memory
of minority peoples, in particular the Palestinians. To convey the Palestinian experience and, as we believe,
decolonize the theory of trauma, the writer used the following artistic features of psychological realism: focusing
on the inner life of the characters, their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and the plot of the novel serves as the
basis for revealing their true inner world.