Title & author
Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa
Synopsis
Against the Loveless World follows Nahr, a Palestinian woman in an Israeli solitary-confinement cell she dubs “The Cube.” As she details the events leading up to her confinement, it becomes clear that her story goes against the narrative that real-life western media overly promotes, painting a blunt picture of the atrocities committed by the Israeli government and citizens in acts of settler-colonial oppression.
Who should read this book
Fans of Of Women and Salt and Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer
What we’re thinking about
What compels individuals—especially those that history has tried to erase—to write
Trigger warning(s)
Physical violence, sexual violence, abortion, sexism, racism, miscarriage, colonialism
When we think of writing for revolution, we may automatically think of writers such as Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and Alice Wong. In other words, we often think of nonfiction writers—authors and editors that share personal stories, statistics, calls to action, and other traits commonly associated with the genre. Yet fictional stories are also essential for mobilizing, educating, and building emotional resonance with readers, and Palestinian writers are at the forefront of producing such critical resistance writing.
Against the Loveless World by acclaimed author Susan Abulhawa (Atria, 2020) blurs the lines between memoir and fiction. The story follows Nahr, a Palestinian woman in an Israeli solitary-confinement cell she dubs “The Cube.” As she details the events leading up to her confinement, it becomes clear that her story goes against the narrative that real-life western media overly promotes, painting a blunt picture of the atrocities committed by the Israeli government and citizens in acts of settler-colonial oppression. From experiencing illegal evictions; forced separation from family and removal of property; physical, verbal, and sexual assault at the behest of Israeli soldiers; and much more, Nahr experiences atrocities that history has tried to overlook and erase.
“I don’t know what compelled me to write it all. To set the record straight? To lay bare with love what others find offensive? To pass the time? To mark my place in the world? To inject life into this lifeless box? To declare simply that I survived?” (Abulhawa, 343). In one quote, Nahr summarizes a few purposes of such a story—whether that be to make a story visible, correct the history “winners” have written, to survive, etc. The lines blur between Nahr’s purpose for telling her story and Abulhawa’s own, having been exiled from Palestine by the Israeli government as a teen. In sharing their stories, both reclaim their identity, their home, and their humanity, despite Israel’s attempts to take that away from them. They write a history that the supposed winners have purposefully chosen to leave out.
Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani, who is known for coining the term Palestinian Resistance Literature, wrote: “In my stories I give my characters the freedom to express their own positions without reservation.” Importantly, Abulhawa does not attempt to depict Nahr or her peers as “perfect” characters. For this reason, Against the Loveless World is a story that many might consider “controversial,” dismissing the characters as violent—not unlike how many do when consuming western media’s portrayal of the Palestinian resistance. However, in outlining the links from oppression to resistance, Abulhawa demonstrates how the relationship of the oppressor to the oppressed cannot be weighed equally. In a world in which winners have always written history, it is a lesson that can be transferred to social justice issues across the globe.
“To survive by loving each other means to love our ancestors too. To know their pain, struggles, and joys. It means to love our collective memory, who we are, where we come from.”
Join in
Contribute your thoughts by using the “Leave a comment” button found underneath the share buttons below. Answer one of these questions, ask your own, respond to others, and more.
What books have you read that discuss the importance of advocacy and protest?
Thinking about Nahr’s quote on what compelled her to write—where did you find the importance of each of those reasons on display in the story? How do they all work together to create a full picture?
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