Kanafani the Artist

Literary Work

A Commeration

Selected Works

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Ghassan Kanafani (1936 - 1972)

Ghassan Kanafani, a well known Palestinian journalist, novelist, dramatist, and short story-writer, whose writings were deeply rooted in Arab Palestinian culture, inspired a whole generation during and atter his lifetime, both in word and deed.

He was bom in Acre in the north of Palestine on 9th April 1936 and lived in Jaffa until May 1948. In 1947 Palestine was partitioned into Arab and Jewish zones by the United Nations, and the newly found state of Israel 's drove over 780 000 Palestinians from their homeland.

Kanafani was forced to leave with his lamily first to Lebanon and later to Syria, in the mass exodus that is known to all Palestinians as the Nakba (the catastrophe) of 1947-1949. The Kanafanis settled in Syria as Palestinian refugees. After finishing his secondary education Ghassan started his studies of Arabic literature at the University of Damascus . He then moved to Kuwait , where he worked as a teacher and journalist, and from 1960 onward he settled in Beirut. There, he was the editor of the al-Muharrir newspaper. In 1969 he became spokesperson for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the editor-in-chief of its weekly Al-Hadaf.

In July 1972, Ghassan and his young niece Lamees were killed by Israeli agents in a car bomb explosion in Beirut. He was 36 years old and at the peak of his literarry production.

Ghassan with his niece Lamees. He wrote the children's book "The Small Lantern" for her 9th birthday.

By the time of his untimely death, Ghassan had published eighteen books and written hundreds of articles on culture, politics, and the Palestinian people's struggle. Following his assassination, all his books were re-published in several editions in Arabic. His novels, short stories, plays and essays were all collected and published in four volumes.

Although most of Kanafani's literary works were an expression of the Palestinian people and their cause, yet his great literary talents gave his works a universal appeal.

"Children are our future", Ghassan often said. He wrote many stories in which children are the heroes. Ghassan knew that he would not live to return to his homeland as he realized that the struggle for a Free and Democratic Palestine is long and difficult. But he lived with the hope that his children, the new generation, would reach his goal...

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Literary Work

Main themes in Ghassan Kanafani's writings were uprootedness, exile, and the Palestinian struggle for self determination. two first novels, which experimented with language and form, rank among the most complex in all of Arabic fiction of that time.

His first novel, Men in the Sun, appeared in 1963. This is the story of three Palestinians representing three different generations, who attempt to escape the poverty of the refugee camps and try to find a better life in Kuwait by hiding in the tank of a water-truck. On the arduous trip, their thoughts flash back to their hard lives and experiences. The story is not shy about exposing the problems, including corruptions,  so familiar to Palestinians living and dying in the diaspora. Their journey across the desert, refer to the plight of the Palestinian people.

In 1972 Men in the Sun was adapted for the screen by the Egyptian director Tawfiq Salim. The film was called al-Makhduun,"the Duped", and was banned in some Arab countries for its criticism of Arab regimes. The film was awarded prizes in various film festivals, lately in 2000.

His second novel, All That's Left to You (1966), is considered one of the earliest and most successful modernist experiments in Arabic fiction. Kanafani used multiple narrators - two of them, the clock and the desert, were inanimate. The protagonist, a young man named Hamid, dreams of being reunited with his mother from whom he was separated in 1948. For more information, click here.

Many of Ghassan's literary works have been translated into 17 languages and published in more than 20 different countries. Most his works were published during his lifetime, but two unfinished novels, some plays and other works were published posthumously. Some of his work have been adapted for radio plays and theatrical performances in several Arab and foreign countries. His literary production, written between 1956 and 1972, is as relevant today as they were when they were written.

Ghassan once wrote: "It is not enough to hate and believe in the past to make a revolution ...We must love and orient ourselves towards the future lf we wish to carry through the revolution..."

Kanafani's books are taught in schools and universities in the Arab World and in same European countries and the USA. In addition to novels and short stories, Kanafani published literary criticism, plays, and historical expositions. He also tried his hand as a painter. He was posthumously awarded the Lotus Prize for Literature by the Conference of Afro-Asian Writers. Ghassan Kanafani has become a symbol for the Palestinian people all over. His books are being printed, though illegally, in his homeland Palestine and they are being widely read by the people in the Occupied Territories and by the Palestinian population in Israel. In same cases people have been arrested for possessing and reading his books. His play, a Bridge to Eternity was performed by a group of young actors for the youth of Palestine.

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For Further Reading:

§         Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, vol. 2, ed. by Steven R. Serafin (1999);

§         After Lives: Legacies of Revolutionary Writing by Barbara Harlow (1996);

§         Ghassan Kanafani: A Study of his Novels and Short Stories by Fayha Abdul Hadi (1990);

§         Man Is A Cause: Political Consciousness and the Fiction of Ghassan Kanafani by Muhammad Siddiq (1984);

§         The Arabic Novel by Roger Allen (1982, 2nd ed. 1995);

§         Al-Tariq ila al-khaymah al-ukhra by Radwa Ashur (1977);

§         Ghassan Kanafani: The Life of an Palestinian by Stefan Wild (1975)

§         Ghassan Kanafani by A. Kanafani (1973)

§         Al-Ahram Weekly, July 2002 issue

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A Commemoration

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the death of Ghassan Kanafani and his young niece Lamees, commemorations were held in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and other countries during the month of July, 2003. Writers, journalists and other personalities from several Arab countries, as well as representatives from GKCF and Ghassan's family, contributed to his memory through exhibitions, lectures, articles and studies about him as a writer, journalist, artist, patriot and as a person.

In Beirut, the commemoration was organized as a cultural event at the UNESCO Palace, where the Lebanese Minister of Culture opened an art exhibition with more than 200 paintings and other works of art by children from the GKCF. Songs and poems about Palestine and the Intifada were performed by well known singers, and some of Kanafani's short stories were read aloud for an audience of more than 1000 persons.

Furthermore, two of Ghassan' s book for children, The Small Lantern, which he wrote and illustrated for his niece Lamees on her 9th birthday, and the short story collection Palestine's Children, were presented to children in the Arab world through the publications of some of the leading Arab newspapers.
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