Rethinking Palestinian Exile: Inherent loss and the object of desire in Mourid Barghouti's I / Saw Ramallah

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/bethunivj.36.2019.0101
• Published date: 01 January 2019
• Date: 01 January 2019
• Pages: 101-114
• Author: Shada Abuawad-Shahin

101 Bethlehem University Journal 36 (2019)

Rethinking Palestinian Exile: Inherent loss and

the object of desire in Mourid Barghouti’s I

Saw Ramallah

Shada Abuawad- Shahin

Abstract

This article examines the alternative vision of Palestinian exile that Mourid

Barghouti elaborates in I Saw Ramallah, his poignant account of return to

Ramallah in 1996 after thirty years in exile. Barghouti’s vision cannot be framed

within either traditional (essentialist) concepts of diasporic Palestinian exile or

postmodern (hybrid) diasporic aesthetics. In this paper, therefore, I argue that

Barghouti’s narrative provides an alternative vision of Palestinian exile that

grounds the Palestinian experience within notions of ungroundedness of being,

what Hugo of St. Victor calls elsewhere “perfect” belonging that empties the

logic of identification out of its identitarian substance and reveals the loss at

the core of every identity. Barghouti’s narrative shows the need for examining

the life of Palestinian exiles, refugees and non-refugees from the perspective of

those who are reduced to the status of the surplus, of those who do not count, in

the global system.

Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article do not represent

the opinions of the Journal’s editorial board and staff of the Dean of Research

at Bethlehem University. The accuracy of the material and any errors in this

publication are the sole responsibility of the author.