Fady Joudah’s poetry collection ”[…]”, translated into Swedish by Johannes Anyuru and Athena Farrokhzad, grapples with the ongoing Palestinian catastrophe, particularly the devastating events of October 2023 and their aftermath. The collection’s title, a series of ellipses, speaks volumes about the silence and erasure surrounding the Palestinian experience, echoing the Nakba, the ongoing displacement and dispossession of Palestinians, and the systematic destruction of their cultural identity. The ellipses also symbolize the countless victims, both living and dead, caught within the conflict, as well as the silencing of voices, including those of Palestinian poets murdered during this period. This evocative title establishes a critical framework for understanding Joudah’s work as a confrontation with the complexities of representation and empathy in the face of unimaginable suffering.
The poems refuse to offer easy consolation or sentimental portrayals of Palestinian suffering designed to elicit Western sympathy. Joudah rejects the expectation to perform Palestinian humanity for a Western audience, questioning the very act of ”humanizing” Palestinians as a prerequisite for acknowledging their rights and suffering. Instead, he challenges the notion of a shared ”we” often invoked in solidarity discourse, highlighting the gap between fleeting expressions of support and the enduring realities of Palestinian dispossession. This anti-voyeuristic approach, as described by Anyuru and Farrokhzad, resists the commodification of suffering and recognizes the potential for Palestinian voices to be tokenized within Western cultural institutions. Joudah’s poetry consciously avoids becoming what David Lloyd terms a form of ”neutralization,” where the inclusion of marginalized narratives serves to appease the conscience of Western consumers without prompting genuine action or change.
Joudah’s collection also grapples with the pervasive presence of media and the constant stream of information in the digital age. Rather than provide a detailed account of atrocities, the poems reflect the fragmented and distorted nature of attention in a time of relentless violence. News reports and lived experiences intertwine, expanding and contracting with the sudden shocks and lingering anxieties of loss and fear. This leads to a quiet inventory of a self in pieces, irrevocably altered by the ongoing trauma. The poems resist becoming a form of ”witness literature” that catalogues human rights violations, instead focusing on the internal landscape shaped by these external forces. This approach offers a profound meditation on the psychological and emotional toll of sustained conflict.
The backdrop against which ”[…]” was written is one of profound global upheaval. The escalation of violence in Gaza in 2023, the weakening of international law, and the rise of right-wing ideologies have collectively shifted the boundaries of the tolerable. This context, coupled with the looming threat of climate collapse, creates a sense of impending crisis. Paradoxically, this period also witnessed a resurgence of global pro-Palestinian activism, drawing connections between climate justice, anti-colonial struggles, and the fight against the arms industry. While this global movement does not explicitly appear within the collection, its presence resonates in the poems’ urgent interrogation of power, empathy, and the very possibility of a shared future.
Remarkably, amidst this desolation, Joudah’s poetry avoids a singular focus on despair. Though marked by a Tranströmer-esque modernism, characterized by introspection, fragmented lines, and a focus on the natural world, the collection transcends mere melancholic observation. The poems possess an oracular quality, moving between past, present, and future, as if searching for a way to reclaim the ravaged present through the lens of time. This temporal fluidity reflects the ongoing nature of the Palestinian struggle, its deep historical roots, and the persistent hope for a different future. Joudah’s voice, at times cryptic and elusive, engages in a dialogue with an undefined “you,” suggesting a search for connection and meaning within a fractured world.
Ultimately, ”[…]” is a collection about survival, not just suffering. It offers a testament to the resilience of the Palestinian spirit, drawing strength from ancestral knowledge and the enduring power of life. The final poem, a powerful hymn emerging from the heart of catastrophe, celebrates life, memory, and even forgetting, when it offers respite. It acknowledges the songs sung amidst destruction and the prayers offered in darkness, culminating in an affirmation of love and fearlessness. This concluding message of hope, however fragile, serves as a potent reminder that even in the face of unimaginable loss, the human spirit endures, striving towards a future beyond violence and oppression. The collection, therefore, becomes not just a lament, but a testament to the enduring will to live and to love, even amidst the ruins.
