An analysis of a prose work of palestinian poet Mourid al-Barghouti's Raaytu Ramallah in terms of its content genre and style

This study aims a literary and linguistic examination of Raaytu Ramallah which is the first prose work of Mourid al-Barghouti (d. February 14, 2021) , a Palestinian poet who was forced to live a lengthy part of his life in exile like his many other contemporaries poets. Raaytu Ramallah is al-Barghouti's autobiographical novel in which he expresses his first impression in a poetic language when he returned to his homeland after being separated for over thirty years. When the novel was published in 1997 he was honored with the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature, a very famous literary prize in Arabic countries. The work acquired a huge attention from both Arabic and Western world, thus translated into English by a famous Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif and published twice in English entitled as I Saw Ramallah. In 2004, the novel was transferred to Turkish as well by A. Melis Hafez as Şairin Filistini. Our study consists of an introduction and three chapters. In the introduction, the historical and political past of Palestine, where al-Barghouti was born and raised, is examined briefly. In the first chapter, development of the short-story, the novel and the autobiography are examined which in the Arabic Literature in general and in the Palestinian Literature in particular. In the second chapter Murîd el-Bergûsî's life, his literary personality and works are reviewed broadly. Lastly in the third chapter, the work of Raaytu Ramallah, the main topic of our thesis, is studied and analyzed in detail with regard to its content, genre and style. In this study, through examination of the Raaytu Ramallah, it is anticipated to drive the attention to the literary aspect of Palestinian issue which has never been fallen from the world agenda. Key words: Modern Arabian Literature, Palestinian Literature, Ramallah, Autobiography, Mourid al-Barghouti.