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A review by saareman
Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative by Isabella Hammad
5.0
Anagnorisis Reveal
A review of the Recorded Books audiobook (September 24, 2024) released simultaneously with the Grove Press Black Cat paperback/ebook.
Isabella Hammad's lecture starts off so academic that you wonder if you will even be able to follow along. Beginning with the introduction of the word anagnorisis and then going on with a discussion of Ancient Greek theatre. It starts to become a bit clearer with an example of [a:Sophocles|1002|Sophocles|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1195014481p2/1002.jpg]' [b:Oedipus Rex|1554|Oedipus Rex (The Theban Plays, #1)|Sophocles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388182316l/1554._SY75_.jpg|3098166] (430 BC) when Oedipus realizes he has actually fulfilled the prophecy that he would kill his own father and marry his mother.
The tie-in to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a story of an Israeli officer deserting his post (where he had been told to shoot approaching intruders) when confronted by a naked man brandishing a photograph of his dead child. That becomes the point of revelation.
The audiobook edition provides the added bonus of including the recording of the actual lecture as it was delivered as the [a:Edward W. Said|16770310|Edward W. Said|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1518095868p2/16770310.jpg] (1935-2003) Memorial Lecture at Columbia University on September 28, 2023.
Trivia and Links
A video recording of the September 28, 2023 lecture is available on YouTube here.
Isabella Hammad is an author of Palestinian heritage living in the UK. Her earlier novels were [b:The Parisian|50756352|The Parisian|Isabella Hammad|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572992525l/50756352._SX50_SY75_.jpg|63334665] (2019) and [b:Enter Ghost|59725231|Enter Ghost|Isabella Hammad|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1673871350l/59725231._SY75_.jpg|94054151] (2023). The latter book was shortlisted for the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction. She is currently working on her next novel which will be a historical fiction centering around the Bandung Conference of non-aligned African and Asian nations held in Indonesia in 1955.
A review of the Recorded Books audiobook (September 24, 2024) released simultaneously with the Grove Press Black Cat paperback/ebook.
Anagnorisis (/ˌænəɡˈnɒrɪsɪs/; Ancient Greek: ἀναγνώρισις) is a moment in a play or other work when a character makes a critical discovery.
Aristotle defined anagnorisis as "a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing love or hate between the persons destined by the poet for good or bad fortune." - definitions from Wikipedia.
Isabella Hammad's lecture starts off so academic that you wonder if you will even be able to follow along. Beginning with the introduction of the word anagnorisis and then going on with a discussion of Ancient Greek theatre. It starts to become a bit clearer with an example of [a:Sophocles|1002|Sophocles|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1195014481p2/1002.jpg]' [b:Oedipus Rex|1554|Oedipus Rex (The Theban Plays, #1)|Sophocles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388182316l/1554._SY75_.jpg|3098166] (430 BC) when Oedipus realizes he has actually fulfilled the prophecy that he would kill his own father and marry his mother.
The tie-in to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a story of an Israeli officer deserting his post (where he had been told to shoot approaching intruders) when confronted by a naked man brandishing a photograph of his dead child. That becomes the point of revelation.
The audiobook edition provides the added bonus of including the recording of the actual lecture as it was delivered as the [a:Edward W. Said|16770310|Edward W. Said|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1518095868p2/16770310.jpg] (1935-2003) Memorial Lecture at Columbia University on September 28, 2023.
Trivia and Links
A video recording of the September 28, 2023 lecture is available on YouTube here.
Isabella Hammad is an author of Palestinian heritage living in the UK. Her earlier novels were [b:The Parisian|50756352|The Parisian|Isabella Hammad|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572992525l/50756352._SX50_SY75_.jpg|63334665] (2019) and [b:Enter Ghost|59725231|Enter Ghost|Isabella Hammad|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1673871350l/59725231._SY75_.jpg|94054151] (2023). The latter book was shortlisted for the 2024 Women's Prize for Fiction. She is currently working on her next novel which will be a historical fiction centering around the Bandung Conference of non-aligned African and Asian nations held in Indonesia in 1955.