Teaching the Literature of Today's Middle East

I am looking forward to hearing Allen Web speak not only in our class but beforehand in room 407.  While working on a project that involved Help The Afghan Children (HTAC), I found and read many different texts trying to discover a truer perspective, not the propagandized version, of Afghanistan and the Afghani people. Here is a list of some of the books I read: The Other Side of the Sky by Farah Ahmedi, My Forbidden Face by Latifa, The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra, West of Kabul, East of New York by Tamim Ansary, The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis, and The Sewing Circles of Herat, by Christina Lamb. Ahmedi’s and Latifa’s books are true stories told by young girls who lost family and fled Afghanistan to safety in America and France respectively.  Khadra is a pseudonym for Mohammed Moulsesehoul who was an officer for the Algerian army when this novel was written. He now lives in France. Ansary left Afghanistan at the age of sixteen and moved to America. He wrote this book as an American/Afghani straddling two different cultures after 9/11.  Ellis is from Canada, and at the time of the novel Breadwinner she was worked with “Peace Movement and the Women's Movement.” The inspiration for this novel came from her time in a Pakistani refugee camp for Afghanis. Lamb is from England, and a journalist. She was in Afghanistan during the Soviet and Afghani war, and once again during the Taliban and American war. This non-fiction book is the result.

              Some of these books I enjoyed more than others but all of them were interesting to read nonetheless. I agree with Webb that our country should have more texts from the Middle East. Actually, we should include texts from many more countries and not focus mainly the Brits and Americans. While we’re at it, why don’t we drop the word English off of English Literature and make it International Literature.  I have read some great books from Germany, Turkey, Russia, and Ireland. Someday I hope to travel to Afghanistan. Meanwhile, I continue to keep track of Suraya Sadeed and her efforts with the HTAC.