Open AccessA Discursive Study of the Unscheduled Dialogue in G. Kanafani’s Returnee to Haifa
Author(s) -
Ibrahim A. El-Hussari
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
athens journal of philology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2241-8385
DOI - 10.30958/ajp.9-1-1
Subject(s) - identity (music) , cognitive reframing , homeland , narrative , sociology , dilemma , kinship , metanarrative , attribution , media studies , psychology , epistemology , linguistics , social psychology , aesthetics , political science , anthropology , philosophy , law , politics
In Ghassan Kanafani’s tale, Returnee to Haifa, “What’s in a name?” is a restless question in search of an answer. Although it does not openly speak to any specific situation, this question turns into a clue to understanding the cross-sectional narrative discourse of the tale. All four of the main characters are enmeshed in an untimely dialogue over identity and belonging, and find themselves facing a multifaceted dilemma that intensifies the urge for reframing the concept of identity and belonging in regards to homeland and blood kinship. Accordingly, this paper reviews attribution theory and refers to it as a research tool to look at the significance of the messages embedded in the conflicting discourses that shape the unorchestrated dialogue through which all the characters involved tend to tell and defend different versions of the one story, the Palestinian Nakba. Keywords: Kanafani, Haifa, discourse, homeland, dialogue, memory, identity