Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Ph.D. Candidate, Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
3 Associate Professor, Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Collective memory emerges from the dynamic interplay between remembering and forgetting within a community or social group. The function of collective memory refers to the role that memory plays in shaping, preserving, transmitting, and redefining our understanding of the past and present. Since the colonizer in post-colonial societies seeks to erase and manipulate the collective memory of the indigenous population, it has become necessary to study the functions of collective memory as an act of resistance. Since the colonizer in post-colonial societies seeks to erase and manipulate the collective memory of the indigenous population, it has become necessary to study the functions of collective memory as an act of resistance. This research, through a study of Elias Khoury's novel Children of the Ghetto: My Name is Adam, examines the role of collective memory in constructing the identity of the colonized and reviving their history and marginalized voice, because this narrative, as an alternative archive, reveals the gap between official history and colonial memory. Based on the theories put forward in the field of collective memory and the study of the narrative in a descriptive-analytical style, the researchers of the study concluded that the main character in the story, through recording the experiences of the previous generation of memories of captivity in the ghetto, seeks to revive marginalized narratives by questioning official history. But in contrast, colonialism uses many methods to suppress the collective memory of the colonized, such as cultural assimilation, the abandonment of the credibility of the colonized historical narrative, cultural theft, the imposition of an artificial collective memory by the colonizer, and the use of the capabilities of the visual arts, such as filmmaking.
Introduction:
Collective memory functions as the shared experiences, memories, and cultural identity of a society and is itself a dynamic process, a process that results from the interaction between collective remembering and forgetting. This continuous interaction helps a society to maintain its identity and values and to adapt to future developments. Maurice Halbwachs, a German-French sociologist and philosopher, who is known as the most important theorist in the field of collective memory, believed that human memories have a social nature, contrary to the common perception that memory and the process of remembering are hereditary and biological. In his view, collective memory is the memory of a group that is formed in cultural, linguistic, and historical contexts and is perpetuated through retelling, rituals, and writing. He says: “Our memories are collective, even though the events are personal to us or things we have seen alone, but it is others who remind us of them. In fact, we are not alone at all” (Halbwachs, 2016: 45-46). Maurice Halbwachs considers history and memory to be two separate things; he says, “History and collective memory are both social realities available to the public, with the difference that history is dead and collective memory is alive... The moment of history begins is when a memory disappears from social memory, in which case the only means of saving those memories is to narrate and write them down” (ibid: 98). He made it clear that our understanding of the past is influenced by the mental images we use to solve the problems of the present. Hence, collective memory is the reconstruction of the past in the light of the present (Coser, 1992: 372).
“Postcolonial criticism, as a subject, analyzes literature that is the product of cultures that have emerged in response to colonial domination from the beginning of colonialism to the present” (Saleh Beck et al., 2019: 60). In post-colonial societies, collective memory is gradually suppressed, distorted, and ultimately erased, as the colonizer continually seeks to remove the colonized from the scene by rewriting history to their advantage and imposing their own narrative. In such a situation, literature acts as a tool for reconstructing and recording collective memory and is considered a kind of resistance against the imposition of oblivion. Palestinian post-colonial literature is more memory-oriented than the post-colonial literature of other nations, because, unlike most colonized countries that have achieved some degree of independence, Palestine is still involved in military colonization and therefore lacks an independent system of government, formal education, and an accepted national historical narrative. In the meantime, the novel Children of the Ghetto: My Name is Adam, shortlisted for the Arab Booker Prize (2017), by Elias Khoury, is considered an effective step in the narrative of Palestinian collective memory. Relying on marginalized micro-narratives, Khoury attempts to reconstruct and record a corner of the erased collective memory of Palestine through the memories collected by the character "Adam Danon" as one of the survivors of the Lod Ghetto. This form of narrative falls within the framework of the concept of "history from below", that is, a narrative that, unlike the official history of the ruling class, recounts the past from the perspective of the subordinates and victims of the power system.
This research aims to analyze the function of collective memory in the postcolonial novel Children of the Ghetto - My Name is Adam, in the possibility of recovering the voice, history, and identity of the colonized. The present research, relying on library resources and using a descriptive-analytical method, attempts to answer the following questions:
How does collective memory in the novel Children of the Ghetto: My Name is Adam help the colonized rebuild their identity and confront the erasure of history? 2. In this novel, what methods does the colonizer use to suppress the collective memory of the Palestinians? 3. According to this novel, what challenges does the fragmentation of collective memory pose for the new colonized generation?
Method:
In the current situation where collective identities have become ambiguous and forgotten due to historical, social, and political processes, the reconstruction and recording of collective memory has become doubly important. Therefore, this study, which relies on library resources and employs a descriptive-analytical method, aims to analyze the function of collective memory in the postcolonial novel The Children of the Ghetto - My Name is Adam and examines the possibility of recovering the voice, history, and identity of the colonized.
Results and Discussion:
The function of collective memory in this novel was to restore identity and counter the erasure of the colonized people's history. In this context, the recording, preservation, and deliberate forgetting of collective memory among Palestinians (the colonized group), as well as its fragmentation within the new generation of Palestinians, were analyzed and studied, with numerous examples provided.
Conclusion:
After examining the function of collective memory in the postcolonial novel Children of the Ghetto, My Name is Man, it became clear that the reconstruction of the colonial identity depends on the revival of marginalized narratives, cultural elements, and indigenous languages. It was observed that literature, especially novels, can strengthen the collective memory of the colonized by exposing cultural distortions and thefts, and retelling oral history, thereby forming a suitable platform for reconstructing identity and confronting historical forgetting. In addition, attention should be paid to the impact of memory formation during childhood and adolescence, as this is the golden age for memory development, so that the new generation does not become lost in the official colonial narrative by forgetting its history and identity.
The analysis of the novel showed that the colonialist needs to rewrite collective memory to consolidate his domination and impose his narrative. Therefore, he suppresses and distorts the collective memory of the colonized and pursues his colonial goals through various methods, such as cultural assimilation, discrediting the colonialist narrative of history, utilizing the capacity of the visual arts, including filmmaking, cultural theft, and imposing a prescribed collective memory. Now, the new colonized generation that is experiencing the rupture of collective memory is facing challenges such as a crisis of cultural identity, a sense of lack of belonging, indifference to the historical past, and political passivity in accepting and reproducing the official colonialist narrative. Another challenge is the gap between generations, which causes a severing of ties with the older generation, as they are the bearers and guardians of memory. Ultimately, by erasing memory and legitimizing the colonialist narrative, future generations gradually become the main victims of colonialism without any resistance. Eventually, their voices and history are silenced and forgotten, consigned to eternal oblivion.
Keywords
- Post-colonialism
- Palestine
- Collective memory
- Elias Khoury
- Novel Children of the Ghetto
- My Name is Adam
Main Subjects
Article Title [العربیة]
وظیفة الذاکرة الجماعیة فی روایة ما بعد الاستعمار أولاد الغیتو، اسمی آدم لإلیاس خوری
Abstract [العربیة]
الذاکرة الجماعیّة هی نتاج تفاعل عملیّة التذکّر والنسیان الجماعیّة. وتشیر وظیفة الذاکرة الجماعیة إلى الدور الذی تلعبه الذاکرة فی تشکیل وحفظ ونقل وإعادة تعریف فهمنا للماضی والحاضر. بما أن المستعمِر فی المجتمعات ما بعد الاستعمار یسعی إلی محو الذاکرة الجماعیة للسکان الأصلیین والتلاعب بها، فقد أصبح من الضروری دراسة وظائف الذاکرة الجماعیة بوصفها فعلاً مقاوماً. یتناول هذا البحث من خلال دراسة روایة أولاد الغیتو اسمی آدم لإلیاس خوری، دور الذاکرة الجماعیة فی بناء هویة المستعمَر وإحیاء تاریخه وصوته المهمش؛ لأن هذه الروایة، باعتبارها أرشیفا بدیلا، تکشف الهوة بین التاریخ الرسمی والذاکرة الجماعیة للمستعمَر. استنتج باحثو الدراسة اعتماداً علی النظریات المطروحة فی مجال الذاکرة الجماعیة ودراسة الروایة بأسلوب وصفی-تحلیلی، أنّ الشخصیة الرئیسیة فی القصة من خلال تسجیل تجارب الجیل السابق من ذکریات الأسر فی الغیتو، تسعی إلی إحیاء الروایات المهمشة من خلال التشکیک فی التاریخ الرسمی، لکن فی المقابل یستخدم الاستعمار طرقاً متعددة لقمع الذاکرة الجمعیة للمستعمرین کالاستیعاب الثقافی، وتفویض مصداقیة الروایة المستعمَر للتاریخ، والسرقة الثقافیة، وفرض ذاکرة جمعیة مصطنعة من جانب الاستعمار، واستخدام قدرات الفنون البصریة مثل صناعة الأفلام.
Keywords [العربیة]
- ما بعد الاستعمار
- فلسطین
- الذاکرة الجماعیة
- إلیاس خوری
- روایة أولاد الغیتو اسمی آدم
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