In recent years, many Arab female novelists had been against the usage of the term: “women writings”. They claim that gender shouldn’t be what distinguish one writer from another. Although I can see the feminist side of the argument, yet I disagree.
In my point of view, attention to details and emotions is what defines women writings. This thought came to mind while reading Ta’shari, a novel by the Iraqi writer Inaam Kachachi who’s been residing in France for almost forty years. The novel follows three generations of Christian Iraqi family starting in Iraq in the 1950’s and ending in multiple countries at the start of the new millennium.
The main character is Wardia Iskandar, a young gynaecologist who witnesses the socio-economic changes that the Iraqi society goes through from being a monarchy to becoming socialists in 1958 — till the regime was overthrown by the Americans and replaced by a shaky democracy.
The female perspective is strongly present in the narrative, from Wardia’s own memories of the old secured Iraq to the testimonies of her own daughters who were forced to migrate to different parts of the world.
The generation gap is presented in the form of Iskandar — Wardia’s grandchild who’s born and bred in France. Wardia’s stories helps Iskandar to relate to the nostalgia felt by his parents, yet strange to him. He even understands the word “Ta’shari” (randomly shot in Iraqi dialect) that his mum uses to describe how her family were randomly dispersed around the globe from Dubai to Haiti.
To show his support, Iskandar creates a virtual graveyard that includes all his dead family members — a morbid idea at first that eventually helps in bonding the scattered family as they share stories of the deceased. Reading for Kachachi is like having an interesting conversation with an elderly female relative. With her gentle voice, she takes you by the hand to a world that is distant yet familiar. A world where different religions co-existed in total harmony and strangers where welcomed with open arms. The tone changes gradually as politics brings in radical changes to the society: from kicking out the Iraqi Jews in the 1950s till the recent massacres in the name of religion.
Kachachi’s goes backwards and forwards in history, displaying how different political events affected the main characters of her book. She gives real examples of tragedies that many Iraqi families went through during different wars (from Arab’s war against Israel in 67 through the Iran-Iraq war in 80 and Gulf war in 90 till the American invasion in 2003). The life of an immigrant is well presented throughout the book. The mixture of hope and fear, the nostalgia, the daily struggle and worries that they go through adds a melancholiac touch to the narrative.
However, Kachachi balances it well with humour that gives the reader a sense of hope — like when eighty years old Wardia starts learning French to blend in her new society. Like the main characters of the book, the side characters are also memorable — although they’re mentioned few times. One of my favourite quotes from the book is: “the word ‘homeland’ was overly chewed by us. It became like a watery chewing gum that we were too shy to spit out.”
Ta’shari (translated to Disperse in French) was published in 2013 and shortlisted for the international prize of Arabic fiction. Surprisingly enough, the only available translations are in French and Italian. It’s sad to know that good Arabic books don’t always get translated into English. But if you are fluent in Italian or French, then you should read the book!
Rasha al Raisi
is a certified skills trainer and the author of: The World According to Bahja. rashabooks@yahoo.com
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