Fawwaz Haddad: Only we can write our story
Fawwaz Haddad: Only we can write our story
Interview: The Syrian author talks about his latest novel, which combines fiction with reality in its account of Syria from 1982 to 2011.
3 min read
Syrian novelist Fawwaz Haddad is known for using writing to highlight the plight of his people, and address the five decades of suffering Syrians have endured under the regime of the Ba'ath Party and the Assads.
Haddad's latest novel, The Enemy Syrians, does exactly that. It is an account of a 30-year reign of terror under the Assads. It begins with the 1982 Hama Massacre, when the Syrian army besieged the town of Hama to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood's uprising against the then-president, Hafez al-Assad, and ends in 2011, the first year of the Arab Spring.
The novel has been controversial. Some claim its creativity has been overcome by its political focus, others view it as a novel of the people. Is there any harm in a novel that is stimulated by recent events, especially when the author shapes them into a narrative?
The Enemy Syrians is not Haddad's first novel to closely portray a historical event. This particular feature of Haddad's writing makes us ask if he worries that his artistic voice is being stifled or defined by by dealing with real incidents.
"It really depends on how I perceive the novel," says Haddad. "I didn't want to ignore time and place, or use an imaginary setting to distort the narrative. In my novels, the names of cities, streets and lanes are all historically accurate."
The author says any literary shortcoming in The Enemy Syrians is because of errors in the way he wrote it rather than because of its focus on historical events.
Haddad says he expected some to see the novel as a political statement.
"This is an allegation without any basis. It is adopted by the most pedantic critics, who focus on fleeting references to the regime's politics in conversations between characters. Why should I omit this aspect from the book? I do not have a phobia about mentioning politics, especially when the plot requires it."
He says that if the novel is inspired by real political events, there is also an imaginary element.
"It is a novel about us, we Syrians, drowning in an ocean of fear, corruption, terror and killing. It is told by blending reality and fact with an unavoidable imaginary element. Why? Because the Syrian reality, in some appearances, is itself both excessively crude and fantastical."
Haddad, also author of The Ignorant Child, argues that literature carries responsibility. "When individuals begin to behave more savagely than the wild beasts of the forest, literature has a duty to remind mankind of our humanity, and to defend the truth."
People take to the streets, scornful of death, because of the long-term effects of oppression, despair, injustice and hunger, he says. Literature is important because it stirs the consciousness of its readers, and encourages them to question reality and change their lives.
The novelist says The Enemy Syrians is important because it reveals the truth.
"The novel may play about with reality, but the truth always wins. When things have become so barbaric and oppressive, even literature has trouble recreating such a reality."
This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.
Haddad's latest novel, The Enemy Syrians, does exactly that. It is an account of a 30-year reign of terror under the Assads. It begins with the 1982 Hama Massacre, when the Syrian army besieged the town of Hama to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood's uprising against the then-president, Hafez al-Assad, and ends in 2011, the first year of the Arab Spring.
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It is a novel about us, we Syrians, drowning in an ocean of fear, corruption, terror and killing. - Fawwaz Haddad |
The Enemy Syrians is not Haddad's first novel to closely portray a historical event. This particular feature of Haddad's writing makes us ask if he worries that his artistic voice is being stifled or defined by by dealing with real incidents.
"It really depends on how I perceive the novel," says Haddad. "I didn't want to ignore time and place, or use an imaginary setting to distort the narrative. In my novels, the names of cities, streets and lanes are all historically accurate."
The author says any literary shortcoming in The Enemy Syrians is because of errors in the way he wrote it rather than because of its focus on historical events.
Haddad says he expected some to see the novel as a political statement.
"This is an allegation without any basis. It is adopted by the most pedantic critics, who focus on fleeting references to the regime's politics in conversations between characters. Why should I omit this aspect from the book? I do not have a phobia about mentioning politics, especially when the plot requires it."
He says that if the novel is inspired by real political events, there is also an imaginary element.
"It is a novel about us, we Syrians, drowning in an ocean of fear, corruption, terror and killing. It is told by blending reality and fact with an unavoidable imaginary element. Why? Because the Syrian reality, in some appearances, is itself both excessively crude and fantastical."
Haddad, also author of The Ignorant Child, argues that literature carries responsibility. "When individuals begin to behave more savagely than the wild beasts of the forest, literature has a duty to remind mankind of our humanity, and to defend the truth."
People take to the streets, scornful of death, because of the long-term effects of oppression, despair, injustice and hunger, he says. Literature is important because it stirs the consciousness of its readers, and encourages them to question reality and change their lives.
The novelist says The Enemy Syrians is important because it reveals the truth.
"The novel may play about with reality, but the truth always wins. When things have become so barbaric and oppressive, even literature has trouble recreating such a reality."
This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.
