This alludes to how to read the current violence within a historical context and what to make of the erased villages which are now archived memories.Īs the novel shifts to the present, the narrator, who is also the protagonist, ruminates, "One cannot rule out the possibility of a connection between the two events, on the existence of a hidden link." The latter is reinforced by the crime, which is brought to attention 25 years later by a woman whose forays into memory while seeking out connections in a heavily restricted environment provide the reader with insight on what being Palestinian means.
Read more from The New Arab's Book Club: A History
The officer in charge makes references to the barren land myth while dehumanising the indigenous Palestinians. The methodical violence and unrelentingly void of emotion make the novel all the more brutal.Įmptying the land of its inhabitants by all means – a central Zionist theme - is evoked in different ways within the novel. Yet the scene swiftly escalates to reveal gruesome domination culminating in murder and an unmarked grave. A slight hesitation perforates the collective glee – the officer in charge momentarily exhibits signs of wanting to protect the girl.ĭescription and detachment are vividly portrayed in Adania Shibli's chilling novel, Minor Detail The crime that unfolds is narrated in glimpses which portray the cohesion and ease at which the soldiers contemplate and participate in humiliation, rape and murder. The reader is acquainted with his routine and logic juxtaposed against his inner thoughts, which are only revealed through the sequence of events which unfold after opening fire on a group of Palestinian Bedouins, after which the only survivor, a girl, is captured and taken to the camp. The officer in charge of the platoon takes centre stage in the first part of the novel. The book opens in the Negev desert in 1949, with descriptions of an Israeli army platoon setting up camp and patrolling the area for "infiltrators", a reference to displaced Palestinians seeking to return to their lands.ĭetailed descriptions of movement and action stand in contrast to the anonymity of the portrayed characters, who are identified only through their roles and actions, as opposed to names. A minor detail – a date – connects the historical setting to the contemporary. Navigating different eras connected by two dates and events, the reader is introduced to the historical and present-day reality of Israeli colonialism through observation and narration. Description and detachment are vividly portrayed in Palestinian author Adania Shibli's chilling novel, Minor Detail.
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