Recognising the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative

Brought to you by Penguin. An outstanding and moving essay on the Palestinian struggle and the power of narrative from the Women's Prize for Fiction-shortlisted author of Enter Ghost Award-winning author of The Parisian and Enter Ghost Isabella Hammad delivered the Edward W. Said Lecture at Columbia University nine days before 7 October 2023. The text of Hammad’s seminal speech and her afterword written in the early weeks of 2024 together make up a searing appraisal of the war on Palestine during what feels like a turning point in the narrative of human history. Moving and erudite, Hammad writes from within the moment, shedding light on the Palestinian struggle for freedom. Recognising the Stranger is a brilliant melding of literary and cultural analysis by one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists and a foremost writer of fiction in the world today. 'Recognising the Stranger combines intellectual brilliance with moral clarity and profound resoluteness of purpose.' SALLY ROONEY 'A pitch-perfect example of how the novelist can get to the heart of the matter better than a million argumentative articles. Hammad shows us how the Palestinian struggle is the story of humanity itself, and asks us not to look away but to see ourselves.' MAX PORTER ‘Hammad’s writing burns with fierce intelligence, humane insight and righteous anger. For those at risk of despair, doubtful of the role literature has to play in times of crisis, it is a reminder of the radical potential of reading and the possibility of change.’ OLIVIA SUDJIC © Isabella Hammad 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024

About the Author :
Isabella Hammad is the author of The Parisian and Enter Ghost. She has been shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and the RSL Ondaatje Prize, and has been awarded the RSL Encore Prize, the Aspen Words Literary Prize, the Plimpton Prize for Fiction, the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Palestine Book Award and a Betty Trask Award. She has received fellowships from MacDowell and the Lannan Foundation. In 2023, she was included as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists.

Review :
Recognising the Stranger combines intellectual brilliance with moral clarity and profound resoluteness of purpose. This is a book that calls us to witness our place in history. Isabella Hammad deserves our thanks for sharing it with the world A pitch-perfect example of how the novelist can get to the heart of the matter better than a million argumentative articles. Hammad shows us how the Palestinian struggle is the story of humanity itself, and asks us not to look away but to see ourselves Without a doubt the most powerful book I have read this year . . . devastating, but so sharp, clear-eyed and insightful that I’d urge anyone to read it The combination of humanism and criticism in this short book is remarkable, and reminds us not to look away from the situation, as a first step towards answering the searching questions it raises A clear-eyed meditation on myth, confrontation and the Palestinian struggle for liberation . . . deeply moving . . . Hammad urges her readers to listen, think beyond despair, and speak out Hammad’s writing burns with fierce intelligence, humane insight and righteous anger. For those at risk of despair, doubtful of the role literature has to play in times of crisis, it is a reminder of the radical potential of reading and the possibility of change Recognising the Stranger is a rigorous interrogation of the power of narrative, its usefulness, its various forms, and the ways it shapes our modes of being in the world. It speaks to literature’s capacity to invoke moments of recognition, and pushes us, as readers, to reconsider the function of storytelling within structures of oppression. It does this with a deep sense of conviction and moral clarity conveyed by a writer who is, by all accounts, a supremely gifted communicator, and we are all the better for it Extraordinary and amazingly erudite. Hammad shows how art and especially literature can be much, much more revealing than political writing Thought-provoking and timely, this lecture celebrates Said's intellectual courage and enduring relevance while highlighting the cruelty in which Palestinians continue to live. Combining both her literary skill and acute power of observation, Hammad weaves together a diagnostic and powerful essay which will undoubtedly be appreciated for years to come Animated by an extraordinary faith in the power of art to return us to the human in ourselves and each other, Recognising the Stranger is a profound exploration of myth, meaning, the novel, the Palestinian struggle and the work of Edward W. Said. The insights she finds into the present moment feel at once prescient and eternal and the result left me changed