Etel Adnan is a rather unique case as an Arab-American writer since you could also consider her a "pure" Arab writer or a Franco-Arab writer--she's also fluent and French and lives part-time in Paris.
Nevertheless, she was an important figure in Arab-American writing in the 60's, 70's and 80's, adding a dose of radical feminism and Marxism to the mostly tamed and traditional Arab-American literary scene. In that sense, she's also been the greatest inspiration for many of the latest generation of writers we'll meet in the next few weeks.
Other than "Beirut-Hell Express," we have in our anthology only two short pieces of prose-poetry. You should probably know that Etel Adnan is regarded equally as a novelist and as a poet.
We'll be doing a lot of work on "Beirut-Hell Express" in class, so you're unofficial assignment is to start researching the references and allusions in this poem. We'll be constructing a hyper-link annotation of it in class that we'll publish online.
If Adnan represents the most radical element in Arab-American literature in the mid-century, D.H. Melhem represents a more disciplined combination of stylistic innovation and respect for tradition. What themes and techniques does she share with both the Mahjar writers and the other mid-century poets? What do you see as original in her work?
Etal Adnan
A common thread that seems to flow through Adnan's work and the Mahjar writers is the transcendental nature of oppression and liberation. Mahjar writers blended Biblical allusions with accounts of strife in Lebanon and abroad. In "Beirut-Hell Express" Adnan uses symbols for America, Arab nations, and communist regimes in the form of metaphors such as "the eagle..the camel..the shark." However different, Adnan unites them in a tercet that gives each source equal share in the world's oppression. The "messages" they carry also tie into her strong ideas of levelling the power structures that be and putting everyone on the same ground, universally.
This leads into some of the stylistic differences between Adnan and other Arab writers which include her nearly stream-of-consciousness presentation of ideas, which aligns more with the beatnik style of writing rather than the slightly more formulaic Mahjar writers. This renouncing of set forms fits in with her message of cultural and ideological reformation. Also, the irregular stanza structure, comparable to e.e. cummings in their subjective spatial arrangement, also lend to her original style of Arab poetry.
Etal Adnan's poems are much
Etal Adnan's poems are much more unusually formed than the other poets we have studied. Her poem ‘Beruit – Hell Express’ does have a structure, and it has a narritive, it is just very difficult to follow the first time reading the poem.
But her anger comes through very strongly, as does her criticism of the treatment of women. She also laments the crime in the cities, and the complacency of society in the face of the growing strife of the Cold War. Much the poem seems to reference the fact that the Middle East, like much of the world, is caught up in the vicious struggle between America and the Soviet Union.
‘Journey to Mount Tamalpais’ is similar in theme to the first poem, but the free verse makes it seem less forceful and angry. The writing style is actually similar to the way she wrote ‘Beruit – Hell Express’, but the second poem flows smoother with out the forced pauses and stops caused by the line breaks in the earlier poem.