Ramallah – Together – The Italian publishing house Klamos in Rome published the novel ‘Life as It Should’ by the novelist Ahmed Rafiq Awad, which was published in the year 2022 by Al-Ahlia Publishing and Distribution House in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
The Italian edition of the novel came in 160 medium-sized pages and was decorated with a painting by the expatriate Palestinian artist Imad al-Tayeb under the name ‘Tango in the Sumo Style,’ a painting in which the artist mixed two different worlds between Western tango and Japanese sumo, as the two dancers exchange desire in the two dances. In participation and the desire to exclude as well, which applies to the nature of relations between individuals, groups and countries.
The introduction to the Italian edition was written by the poet and translator, Dr. Odeh Amarneh, and from what was stated in his introduction, we choose these paragraphs:
Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad is one of the distinguished writers on the occupied land, and many critics, researchers, sch
olars, students of science, and lovers of books agree on this statement. He wrote about politics, thought, media, and strategic analysis. He wrote novels, short stories, and theater, in addition to literary criticism and essays. This novel, ‘Life as It Should Be,’ is his ninth novel.
The novel ‘Life as It Should Be’ is his fourth work, which was translated into Italian and published by Klamos Publishing House in Rome. He previously translated the play ‘King Churchill’ by ‘Kaminia’ and the play ‘The Happy Settlement’ by ‘Città del Sole’ and the novel ‘Country of the Sea’ by ‘Editsione’. “Ko”.
He received several prestigious local and international awards. He also received the award of the Italian Academy of Arts in Naples in cooperation with the Center for Cultural and Historical Studies in Eboli in 2017, and the writer Awad was then appointed an honorary member of the institution.
When I read the novel ‘Life as It Should Be’ and since I have been living in Rome for a long time, I immediately remembered the
famous Italian writer Italo Calvino (Cuba, October 15, 1923 – Siena, Italy, September 19, 1985), who participated in the struggle and resistance in the remote areas of the province of Liguria. With the nom de guerre Santiago, who in 1958 wrote a famous poem entitled ‘Behind the Bridge.’ This poem fully conveys the meaning of resistance and liberation from the oppression of fascism and Nazism. It is dedicated or directed to young people. Calvino said at the time, ‘Few know what happened in our country in those difficult and distant years.’ “Now”
part of the poem says: “Listen, peach-cheeked boy, dawn-cheeked boy, I wish I could tell you about my life when I was your age now…German forces are on a curfew, they’re taking over the city, but we’re ready, we’re fighting back, who doesn’t?” He wants to bow his head, so let him come and take the road with us towards the mountains!’
The poet or singer adds: ‘Behind the bridge, we were twenty years old. All the good in the world was behind the bridge. There we face
d evil and all the good was in our hearts. Behind the fire begins love. We walked silently in the mountains, between the trees, barefoot, walking on pine needles.’ On the thorns of chestnuts, in the dark morning, we went down and up the mountains, hope was our companion, barefoot and torn but happy, we were twenty years old.’
He added: “It was not mentioned that we were saints. Heroism is not beyond human capacity. Run, descend, advance… advance! Every step you take will not be wasted. I see within reach, behind the trunks of trees and reeds, the future of a more humane, more just, freer, and happier day.” Now everyone has family and children… Now I walk with you among the trees of lemon trees, I wish you could live those thoughts again, my dawn-cheeked boy… We were twenty years old.’
After about a year, the text was composed by Sergio Liberovici and recorded in 1961 for the first time in the album called ‘Singing History 1’. In 2005, the well-known Italian music group ‘Modena City Rambles’ sang the t
ext again and the song spread so widely that you cannot You will not meet a single Italian who does not know this song that glorifies the period of struggle, liberation from the slavery of foreign occupation, and whoever remembers the song ‘Beyond the Bridge’ will surely also remember Bella Ciao’s famous song: ‘One morning I woke up and found the invaders, oh beautiful, bye, bye, bye, guerrilla, take me.’ With you to the mountains, I feel like I will die, and if I die, bury me in the mountains under the shade of a rose. They will say that this is the rose of the guerrilla, beautiful one. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye!
This song has become the slogan of resistance to all kinds of injustice in all parts of the world, and we are not exaggerating if we say that it is the true national anthem for Italy in certain moments and circumstances. This is a simple image of contemporary Italian literature, and it is also to preserve the individual and collective memory of a country that defended its land with its nails and te
eth and in loyalty to the memory of those who… They sacrificed, struggled and fell on the land of Italy, the beautiful country.
What does the novel have to do with Calvinism and Bella Ciao? Perhaps, to make a simple comparison between two peoples on the shore of the Mediterranean and to say that the things, values ??and experiences that we share and believe in are much more than those that divide us, and simply because this novel belongs to the art of ‘resistance literature,’ and because the novel, like poetry and singing, is considered a form of resistance.
The novel talks about the conflict and the psychological and existential crisis of the occupation system by talking about the intelligence officer Abu Al-Saeed, the Eastern Israeli ‘Sephardic’, who complains of the oppression and superiority of the Western Ashkenazi Israeli through his damaged relationship with his wife and son, Zalman or Salman, and in the text there is a comparison or confrontation between the Palestinian’s novel and the novel. The
Israeli, between truth and lies, truth and falsehood, the authentic narrative and the delusional narrative, the power of truth, and the right of power, this narrative wants to say that there is no life for the Palestinian without freedom and dignity, and that a life ruled by the occupier is not life.
The events of the novel are fast-paced and resemble the events of an attractive and suspenseful thriller film, containing amazing images, colours, smells and sounds of the Palestinian rural agricultural environment with its simplicity and strength, with its smooth and calm professional artistic language that does not make you feel bored. The element of suspense is strong from the beginning until the open ending that prompts you to contemplate, or perhaps to wait for a second part of the story. Rashid’s story.
Publishing this novel at this difficult historical moment, a moment in which freedoms are suppressed and the voices that rise around the world in support of the Palestinian cause are silenced, this gives i
t an important political, literary and aesthetic value, and because translating Palestinian literature (individual efforts) into the languages ??of the world is a duty and a clear choice that emphasizes commitment. The necessity of increasing awareness of the history and struggle of the Palestinian people, especially since the literary text provides a useful and peaceful tool to develop the level of debate taking place and to provide the international and humanitarian solidarity movement with effective elements and tools such as novels, poetry, film, theatre, drawing and other forms of art, to understand the nature of the conflict and search for just solutions. Achieving a better world.
Source: Maan News Agency