Nostalgia and the Alienated Self in Mourid Barghouti’s I Saw Ramallah.

Abstract

The present study examines the concepts of nostalgia and the alienated self within the Palestinian experience, particularly in Mourid Barghouti’s I Saw Ramallah. Using an interdisciplinary analytical approach, this work aims to analyse how nostalgia functions and demonstrates that it is more than just longing for the past. Instead, nostalgia is a way for people to cope with feelings of loss and disconnection. Additionally, this study seeks to illustrate the unique experience of alienation as experienced by the writer. The research looks into how the Nakba of 1948 and the Six-Day War of 1967 fractured families and created a diaspora characterized by loss of identity. It also emphasizes the darker side of what Palestinian people have endured, between memories and current realities, and the large gap between what returning exiles hope for and what they unexpectedly face.