War is Herstory Home Front Women in the Poetry of Adnan Al-Sayegh
Hanaa Khlaif Ghena
Al-Mustansiriyah University, College of Arts, Department of Translation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25130/jls.3.3.3
Keywords: -Al-Sayegh -Bamberg -woman -small stories -war -Iraq
Abstract
Woman characters abound in the poetry of the Iraqi poet, Adnan Al-
Sayegh who is influenced, in his presentation of her, by three main
factors, namely, war, political system, and patriarchal norms. Al-
Sayegh’s women are essentially of four types: the mother, the
lover/sweetheart, the war victim, and the working class woman.
Drawing on Bamberg’s concept of ‘small stories,’ this paper is an
attempt at exploring those women’s small and underrepresented stories
which tell a lot about social, political, and economic conditions in Iraq.
The paper argues that although small and unexciting, these stories do
shed light on the social status and ordeals of women in Iraq. Women’s
‘small stories’ are then analyzed in a number of poems that best reflect
the characteristics of each type of woman. It concludes that these
women’s stories which take place at home fronts are no less significant
than the stories narrated by men. Women’s stories ultimately reveal
part of the unofficial and often unspoken of history of war in Iraq.
