Webdoku, November 2022
When classifying literature, one may wonder whether the criterion should be place of origin, current place of residence, language, or ethnicity… The novels one reads in the process make one marvel at the fact that there are places where what one takes for granted is not, and teaches one that human activities and solidarity exist no matter where one is.
This time I would like to introduce “The Crossing” (Hakusuisha). The author, Samar Yazbek, is from Syria and is engaged in non-violent activities aiming to achieve the “Syrian Revolution” that seeks democratization and system reform. She is a female writer who was detained for her anti-Assad regime stance and lives in Paris. I classified this book as Middle Eastern literature. When I asked the translator, Ayumi Yanagida, how far “Middle Eastern” literature should be included, she answered that it is broad. According to “Selection of Middle Eastern Contemporary Literature ◎ 2021” (edited by the Middle Eastern Contemporary Literature Research Group / Mari Oka (editor in charge)), which I was able to read thanks to Yanagida-san’s connection, the “Middle East” is a diverse region with more than 25 countries spanning three major continents from Afghanistan in the east to Western Sahara in North Africa and Mauritania in the west, with greatly different languages, societies, and histories. In the Arabic “Watan” and Japanese editions, the themes of “hometown” and “motherland” are varied, and works written in not only Middle Eastern languages, but also Korean, Italian, and English are included. As you can see from Orhan Pamuk’s novels and the stories of Turkish immigrants in Germany and Algerian immigrants in France, women in those societies are more bound by social norms than we are.
“The Crossing” is a record of Samar’s three trips back to the country from the summer of 2012 to August 2013, when she lived in Paris, to support women and children. The townspeople always left their doors open to escape the frequent airstrikes and gunfire. When they fled, they cooperated with each other regardless of their religion or race. The men took up arms to protect their families and the town. The days were so tense that they could not even change into their nightwear due to the fear of not knowing when they would be bombarded, but the women swept their rooms and tried to maintain a clean daily life. Their lives were in danger, and acquaintances were kidnapped right in front of their eyes. The experiences were all poignant. But the reason I kept reading was because the beautiful writing was so startling that it was written with a sharpened sense of feeling in the days when life and death are on the edge of a paper. I let out the breath I had been holding in and organized my thoughts in my own way. I could not find the answer.
Samar’s return shows that those who had hopes and ideals at first, are exhausted, and every time she visits the site, something is chipped away. On her final departure, she meets a girl at the border who is crossing the border for child marriage. Watching her, Samar realizes that Syria has been occupied, and thinks about what she leaves behind when she leaves her homeland. This is a book that you should definitely read.