The Need for Vengeance or the Need to Mourn? Atiq Rahimi’s Exploration of “Afghan” Self-Identity in Earth and Ashes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9979688 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William Kingsbury (University of Phayao, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 635-655 |
| Publication date | 2015-04-09 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Iranian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-0862 • E-ISSN: 1475-4819 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00210862.2015.1024465 |
| OpenAlex | W1978140797 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
It has been said of Atiq Rahimi’s novel Earth and Ashes that the author intends it to convey a loss of any vision for a better future in Afghanistan. This essay neither disputes nor affirms this, but instead argues that this tone of disillusionment is sustained for a specific purpose—namely, to show how a belief in the Afghan requirement of vengeance helps sustain cycles of violence in Afghanistan. No critical work has explored this key motivation for the writing of the novel; this article does so using a method of close reading that enables an evaluation of the role the reader is afforded as part of this endeavor, be they natives or outsiders to this culture
Aesthetics · Afghan · Art · Identity (music · Literature · Political science · Reading (process · Sociology · Tone (literature · Law · Military History and Strategy · Philosophy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
| Highly cited | No |
|---|