São Paulo – Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani (1936–1972), a pioneer of Palestinian resistance literature and responsible for consolidating the country’s modern literature, had two of his novellas translated directly from Arabic into Brazilian Portuguese by Tabla, which has already published the children’s book ‘O Pequeno Lampião’ [‘The Little Lantern’], written and illustrated by Kanafani. ‘Homens ao Sol’ [‘Men in the Sun’] and ‘Umm Saad’ are landmarks in Palestinian literature and are available for pre-sale on the publisher’s website with a 30% discount until April 14.
‘Men in the Sun,’ Kanafani’s first novella, was published in 1963 and tells the story of three men who, facing exile, start looking for a smuggler to help them cross borders and the desert to reach Kuwait, where would try a new life, away from the occupied land. The plot portrays the lives of these three Palestinians affected by the 1948 Nakba — when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were killed or ousted from their lands, homes, and assets and forced to seek refuge in lands inside Palestine and outside. The book was translated by Safa Jubran.
Umm Saad is the third novella by the Palestinian author, first launched in 1969, and features a character who has become, over the years, a mythical figure and symbol of Palestinian resistance. After the 1948 Nakba, the character Umm Saad lives in a refugee camp in Beirut and follows the transformation of her son, Saad, into a fedayeen — someone willing to die for the freedom of his people, a kind of guerrilla fighter. This revolutionary mother expresses an autonomous political conscience and is an agent of change. Michel Sleiman translated the work into Brazilian Portuguese.
These are the first two of four publications to make up Kanafani’s collection of novels at Tabla. He influenced many Arabic writers of his time and since. In addition to being a political activist and a central figure in building Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation and the Zionist project, Kanafani was a great writer, and his literary talent gives his work a universal character.
Umm saad
Author: Ghassan Kanafani
Translator: Michel Sleiman
ISBN: 978-65-86824-49-0
1st edition, 2023
80 pages
Graphic Design: Cristina Gu
Homens ao sol
Author: Ghassan Kanafani
Translator: Safa Jubran
ISBN: 978-65-86824-50-6
1st edition, 2023
104 pages
Graphic Design: Cristina Gu
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
