A review by raes_library
Recognising the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative by Isabella Hammad

5.0

thank you to grove atlantic for the arc! i read enter ghost by isabella hammad earlier this year, and immediately knew that she was going to become one of my favorite authors, and this book has definitely cemented that. hammad is an incredibly talented writer, and her analysis of palestine through a literature lens was clear and compelling. in this lecture, originally given just days before the beginning of the current phase of the genocide in palestine, hammad talks about the moment of realization in stories, and what that means in the narrative. she then uses this line of thinking to discuss palestine, and the moment where people see palestinians as human, see israel as a terroristic entity, see the entire settler-colonial system for what it is. this lecture is then followed by an afterword, written in 2024, that expounds on her point in light of the extreme violence occurring in gaza. both the lecture and the afterword are incredibly well written and profound. this is a very important read for anyone who values literature, academia and the lives of palestinians.