The war resonated all the way to the Frankfurt Book Fair. In the aftermath of the Hamas attacks against Israel, all activities of Palestinian author Adania Shibli at this major international publishing event, which took place from October 18 to 22, were canceled. The LiBeraturpreis 2023 that she was to receive was “postponed” and his meeting with the public removed from the program in order to make “particularly audible Israeli voices”, according to the festival management.
The writer did not speak on the subject, refusing for the moment to react to this announcement which led to the consternation of a large part of the publishing world, the defection of Arab publishers to Frankfurt and provoked a renewed interest in his work, particularly for his latest novel, published in 2020, A minor detail (Actes Sud) – his third work translated into French.
In a petition published in particular in The world, more than 1,600 people to date, including three Nobel Prize winners for literature (Olga Tokarczuk, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Annie Ernaux), wanted to show their support for Adania Shibli – whose books are translated all over the world (she was among the finalists for the Booker Prize in 2021). In Germany, two public readings of his novel were held in Berlin and Frankfurt. On social networks, many readers post photos of his novel as a sign of solidarity.
How can we rejoice in the interest shown in a book when it arises in tragic conditions? “I feel bitter, reacts Stéphanie Dujols, the French translator of Adania Shibli. We had to wait for the author to be shamefully censored and for a “genocide” [un terme que Stéphanie Dujols tient à employer] takes place in Gaza so that people are interested in this book in France. » This “very powerful novel” published in 2020 went completely unnoticed in France. “We were unlucky [les librairies ont fermé à ce moment-là], but I also have the impression that it has been passed over in silence. This is a book that may be disturbing for some. »
The martyrdom of a young girl
Let’s go back seventy years, to August 12, 1949, under a blazing sun, somewhere in the Negev desert. That day, a group of Israeli soldiers kidnapped a very young Bedouin – her age is uncertain, some say she was not 15, others describe her as barely older. Taken to a military camp, she is locked in a cabin. Three men rape her. In the evening, during a joyous and drunken dinner, the soldiers, burdened by his presence, sealed his fate with a vote. Who is for sending the girl to the kitchen? “We want to fuck her!” » they shout. The teenager, whose name is not known, is raped again by several men. The next day, they shot her dead before abandoning her body in the desert.
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