Exploring the concepts of “homeland”, “exile” and “return” in the Palestinian poetry through the work of Mahmoud Darwish

Abstract

This thesis studies the Palestinian discourse on exile and return through the exploration of Palestinian poetry. Special attention will be given to the work of Mahmoud Darwish, a leading figure of Palestinian poetry. To this end, different pieces of literature concerning theories on social identity and collective memory mechanisms were chosen and reviewed. The analysis was divided into four different sections. Each section corresponds to a theme present and typical of Palestinian poetry. The systematic exploration of these themes in Palestinian poetry informs us on the Palestinian narrative about exile and the return. The themes studied are bloodlines, love, nature and mythology. Palestinian poets have used poetry as a strong communicative tool to narrate their experiences and feelings, whether personal or political. This was a good enough reason for me to choose the study of Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry works as study examples.