Jordan’s literary legacy: Five novels that help define the nation

These books chart country's growth as a major voice in Arabic literature

Jordanian writer Jalal Barjas won the 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction for the novel Notebooks of the Bookseller. Photo: Shaama Oubayda Mahfoud

Jordan, which celebrates its Independence Day on Sunday, has built a rich literary canon in modern Arabic fiction. And that body of work has steadily grown and been celebrated for nearly 60 years.

These novels provide insight into a kingdom that has long navigated and embraced its cultural and geographic position. This has not only given rise to a distinctive arts scene and close-knit communities, but provided novels that reflected on identity and exile. Some of these works are introspective, others unfold as sweeping epics – but together they chart Jordan’s evolving voice in modern Arabic literature.

Here are five novels from Jordanian authors that feature in The National’s list of the most important Arabic novels of the 20th and 21st centuries.

1. You as of Today (1968) by Tayseer Sboul

You as of Today My Homeland: Stories of War, Self, and Love by Tayseer Al-Sboul, Translated by Nesreen Akhtarkhavari. Photo: Michigan State University Press

Tayseer Sboul wrote You as of Today as a direct response to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The novel’s title is derived from a patriotic song. A mere 70 pages long, the book became a hit when it was published, as many in the region could relate to the heartbreak, disillusionment and rage that Sboul expresses. The novel features two narratives, one named Arabi ibn Arabi – or Arab son of an Arab – while the other interjects with his own insights and thoughts. As such, You as of Today was markedly experimental for its time and has come to be regarded as one of the foremost postmodern works in Arab fiction.

2. Sultana (1987) by Ghalib Halasa

Sultana by Ghalib Halasa. Photo: Jordanian Writers Association

Sultana is another novel that confronts norms and has thus stirred up its fair share of controversy. The novel is set in 1950s Jordan, in a period where the country was in the thick of political uncertainty following the assassination of King Abdullah I. The story is told by a man named Jeries as he recounts his youth in a village and his time at a boarding school in Amman. At the heart of his story is Sultana, a fiercely independent woman, and her daughter, Amira. The novel is a whirlwind of passion and politics, fearlessly delving into the shadowy world of extortion and smuggling.

3. Sons of the Castle (1989) by Ziad Qassim

Sons of the Castle by Ziyad Qasim. Photo: Arab Institute for Research & Publishing

In Sons of the Castle, Ziad Qassim presents the history of Amman from 1940 onwards, exploring its development as well as setbacks such as during the 1967 war. The novel is populated by a panoply of memorable characters with complex and layered relationships. As the book also deals with notions of Arab unity, Sons of the Castle offers a reflection of the wider Middle East during the 20th century, even if its focus remains resolutely on Amman.

4. Confessions of a Silencer (1992) by Munis Ar Razzaz

Confessions of A Silencer by Mu'nis Ar-Razzaz. Photo: Arab Institute for Research & Publishing

Propelled by fragmented dialogues, Confessions of a Silencer is as beautiful for its polyphony as for its contemplative turns of phrase. Isolation is a key theme in the novel as a man, woman and their daughter are under house arrest and feel a sense of exile even from one another. Their only tethers to the outside world are the phone calls they receive from their son. The story is evidently published by the experiences of Ar Razzaz’s own family. The writer’s father, Munif, was a prominent member of the Iraqi Baath party until the 1979 purge by Saddam Hussein, after which he was placed under house arrest until his death in 1984.

5. Notebooks of the Bookseller (2021) by Jalal Barjas

Notebooks Of The Bookseller by Jalal Barjas. Photo: Arab Foundation for Studies and Publishing

Winner of the 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, Notebooks of the Bookseller is set in Jordan and Moscow between 1947 and 2019. It tells the story of Ibrahim, a bookseller and voracious reader, who loses his shop and finds himself homeless and having had schizophrenia diagnosed. He begins to assume the identity of the protagonists of the novels he loved and commits a series of crimes, including burglary, theft and murder. He then attempts suicide before meeting a woman who changes his perspective on life.

The novel is structured as a series of notebooks and has many narrators, whose fates sometimes collide. Notebooks of the Bookseller is a heart-rending, fragmented tale of people who are ignored and overlooked by society. Barjas's work daringly depicts a difficult reality not only in Jordan, but the Arab world as a whole.