Homosexuality in the Shadow of War

Abstract

This study deals with homosexuality in modern Arabic literature in the context of the civil war in Lebanon, as reflected in Hudā Barakāt’s novel Ḥaǧar al-ḍaḥk (The Laughter Stone). The study concludes that homosexual relations were a fundamental and direct result of the war and the twisted reality it engendered. This becomes clear in light of the three stages through which the figure of Ḫalīl the homosexual goes in the course of the novel: From absolute homosexuality, through uncertainty to transformation. The last of the three afore-mentioned stages highlights the totally masculine nature of war. The study also demonstrates that the fact that the author chose a homosexual figure as the novel’s protagonist to demonstrate her principled ideological opposition to war in any form.