Narratives of a Nation: Iraqi Literature in the Post-2003 Era

Abstract

This review study offers developments of post-2003 Iraqi literature towards the concept of national identity while relieving socio-political turmoil. As such, the review study notices the synthesis of different scholarly approaches emphasizing themes and narrative shifts in contemporary works of Iraqi fiction. In such a context, diasporic literature and ethno-religious identity by Yasmeen Hanoosh in 2019 are differed from Al-Musawi in 2020 and Abbas in 2020 while discussing trauma and displacement both within Iraq and its diaspora. Khudayir 2017 looks at narrative techniques since the year 2003, Ali 2019 looks at literature as a preserving medium of the national identity from foreign influence, Ghareeb 2018 is more concerned with the cultural memory, and Abbas 2020 with displacement. Generally, it is apparent that Iraqi literature transforms from the pre-2003 dominant secular credentials to diversification in the marginalised identities, in addition to the role played by diasporic writers who brought about changes to what previously was a single-mode narrative. In such a nuanced analysis, it allows the representation of the way in which most of those themes are narrated by Iraqi authors-trauma, resilience, identity : contemporary Iraqi fiction is full of a life and transformative potential in building up cultural resilience and social justice.