One Sky: The Palestinian Writer Liyāna Badr between Two Periods

Abstract

Abstract The present article illustrates how the change in the geographic location of Liyāna Badr, one of the prominent Palestinian women writers, influenced her writing in thematic and stylistic terms. It shows how Badr’s writing shifts from descriptions of isolation and loneliness, alienation and yearning for the past, to describing feelings of rage and frustration with the reality of Israeli occupation, and how from an innovative and vague writing style she shifts to a realistic, simple, and direct style that reflects the themes of her stories and the messages she wishes to convey. In this way Badr reinforces the connection of her work with Palestinian existence and the reality of occupation, and does not let the contemporary writing directions adopted by the young women authors influence the degree of Palestinian-ness of her texts.