War is Herstory Home Front Women in the Poetry of Adnan Al-Sayegh

Abstract

Woman characters abound in the poetry of the Iraqi poet, Adnan Al-Sayegh who is influenced, in his presentation of her, by three main factors, namely, war, political system, and patriarchal norms. Al-Sayegh’s women are essentially of four types: the mother, the lover/sweetheart, the war victim, and the working class woman. Drawing on Bamberg’s concept of ‘small stories,’ this paper is an attempt at exploring those women’s small and underrepresented stories which tell a lot about social, political, and economic conditions in Iraq. The paper argues that although small and unexciting, these stories do shed light on the social status and ordeals of women in Iraq. Women’s ‘small stories’ are then analyzed in a number of poems that best reflect the characteristics of each type of woman. It concludes that these women’s stories which take place at home fronts are no less significant than the stories narrated by men. Women’s stories ultimately reveal part of the unofficial and often unspoken of history of war in Iraq.