Book Launch of Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem
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Alexandria—The BA holds on Thursday, 25 February 2010, a book launch of Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem, by Dr. Sahar Hamouda, Director of the BA Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies, and Deputy Director of the BA Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Center (AlexMed).
Once Upon a Time in Jerusalem tells the saga of a Palestinian family, who lived in Jerusalem during the British mandate, and its fate in the Diaspora following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
The story is told by two voices: a mother, who was a child in Jerusalem in the 1930s, and her daughter, who comments on her mother’s narrative. The real hero of the narrative, however, is the family home in Old Jerusalem, which was built in the 15th century and which still stands today. Within its walls lived the various members of the extended family whose stories the narrative reveals: parents, children, stepmothers, stepsisters, aunts and uncles, nieces and cousins.
This is no idealized, nostalgic narrative of perfect characters or an idyllic past, but a truthful rendition of family life under occupation, in a holy city that was conservative to the extreme.
Sahar Hamouda is Professor of English Literature at Alexandria University, and is currently Dean of the Faculty of Languages and Translation at Pharos University in Alexandria.
The Book Launch is held at the BACC Lecture Hall at 7:00 pm.