ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

--- CONTENT ---
Umm Saad (Arabic أم سعد, DMG Umm Saʿd) is the penultimate short novel by Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani. It appeared in 1969 in Beirut under the title Umm Saad – Qiṣṣa filastīnīya (“Umm Saad – A Palestinian Story”). The German translation of Veronika Theis was published in 1986 in Umm Saad / Return to Haifa – Two Palestinian short novels by Lenos-Verlag in Basel.

The work "Umm Saad"

Content

The short novel Umm Saad describes an episode in the life of the eponymous character Umm Saad during the Six-Day War in 1967. Umm Saad is a Palestinian living in a refugee camp in Lebanon. At the beginning of the story, Umm Saad brings a vine to a friend from whose perspective the story is told and plants it on his doorstep. The protagonist’s son, Saad, was arrested shortly before. He was drawn into armed resistance. After his release, he joins the Fedajin and actively participates in their fighting. Umm Saad had already observed the political events and the prevailing injustices in her environment as a child. She felt the frustration of the people that not the ordinary people get the praise for their hard work, but the politicians. Umm Saad and her family are often visited by the angry Efendi, who demands Saad's return. In the last chapter it becomes clear that a revolutionary mood and readiness for activism has spread to the whole camp. An old man believes that the Nakba could have been prevented if his generation had been equally ready to fight. The vine, which had been planted in front of Umm Saad's house at the beginning, has begun to sprout.

Construction
Umm Saad is divided into nine chapters, which Veronika Theis describes as “narrative sketches”. These are nine separate episodic stories connected by the storyline.

Character summary
Umm Saad is the eponymous protagonist of the short novel. She is the mother of Saad, a Palestinian guerrilla fighter (Arabic fidāʾī) and in her 40s. Umm Saad is described as unshakable. She is a passionate mother who does everything for her children. She has a strong sense of justice. She works as a cleaning assistant. Umm Saad strives not to accept the status quo and is not satisfied with the abundance of suffering in her life.

Saad is the son of the protagonist. He joins the Fedajin in the course of the action and is described as a man of the word. Saad longs for change and actively tries to bring it about. He has a deep bond with his mother.

Abu Saad is the husband of the protagonist and father of Saad. He works hard and is proud of his son who joined the armed resistance. In the course of the action