I Live
| File:I Live, cover.png | |
| Author | Laila Baalbaki |
|---|---|
| Language | Arabic |
Publication date | 1958 |
| Publication place | Lebanon |
I Live (also translated as I Survive) (Arabic: أنا أحيا) is the first novel by the Lebanese writer Laila Baalbakki.[1][2] It was first published in 1958 and was chosen as number seventeen of the 105 best Arabic novels of the 20th century by the Arab Writers Union.[3][4][5][6] Its publication marked the beginning of a period in which many novels by Lebanese women appeared,[2] and it dealt with the lives of young Arab women finding new ways of living in defiance of traditional gender roles.[7] The novel was banned for immorality in Lebanon in the same year that it was published,[5] and together with Baalbekki's second novel A Spaceship of Tenderness to the Moon it led to the author going to court to defend herself against a charge of degrading public morals.[8]
Reception
[edit | edit source]Highlighting some of the common themes the work shares with that of other Lebanese women writers, Aghacy notes the importance of the café as a setting offering relative freedom to women, and a strong sense of anger and resentment against the figure of the father.[2]
I Live, with its powerful protest against patriarchy and demand for individual liberty, inspired Hanan al-Shaykh to write.[9][10][11]
I Live has been translated into French (Je vis! Seuil, 1958) and German (Ich lebe, Lenos 1994), but is not available in English.[5][6]
References
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