The corpse washer
By: Sinan Antoon ; translated from the Arabic by the author
Series: A Margellos world republic of letters book; Margellos world republic of letters book
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 185
ISBN-13: 9780300190601
Subjects: Fiction; History
Work titles: Waḥdahā shajarat al-rummān
Description: "Born to a traditional Shi'ite family of corpse washers and shrouders in Baghdad, Jawad decides to abandon the family tradition, choosing instead to become a sculptor, to celebrate life rather than tend to death. He enters Baghdad's Academy of Fine Arts in the late 1980s, in defiance of his father's wishes and determined to forge his own path. But the circumstances of history dictate otherwise. Saddam Hussein's dictatorship and the economic sanctions of the 1990s destroy the socioeconomic fabric of society. The 2003 invasion and military occupation unleash sectarian violence. Corpses pile up, and Jawad returns to the inevitable washing and shrouding. Trained as an artist to shape materials to represent life aesthetically, he now must contemplate how death shapes daily life and the bodies of Baghdad's inhabitants." -- inside cover
Notes: "First published in 2010 in Arabic as Waḥdahā shajarat al-rummān by al-Muʼassasah al-ʻArabīyah lil-Dirāsāt wa-al-Nashr, Beirut, Lebanon"--Title page verso.