After the success of his debut collection,
The Madman of Freedom Square(2010), Iraqi-born writer Hassan Blasim (b. 1973) returned to the literary scene with
The Iraqi Christ, a collection of 14 stories about violence, loss, and trauma. He wrote both works from exile, living and working in Finland, a country which he entered in 2004 as a refugee. Like Blasim’s other stories, this collection is so unusual that it is hard to place. On the one hand, critics noted Blasim’s indebtedness to the Arabic literary tradition—his allusions to Abu Nuwas’s 8th Century wine-songs, and to the
Arabian Nightsand other classics within the fantastic tradition of Arabic writing. On the other hand, as Robin Yassin-Kassab points out,
The Iraqi Christalso echoes the literature of Latin America,…
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Citation: Al-Attabi, Qussay M.. "The Iraqi Christ". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 September 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38833, accessed 05 October 2024.]