The Perplexity of the Returnee

The Perplexity of the Returnee is a title chosen by Mahmoud Darwish to create in the recipient the possibility of forming a system of multi-dimensional questions and interpretations, and the goals are related to the right of return of the Palestinian person, and at the same time it suggests that the narrative will have a tragic character filled with melancholy, and how could it not be when it narrates nearly more than half a century of the life of the Palestinian story, it is the story of every Palestinian in his displacement, homelessness and resistance… Even the return in the Perplexity of the Returnee Darwish raises many questions, then he returns and says: “This is not the question: the sarcastic question now is a political question. How do you know that the cloud is also real and is perceived by the sense of touch? It is also a security question: How do we scrutinize the identity of the butterfly as it passes over the barrier of reality? It is also a security question: How does it flow into the identity of the butterfly as it passes over the barrier of reality? It is also an administrative question: How do we distribute the bread of language to the guards lost in the duality of the house and the road? (…)”. The questions continue to tell the story of every Arab who keeps asking about the meaning of identity and belonging. Perhaps Mahmoud Darwish, by narrating realistic stories, is trying to save the Arab memory from forgetting the first Arab cause (Palestine) and to re-create a living history for the younger generation that is difficult to falsify through literature. The book includes three main titles whose themes range between narration, prose, articles, memoirs, stories and speeches recited by the poet Mahmoud Darwish on different occasions. They are: -1- Here There… Now -2- More Than Goodbyes -3- The Difficult Birth of Poetry.