Traumatised Narrators in Hisham Matar's Novels

Summary

This article concerns the child-protagonist narrators, Suleiman and Nuri, of Hisham Matar's two novels In the Country of Men and Anatomy of a Disappearance respectively. Noting how their traumatised experiences relate closely to the writer's own Libyan childhood, the discussion focuses on their use of desperate strategies to cope with, or challenge, their predicaments. Matar's personal awareness of lives marked by “shame, pain and fear”, and the difficulty of imagining a “better reality”, helps to create his awareness of both boys' anguish, especially in relation to their fathers (lost in Suleiman's case; disappeared, like Matar's, in Nuri's). The stages of each narrator's childhood are traced, highlighting how much more self-defeating Nuri's choices ultimately are, despite his life apparently being easier. The greater pessimism of the second novel may reflect a growing awareness in Matar himself of the profound difficulties for Libyans in constructing a new post-Gaddafi vision for themselves.

Opsomming

Hierdie artikel handel oor die kinderprotagonisvertellers van Hisham Matar se twee romans In the Country of Men en Anatomy of a Disappearance: orderskeidelik Suleiman en Nuri. Deur op te let hoe hulle ervarings aansluiting vind by die skrywer se eie Libiese kinderjare, fokus die bespreking op hul desperate strategieë om hul haglike omstandighede die hoof te bied of uit te daag. Matar se persoonlike bewustheid van lewens wat deur “skaamte, pyn en vrees” gekenmerk is, en die probleem om daarin te slaag om 'n “beter realiteit” te verbeel, help om sy bewustheid van albei seuns se leed te skep, veral ten opsigte van hul vaders (verloor (in Suleiman se geval), verdwyn (soos in Matar se geval) in Nuri s'n). Die onderskeie stadiums in elk van die vertellers se kinderjare word nagespoor om te beklemtoon hoeveel meer selfverydelend Nuri se keuses uiteindelik is, al is sy lewe skynbaar makliker. Die groter pessimisme van die tweede roman mag 'n groeiende bewustheid reflekteer in Matar self van die diepgaande probleme vir Libiërs om 'n nuwe, post-Gadaffi beeld te konstrueer.