Landscapes of War: From Sarajevo to Chechnya

by Juan Goytisolo, Tariq Ali (Introduction), Peter Bush (Translator)

Overview

Landscapes of War: From Sarajevo to Chechnya is an incisive examination of the tensions that exist between the West and Islamic societies of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. These essays, originating in Goytisolo's travels in the late 1990s, provide rich historical analysis and moving first-person reportage of life in four explosive war-zones: Sarajevo, Algeria, the West Bank and Gaza, and Chechnya. From the 17th century to the Gulf War, the West has regarded Islam as the enemy on the doorstep, and this book elucidates how relations between Islam and the West continue to be shaped in a climate of ideological, political and cultural confrontation.

Goytisolo examines the fratricidal frenzy in Algeria and the war waged by French police against North African migrants in France, and he describes a besieged Sarajevo transformed into a concentration camp surrounded by barbed wire. He contemplates the despair and poverty of Palestinian youth living in the Occupied Territories and details the brutality of the Russian war in the Caucasus. Whether reporting on the fate of the Bosnians after the break up of the former Yugoslavia or analyzing the growing appeal of fundamentalisms—Islamic, Jewish and Russian Orthodox—Goytisolo displays the same blend of intelligence, vision, and warm fellow-feeling that has made him one the most imposing literary figures of our time.

Many of these succinct and eloquent essays first appeared in Spain's leading newspaper El Pais, and English translations were published in the Times Literary Supplement (London).

Juan Goytisolo was born in Barcelona in 1931. In 1993 he was awarded the Nelly Sachs Prize for his literary achievement and contribution to world culture. His translated works include a two volume autobiography, Forbidden Territory and Realms of Strife; the trilogy Marks of Identity, Count Julian and Juan the Landless; and the essays, Saracen Chronicles. Other works by him and published by City Lights Publishers include The Marx Family Saga, published in 1999, and A Cock-Eyed Comedy, published in 2005.

Peter Bush is Director of the British Center for Literary Translation and translated Juan Goytisolo's The Marx Family Saga, which was awarded the Premio Valle-Inclan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780872863736
Publisher:	City Lights Books
Publication date:	01/01/2001
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Juan Goytisolo was born in Barcelona in 1931. In 1993 he was awarded the Nelly Sachs Prize for his literary achievement and contribution to world culture. His translated works include a two volume autobiography, Forbidden Territory and Realms of Strife, the trilogy Marks of Identity, Count Julian and Juan the Landless, and the essays, Saracen Chronicles. His most recent work is The Marx Family Saga, published last year by City Lights Books.

Peter Bush is Director of the British Center for Literary Translation and translated Juan Goytisolo's The Marx Family Saga, which was awarded the Instituto Cervantes Ramon Valle-Inclan Prize for literary translation. His translation of Juan Goytisolo's The Garden of Secrets will be published by Serpent's Tail in September 2000.

Tariq Ali, who wrote the introduction, is a writer and filmmaker and the author of four novels and more than a dozen books on world history and politics. He is also an editor of New Left Review.

Editorial Reviews

Landscapes of War has a more direct appeal because of the depressingly persistent urgency of its subject matter. The collection is nicely rounded off with a long informative essay that offers a recent history of Islamic relations with the West and calls for a more respectful inclusion of Muslim countries in global society.

Context Magazine

Many of these succinct and eloquent essays first appeared in Spain's leading newspaper El Pais, and English translations were published in the Times Literary Supplement.

London

Comprises essays reporting on life in four war zones<-->Sarajevo, Algeria, Chechnya, and the West Bank and Gaza<-->and examining how the tensions between Western and Islamic societies continue to be shaped in a climate of ideological, political, and cultural confrontation. Most of the pieces appeared first in the Spanish daily s/> in the 1990s; Goytisolo, a well-known literary figure in Spain, sees the current, crucial stage of conflict as less between West and Islam than between the secular and religious within Islam itself. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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