On the Nose

“Beyond the Capacity of English to See”

Jun 20, 2024

Palestinian American poet and physician Fady Joudah discusses the challenges of publishing anti-apartheid poetry in English. He explores the power of silence, resisting victim narratives, and the generative capacities of language in times of genocide and injustice.

27:50

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Fady Joudah

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Quick takeaways

Fady Joudah's poetry calls out the limitations of English in understanding Palestine.

Joudah challenges cultural perspectives on silence and the need for recognition of genocide.

Deep dives

Bari Judah's Poetry Collection as a Response to Power Dynamics

Bari Judah expresses in his new poetry collection a response to powers that seek to silence Palestinian voices. Through vivid imagery such as fireflies in a jar and reflections on Palestinian identity, Judah challenges the Western lens on Palestinian narratives, highlighting the struggle for recognition and understanding of their experiences.

Intro

3min

Reflections on Encounters and Resistance in the Context of Palestine

3min

Exploring the Unpronounceable Title and its Impact on Naming and Action

2min

Exploring Genocide, Silence, and Cultural Perspectives

16min

Exploring Coping with Illness and Mortality in Society

3min

In May 2021, Palestinian American poet, physician, translator, and essayist Fady Joudah wrote two poems engaged with the violence of Israeli apartheid. Reflecting on the conundrum of where and how to publish them, he explained: “I’ve long been aware of the crushing weight that reduces Palestine in English to a product with limited features . . . This sickening delimitation mimics physical entrapment. The silken compassion toward Palestinians in mainstream English thinks the language of the oppressed is brilliant mostly when it teaches us about surviving massacres and enduring the degradation of checkpoints.” His sixth collection of poetry, [...]—written in the first three months of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and published in March—indicts precisely such forms of entrapment. In these lucid yet idiosyncratic poems, Joudah turns his attention to that which exceeds the narrow place of the Western gaze, spurning the market forces that reward the performance of perpetual Palestinian victimhood.

On this episode of On the Nose, culture editor Claire Schwartz speaks with Joudah about publishing [...] in this long moment of anti-Palestinian racism, the dangerous desires of denying our own not-knowing, and the generative capacities of silence.

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for producing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Texts Mentioned, and Further Reading and Listening:

“My Palestinian Poem that ‘The New Yorker’ Wouldn’t Publish,” Fady Joudah, Los Angeles Review of Books

“A Palestinian Meditation in a Time of Annihilation,” Fady Joudah, Lit Hub

“Fady Joudah: The poet on how the war in Gaza changed his work,” Aria Aber, The Yale Review

“‘Unspeakable’: Dr. Fady Joudah Grieves 50+ Family Members Killed in Gaza & Slams U.S. Media Coverage,” Democracy Now!

“Aesthetics of Return: Palestinian Poetry with Fady Joudah,” Jadaliyya

“Habibi Yamma,” Fady Joudah, Protean

“Dear [...],” Fady Joudah, Prairie Schooner

“[...],” Fady Joudah, Lit Hub

“[...],” Fady Joudah, Jewish Currents

“Maqam for a Green Silence,” Fady Joudah, Jewish Currents