Work

Abjection and Identity in Al Khiam Detention Camp: A Case for Literature as Transitional Justice

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT This article interrogates how women’s prison literature can be a means of intervention in transitional societies where traditional transitional justice mechanisms have not proven successful. Through readings of Soha Bechara’s Resistance: My Life for Lebanon (2003) and Nawal Qasim Baidoun’s Memoirs of a Militant: My Years in Al Khiam Prison (2022), the article argues that women’s prison writings, written from a place of abjection, can serve to soften identities hardened by a Civil War and offer truth exposure when no alternative exists. I consider this literature, specifically that of Lebanese women subjected to Israeli tactics of torture and detainment, to be an individualized tool toward justice-achieving mechanisms that can indicate the way forward for both nation and individual.

Source: International Journal of Transitional Justice

DOI: 10.1093/ijtj/ijaf033

Author: Fatme Abdallah

Institution: Western University

Language: English

Topic: Memory, Trauma, and Testimony

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Gender equality

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,534