Challenging Nostalgia and Rewriting History in Tariq Ali’s Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree

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In contrast to most Arab and Muslim writers whose works indulge nostalgia and the yearning for the returning back of the lost paradise (al-Andalous), Tariq Ali’s Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree (1999) is out of nostalgia for the lost past. Instead of regret and lamentation over the loss of al- Andalus, Ali uses his novel as a powerful tool of rewriting the history of that period from the perspective of the marginalized Muslims. This research aims to explain how Ali rewrites one of the major historical events that is- the fall of the last Moorish kingdom in Spain Granada in 1492 in an attempt to challenge the Eurocentric notions of history. In order to achieve his purpose of rewriting history, Ali focuses on the memories of those who have been marginalized, persecuted, and excluded.  Making use of the new historicist approach, this research shows how Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree presents a counter history of that period by challenging the received fixed vision of history. New historicism’s refusal of universal truth and grand narratives become the main focus in the application. Hence, subversion of power structures and the unattainability of having an absolute truth are among the main issues that the research attempts to investigate.

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