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Sitt Marie Rose
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Sitt Marie Rose
Sitt Marie Rose is a novel by Etel Adnan set during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War. It is based on the life of Marie Rose Boulos, who was executed by a Christian militia during the conflict. The novel was first published in French in the late 1970s; sources differ on whether the first French publication was in 1977 or 1978, and a Beirut Arabic translation appeared by 1979.
While historically French political influence in Lebanon ended with the French Mandate in 1943 the continued cultural influence of the West helped to create a diversity in the character of Lebanon. Adnan uses the contrasts of the Western and Eastern influences on Beirut to illustrate the major themes of the novel. The role of women within Lebanese society is paid extra attention as the latter half of the novel is a dramatization of the death of Marie Rose Boulos. Marie Rose Boulos was an immigrant from Syria who taught deaf-mute children and helped to organize social services for Palestinian camps.
Adnan wrote Sitt Marie Rose in 1977 in French. That same year it was translated and published in Arabic. However, due to the nature of the novel it was marketed in Muslim West Beirut but not Christian East Beirut.
The novel begins before the civil war with an unnamed female narrator describing her friend Mounir's desire to make a movie based on Syrian immigrants who come to work in Lebanon. After this brief section, the novel turns its attention solely to the death of Sitt Marie Rose as perceived by seven different characters.
The novel is divided into two “Times”: “Time I” and “Time II.”
Time I offers a description of prewar Beirut with Mounir wanting the female narrator of this section to write the script for his film. As Time I progress the violence that is mentioned as happening in Beirut escalates into what becomes the Lebanese Civil War. At the end of Time I the narrator tells Mounir that she cannot write a film for him given that Mounir repudiates the narrator's suggestions for film on the grounds that they are too violent and political.
Time II is divided into three sections with seven chapters each. One chapter in each section is devoted to relating the events surrounding the death of Sitt Marie Rose from the perspective of one of the narrators. The narrators always follow the following order in each of the three sections: the deaf-mute school children that Sitt Marie Rose teaches, Sitt Marie Rose herself, Mounir, Tony, Fouad, Friar Bouna Lias, and the unnamed narrator from Time I.
The deaf-mutes that Sitt Marie Rose teaches speak with a singular voice. No individual child is ever attributed as speaking at a given time, rather they speak with a collective voice, like a Greek chorus. The deaf-mutes look up to and respect Sitt Marie Rose greatly, and they wish they could be of more help to her.
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Sitt Marie Rose
Sitt Marie Rose is a novel by Etel Adnan set during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War. It is based on the life of Marie Rose Boulos, who was executed by a Christian militia during the conflict. The novel was first published in French in the late 1970s; sources differ on whether the first French publication was in 1977 or 1978, and a Beirut Arabic translation appeared by 1979.
While historically French political influence in Lebanon ended with the French Mandate in 1943 the continued cultural influence of the West helped to create a diversity in the character of Lebanon. Adnan uses the contrasts of the Western and Eastern influences on Beirut to illustrate the major themes of the novel. The role of women within Lebanese society is paid extra attention as the latter half of the novel is a dramatization of the death of Marie Rose Boulos. Marie Rose Boulos was an immigrant from Syria who taught deaf-mute children and helped to organize social services for Palestinian camps.
Adnan wrote Sitt Marie Rose in 1977 in French. That same year it was translated and published in Arabic. However, due to the nature of the novel it was marketed in Muslim West Beirut but not Christian East Beirut.
The novel begins before the civil war with an unnamed female narrator describing her friend Mounir's desire to make a movie based on Syrian immigrants who come to work in Lebanon. After this brief section, the novel turns its attention solely to the death of Sitt Marie Rose as perceived by seven different characters.
The novel is divided into two “Times”: “Time I” and “Time II.”
Time I offers a description of prewar Beirut with Mounir wanting the female narrator of this section to write the script for his film. As Time I progress the violence that is mentioned as happening in Beirut escalates into what becomes the Lebanese Civil War. At the end of Time I the narrator tells Mounir that she cannot write a film for him given that Mounir repudiates the narrator's suggestions for film on the grounds that they are too violent and political.
Time II is divided into three sections with seven chapters each. One chapter in each section is devoted to relating the events surrounding the death of Sitt Marie Rose from the perspective of one of the narrators. The narrators always follow the following order in each of the three sections: the deaf-mute school children that Sitt Marie Rose teaches, Sitt Marie Rose herself, Mounir, Tony, Fouad, Friar Bouna Lias, and the unnamed narrator from Time I.
The deaf-mutes that Sitt Marie Rose teaches speak with a singular voice. No individual child is ever attributed as speaking at a given time, rather they speak with a collective voice, like a Greek chorus. The deaf-mutes look up to and respect Sitt Marie Rose greatly, and they wish they could be of more help to her.