Feurat Alani’s “I Remember Fallujah”: An exploration of the power of memory

In his award-winning novel, the Iraqi-French author explores the contemporary history of Iraq over more than half a century and the events that led Iraq to where it is now.

Arab World Institute

Feurat Alani holds the 2023 Arab Literature Award.

Feurat Alani’s “I Remember Fallujah”: An exploration of the power of memory

Samir Qasimi

last update on 29 Dec 2023

French-Iraqi author Feurat Alani’s novel I Remember Fallujah recently received the prestigious Arab Literature Prize from the Arab World Institute in Paris and the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation.

The “poignant” novel, as described by the award jury, had been shortlisted along with six other works last summer.

Alani’s captivating work explores the themes of exile and the memories of a country ravaged by war and sectarian conflicts. With remarkable artistry, the profoundly moving story delves into the intricate complexities of a father-son relationship as it traverses the depths of memory loss and recovery between France and Iraq.

In the early 1970s, Rami decides to flee the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and settle in France after obtaining political asylum. He spends his life running away from a past steeped in tragedies and injustice, believing that living in silence and without memory will liberate him of the man he used to be — or at least will not allow fear to take over his soul again.

What Rami has yet to realise is that memory cannot be simply erased; that memory — just like the homeland — is governed by the rules of the heart. By abandoning his memories, he risks losing the very essence of his humanity, for which he left his homeland in the first place.

What Rami has yet to realise is that by abandoning his memories, he risks losing the very essence of his humanity, for which he left his homeland in the first place.

Illusion

Rami chooses to live in exile under the illusion that he will be born again untethered to his past or memories. He soon tries to impose this illusion on his surroundings and his family — especially his son (the narrator), who continues to explore his Iraqi roots and discover his father's previous life.

As fate would have it, Rami suffers cancer-related memory loss that takes away all the memories he amassed since stepping foot in France. Now, he only recalls his life in Iraq, which he spent decades trying to forget.

Rami dies of lung cancer in Room 219, which the author insists on taking readers over and over throughout the novel as if it were the epicentre of all the subsequent events that unfold.

The novel starts with Rami uttering on his deathbed the three poignant words that Alani chose for the title of his brilliant work: "I remember Fallujah." The son considers his father's words an implicit permission to uncover his past.

Alani masterfully plays with the timeline, leaping across years and decades. He goes back to 2019, then back to 1952, but then jumps forward to 1988 before returning to 1953, when Rami was born into a world of terrible serial tragedies.

But that world also represented Rami's true image — one far removed from the image he tried to craft for himself during his long decades of exile.

The novel starts with Rami uttering on his deathbed, "I remember Fallujah." The son considers his father's words an implicit permission to uncover his past.

History of Iraq

Alani's non-chronological narrative choice explores the depths of Rami's life, the contemporary history of Iraq over more than half a century, and the events that led Iraq to where it is now.

As such, Alani narrates Rami's story of a Fallujah childhood and French exile in parallel with his homeland's history of war, invasion, coups, dictatorship, arrests, and weakness.

With I Remember Fallujah, a novel charged with emotions that often seem contradictory, Alani shows exceptional ingenuity as a novelist.

His masterful writing style is especially evident in his exploration of the themes of immigration and identity in France. Unlike other novelists who have touched on this theme, Alani does not focus on the identity clash that the children of immigrants often grapple with in France.

Instead, Alani's protagonist is at peace with himself and his identity. He does not believe that his origins, whatever they may be, are an obstacle to his integration into French society. Nor does he believe in the necessity of choosing between his country of citizenship and his country of origin.

About Feurat Alani

Feurat Alani is a French author and journalist of Iraqi descent currently residing in the UAE. Before venturing into writing, Alani gained notoriety for his powerful documentary investigations, which took him to Iraq, Egypt, and Algeria. In 2018, he won the esteemed Albert Londres Prize for his illustrated novel "The Perfume of Iraq".

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