Hani al-Rahib Chronicles Syria's Transformations in His Novel 'The Epidemic'

From Disease to Fear

The novel 'The Epidemic' by Syrian novelist Hani al-Rahib is set in the village of Al-Shir in the Latakia countryside, where it tracks social and political transformations across three generations. The story begins with the displacement of Sheikh Abdul Jawad Al-Khayyat and his family, leaving his infant son Dawood under a collapsed bridge, which early on embodies the presence of loss and fear. The effects of this tragedy pass between generations, as his sons and grandchildren die, revealing a society living with the effects of crises in its social and psychological makeup.

Freedom Between Traditions and Feudalism

The character of Mariam Khudair appears in her struggle against social and economic constraints, where the other face of these constraints is embodied in the relationship between the feudal lord Hassan Agha and the peasants. 'The Epidemic' indicates that fear does not arise from disease alone, but is produced by a society governed by unequal relations and imposing narrow limits on human choices through traditions. Critic Mazen Aktham Suleiman links these transformations to al-Rahib's intellectual project associated with freedom and democracy.

Three Generations and Transformations of Power

The novel tracks the continuation of patterns of submission to traditions and their transfer from the private to the public sphere, culminating in the dominance of the Baath Party and the military. The novel presents education and knowledge as a way out of submission, as Ismail Al-Sindian seeks to build a school for peasants, while Badi' Khudair attempts to join the Air Force College. Novelist Khairy Al-Dhahabi clarifies that al-Rahib's works reveal the relationship between the fates of characters and the place and surrounding social and political conditions.

The Author and the Novel in Brief

The novel 'The Epidemic' was published in the early 1980s and won the Arab Writers Union Award, spanning approximately 298 pages. Hani al-Rahib was born in 1939 in the village of Mushayta in the Latakia Governorate and died in Damascus in 2000. He focused his writings on social and political transformations and faced academic and professional restrictions due to his critical stances against tyranny, leading to his dismissal from Damascus University and expulsion from the Arab Writers Union.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)