An Interfaith Paradise Lost? Religion and the Memory of the Lebanese Civil War in Postwar Novels

This essay analyzes three Lebanese postwar novels: Nathalie Abi-Ezzi’s A Girl Made of Dust, Jad El Hage’s The Myrtle Tree, and Hoda Barakat’s The Tiller of Waters. I argue that these novels narrate the memory of war with reference to religious imagery and theological structures, especially the idea of a paradise lost as described in John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. The paradise these novels present consists of a harmonious relation between people of different faiths. The root of violence is situated in a distortion and misrepresentation of the narratives of others. The novels also include the theme of a return or restoration of paradise. The natural environment, especially trees, play an important role as mediating and representing the divine presence. Harmony between people of different faiths is closely related to a harmonious relation with the natural environment.