Tarek Musleh

The Invective Poet Tarek Musleh

This novel deals with the life of a Palestinian professor of English literature with a loose morality especially on the sexual side by abusing his position as a university teacher. He experiences various adventures both at the university and in his private life. The setting takes place in Libya in the last months of Gadhafi's rule and the beginning of the so-called Arab spring. The novel ironically starts with a man being hanged and ends with the professor contemplating the absurdity of life. Within the novel, the academic life of the professor is fully dramatized through discussions in the classroom and through the various conferences and seminars that are held at different universities. The main issues that are dealt with are related to identity, feminism, multiculturalism, the nature of literature, and the destructive role of religion especially in enslaving humans and blurring their vision of reality. The novel also dramatizes the phenomenon of plagiarism which dominates academic life in the Arab world. To express his frustration with human corruption the professor resorts to writing invective poetry, satirizing people, and mocking religion which stifles human individuality.