Hydrofictions

This highly original monograph will be field-defining in both environmental humanities and postcolonial studies. Analysis of literary representations of water in postcolonial literature has often been neglected in contrast to representations of land, and this book makes a crucial intervention in redressing that marginalization and constructing new theoretical frameworks through which to understand literary mediations of water conflict. At the same time, the book's comparative analysis of Israeli and Palestinian ""hydrofiction"" offers a vital new understanding of the dynamics of hydro-apartheid, hydro-colonialism, and infrastructural violence, while bringing less familiar, but valuable, texts to light. * Dr. Sharae Deckard, University College Dublin * Turning to Israel/Palestine as a case study, Hydrofictions [...] makes a compelling case for the role of literary fiction and cultural representations as a means to discern the complex interplay between hydrosocial relations and hydropolitical regimes. As a potentially foundational entry in an emerging hydro-humanities, Hydrofictions is a must read. -- Matthew Henry * Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture * Hannah Boast's Hydrofictions: Water, power, and politics in Israeli and Palestinian literature is a forceful book that foregrounds water in a settler-colonial context where scholarship is focused almost exclusively on land. -- Muna Dajani * Journal of Palestine Studies * [...] one can easily envision this book, especially the introduction and chapter on Meir Shalev, inspiring future environmental-humanistic scholarship of Middle Eastern literatures. -- Rachel Green * MIDDLE EASTERN LITERATURES * With the publication of Hydrofictions, Hannah Boast spearheads critical innovation in a region often overlooked in postcolonial studies. [...] This leads to novel and unexpected ways of confronting what can be a daunting corpus. -- Michael W. Pritchard * Postcolonial Text * If the method allows analysis as refreshing as in this case of Palestinian-Israeli water conflict, then all water researchers are urged to read the book and continue the quest. -- Mark Zeitoun * Water Alternatives *