"Forbidden words": Palestinian women's literature in Israel-between conservatism and subversion

This article examines the writing of Raja. Bakriya, Rawiya Burbara, and Maysun Assadi, prominent new-generation of Palestinian women writers in Israel, and shows how their writing deviates from the conservatism that is expected of such writers. In their writing, the three authors take their readers into the woman's world of lust and passion while challenging and subverting the writing norms and using an original style and language. The article also shows that, in their work, the three writers refer mainly to the reality of the lives of Israeli Arabs, and their writing is therefore distinct from Palestinian women's literature written outside Israel. They portray this reality realistically, symbolically, or in brief references in which the effect of the reality of Palestinian life on the female protagonist's spirit is accentuated.