People of Water and Fire

The narrative begins at a threshold of bodily breakdown, forcing scholar Tarek El-Ariss to confront physical vulnerability when the intellectual tools, critical theory, and literary framework he mastered fail to rationalize his suffering. Seeking refuge in language, El-Ariss undertakes a reflective journey connecting physical trauma with historical memory, tracing his childhood spent amid the artillery fire of the Lebanese Civil War to his adulthood in diaspora academia. Written with intellectual honesty and subtle humor, the memoir bridges the divide between mind and body, personal illness and collective trauma. It offers a moving meditation on healing, language, identity, and memory, revisiting the wounded heart of Beirut while searching for wholeness amidst fragmentations.

It is a profound memoir combining academic rigor with tender vulnerability, providing a unique lens through which to examine trauma, illness, bodily memory, and post-war Middle Eastern identity.

Ideal for readers of literary memoirs and intellectual autobiographies, scholars of cultural studies and trauma theory, and anyone interested in modern Middle Eastern literature and personal narratives of resilience.