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@article{205288,
        author = {SHAZIA ANJUM ALI},
        title = {Quest for Identity in Sahar Khalifeh’s Wild Thorns},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {1},
        pages = {7416-7419},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=205288},
        abstract = {Sahar Khalifeh’s Wild Thorns (Al-Subbar, 1976) is a landmark Palestinian novel that critically examines the crisis of identity experienced by Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. Set in the occupied West Bank after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the novel explores the political, psychological, cultural, and economic dimensions of Palestinian existence. Through characters such as Usama, Adil, Zuhdi, and various female figures, Khalifeh portrays the fragmentation of Palestinian society under colonial domination and the tension between resistance and survival. This paper investigates the theme of identity through postcolonial and resistance literature frameworks, emphasizing nationalism, alienation, labor exploitation, gender consciousness, exile, and collective memory. The paper argues that Khalifeh presents identity as fluid and contested rather than stable, revealing how occupation reshapes both individual consciousness and collective belonging. The study further demonstrates that Wild Thorns transcends political propaganda and instead offers a deeply human representation of Palestinians struggling to preserve dignity and selfhood in a colonized society.},
        keywords = {occupation, existence, resistance, alienation, identity.},
        month = {June},
        }