The novel, “Years of Labor”, depicts the fate of Syrian women during wartimes

The dramatic character and narrative language that depict the repercussions of the war on Syria, dominate the details of Rana Al Asali’s novel “Years of Labor”.  The author chose female protagonists for her novel, who sought to challenge their realities and the various endings that they were exposed to in order to achieve their goals.

According to Al-Asali, the novel for which she was entitled for the golden award in the international competition for the year 2020 held by the Arab Awards Group in London along with seven Syrian figures in poetry and plastic art and fiction sheds light on what we have suffered in the last ten years. She has always believed that literature has an important message in terms of awareness, problem solving, documentation, in addition to its role in entertainment and education.

In a statement to SANA,  Al-Asali said that writing is an art of expressing and revealing the inside of the soul as it brings comfort and enjoyment to people in life by addressing positive or negative important points in life.

She asserts that the Syrian writer has succeeded in conveying the pain and suffering of Syrians due to the war in various ways, through drama, novels, poetry and art, considering that what was written in wartime will have an important and supportive role in building the personality of forthcoming generations.

Regarding feminist literature, Al-Asali found that women presented a new view that expresses their suffering and feelings to come out of the mold of false habits and wrongly inherited cultures and tell society that they can move forward strongly despite their femininity relying on themselves to achieve their goals.

She pointed out that through her writings, she seeks to educate women and encourage them to build a healthy, solid and superb personality.

It is noteworthy that the author Rana Al Asali was born in Aleppo. She participated in many festivals and poetry evenings. She has many publications, including “On the lips of Passion”, “Possessed by you” , ” Years of Labor “,” Twins” and “The Sound of a Pulse” and she won several awards locally and in the Arab world.

Amal Farhat