American war in Iraq : a postcolonial ecocritical reading of selected poems by Dunya Mikhail

Abstract EN

The dissertation basically aims to apply postcolonial ecocriticism to the literary works of the Iraqi-American poet and writer, Dunya Mikhail, in her books, The Iraqi Nights, A Diary of a Wave outside the Sea, In Her feminine Sign and The War Works Hard, after the 2003 American War in Iraq.

Applying ecocriticism to her works reveals that the concept of colonization can be applied to non- human nature which has been violated and devastated in Iraq after war.

Moreover, her works emphasize the linkage between the ecological decay and the social decadence of the Iraqi society.

Mikhail confirms the interrelatedness between the ecological destruction and the eradication of Iraqis' culture and identity.

She presents the truthful images of the imperial actions that have led to the environmental deterioration in Iraq in many of her poems, such as "The War Works Hard," "Innana," "America," "An Urgent Call" and many others.

In addition, her works shed light upon the social, moral, geographical and cultural legacy of colonialism.