What is the wound?

What is the wound?  How does it relate to the notion of time? Is it a representation of the past that continues to manifest itself?

Adonis was born in Syria, but fled to Lebanon after being arrested for political activities in support of secular nationalism. He is considered a part of Arab modernist art, and has stated that he believes Easterners should participate and create “Western”/modern styles of art rather than only consuming them. This knowledge of his beliefs about the relationship between the East and West lead me to a reading of “The Wound” highly related to colonialism and the relationship between Syria and Europe (the British and French Empires held a great deal of economic and political power in Levant, including both Syria and Lebanon, during the Ottoman Empire, and gained control during WWI. Syria was under French control until 1946). This would be consistent with the repeated references to ships, bodies of water, and crossings.

Other examples of metaphors for colonial relations include “the language choked by tolling bells,” perhaps referring to Syrian cultures stifled by European influence, as represented by the tolling of Christian church bells. Later in the same stanza, Adonis says that “when history burns inside my clothes” (referring to colonial domination and conflict, and its impact on his personal emotions and identity) he cries out “Who are you, who tossed you into my virgin land?” Clearly, he may be directing this question towards European naval exploration and conquest of his homeland. The answerer identifies themselves as “the wound.” The statement that the wound “grows as your history grows” refers to the fact that the country/land cannot escape from the trauma of colonialism as time passes, as European interaction itself has become a part of its identity.

The following stanza refers to the “wound of the parting dove,” reflecting a softer attitude towards the European cultural influence he recognizes as part of himself. Dialogue between himself and “the ancient land” could be a representation of his negotiation between pre and post colonial Syria/Lebanon, recognizing that both are key components of his identity. This is also reflected in the final part of the poem, when he writes about the “temptation” and beauty of the wound, and how it tempts towards “salvation.” Under this interpretation, Adonis might be pointing out the still-relevant tendency to idealize the elite cultures of colonizing/modern/developed nations. European nations (such as France and England in the case of Syria) justified their colonial interference through the idea of “salvation,” declaring that they would help colonized societies by bringing them Western culture, religion, political organization, or economic means of production. Adonis is noting that the legacy of colonialism still idealizes the colonizing nations and their ability to “help” the colonized.