Prof. Jamil Khader, Dean of Research and Editor in Chief of the Bethlehem University Journal, had his article, “Neoliberal contradictions, necrocapitalist nightmares: questions of human agency and free will in Aḥmad Saʿdāwī’s Frankenstein in Baghdad,” published in Middle Eastern Literatures (March 2024). The Journal is indexed in Thomson Reuters Arts & Humanities Citation Index® (A&HCI).
In this article, Prof. Khader examines Aḥmad Saʿdāwī’s Frankenstein in Baghdad and unveils the haunting allegory of its fantastic creature, known in Iraqi dialect as Al-Shisma (the Whatsitname). He interprets the Shisma as a symbol of the invisible yet omnipresent forces of necrocapitalism that ensnare human agency within the postcolonial global South. This analysis not only sheds light on the novel’s complex use of postmodern techniques and themes but also serves as a prism reflecting our unconscious collective anxieties in the face of systemic oppression.
This is Prof. Khader’s second publication thus far this year. His chapter, “El Frankenstein de Žižek: Modernidad, crítica antiilustrada y debates en la izquierda [“Žižek’s Frankenstein: Modernity, Anti-Enlightenment Critique and Debates on the Left]” came out ealier this year in a book titled, Slavoj Zizek: Como pensar con claridad en un mundo al reves, edited by Nicol Barria-Asenjo, LOM ediciones, Santiago, 2024. An earlier English version of this publication came out in a special issue of the Spanish Journal Enrahonar, a Scopus-indexed journal, and was selected for translation and inclusion in this collection.
In this chapter, he engages with Slavoj Žižek’s critique of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein at the intersection of modernity, anti-Enlightenment critiques, and leftist debates. He shows that Žižek’s continuous references to this novel throughout demonstrates how Shelley’s narrative became a battleground for discussing revolutionary ideals, identity politics, and the commodification of human rights in the age of late capitalism.
Finally, he gave an interview to the Tehran Times about “The Hunger Games” series. His op-ed in Aljazeera a decade ago was the first to draw parallels between the Palestinian struggle for freedom and this film series. Prof. Khader underscores the power of narrative to connect fictional dystopias with real-world struggles. In the interview, he emphasized how the parallels between the fictional oppression of Panem and the lived experiences of those in Gaza reveal the potency of stories in shaping our understanding of injustice and inspiring solidarity.