Anachrony as Represented in Return to Haifa:A Genettian Reading

Time is one of the significant features of narration that links the events of a text together based on stylistic choices. Time, in terms of analopsis or prolepsis, can create anachrony in a text. Ghassan Kanafani, utilizing this technique in Return to Haifa, attempts to narrate the confusion and displacement experienced by the characters. This study, adopting a descriptive-analytical framework, examines the role of anachrony in introducing characters, presenting information, and affecting readers. The study identifies 31 instances of analopsis in the novel. The characters’ analopsis appears in forms of conversations and reminiscences of war and displacement as the result of stimulating of senses and attending a specific place like such as the beach, streets, and houses. In this regard, the author narrates the 20-year experience of displacement and forced migrations of people since 1947. Saeed, a character in the novel, uses prolepsis 7 times in his speeches, which probably crystallize the 1967 awareness (enlightenment) among people. It can be concluded that Kanfani expresses his optimism towards the nationalists’ movements and the Palestinian people by relying on preliminary analopsis and reporting future events, believing that people are ready to pay high costs to fulfill national goals.