Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال

Tayeb Salih’s 1969 book Season of Migration to the North, originally published in Arabic, presents a unique view of postcolonial society, as it chooses to focus mostly on how colonialism affects interpersonal relationships rather than the entire country of Sudan.

Salih flourishes in time skips and non-linear storytelling, as the narrator switches back and forth between his present reality and unraveling Sa’eed’s past. Part of the reason why this technique is so successful is that the book utilizes opposing writing styles to create a dynamic tale; the prose goes from oral to literary and informal to poetic within both narratives. After a little research, I learned that the dual “tones” I had observed are distinct elements of the Arabic language. I thought that its English translation captured that pretty well. Its long dialogue allows the characters to pour out their unfiltered thoughts, feelings, and philosophical musings.

The characters refer to colonialism itself as a “germ” or a “disease,” which seems to make Salish’s message very obvious. Unexpectedly, however, these feelings are contrasted by subtler emotions, including a fond reminiscence for the English government, and uncertainty about Sudan’s future under a new and independent government. Yet the most complex aspect of colonialism portrayed in the book is also the most controversial part: the violence against (often white) women, usually in a sexual context. Judging by the more negative reviews I saw on Goodreads beforehand, the violence and sex was a main reason why people rated the book 3 stars instead of 4 or 5—some select phrases include “copious abuse of women and robbing them of dignity, told largely from the abuser’s point of view,” “violent and shameless misogyny,” and “toxic sexuality and gender dynamics.” Reviews with higher ratings either don’t bring it up or acknowledge the inclusion of such toxicity while describing it as metaphorical, thematic, and a significant part of the characters’ flaws.

After reading the book for myself, I think that Salih is actively critiquing Mustafa Sa’eed’s relationships with women and does not encourage the behaviors of either party. Season of Migration to the North’s discussions of sex and portrayals of sexual scenes are not explicit to the point of being pornographic or gratuitous, but they are graphic enough for readers to feel seriously uncomfortable or triggered. Even just including the phrase “sexual violence” somewhere in the blurb would fix the problem without spoiling anything, since the blurb uses only slightly vaguer terms like “fraught and deadly relationships.” The matter is further complicated because not all the scenes can be boxed into categories of “assault” or “rape,” and other factors such as racial fetishization play a key part in connecting the sex and violence to colonialism. Sudanese and British characters display equal parts fascination and disdain for each other’s cultures, which plays into the tense, passionate relationships they have.

Salih’s engrossing novel strikes me as urgent above everything else. The narrator’s discomfort in how he, his community, and his country are changing throughout the novel don’t even offer a definitive stance on how he feels about said change. This imperfect resolution that the author settles on is reflective of the other ways in which he stands out from other Arab writers of his time. According to Laila Lalami’s introduction in the NYBR edition of the book, Salih’s resolutions differ from those of the Nahda, a movement of Egyptian literature, in that they attempted to create a “rosy conciliation between modernity and tradition” that is “absent from Salih’s novel.” In the end, his greatest interest—and strength—is to explore how the realities of the postcolonial world trickle into every aspect of his characters’ lives.

Content Warnings