Metaphors in Palestinian children's literature before and after theFirst Intifada

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores how metaphors in Palestinian children’s literature evolved after the First Intifada (1987) and how these changes influenced meaning, storytelling, and representations of lived experiences. Instead of viewing metaphor as a decorative element, the study considers it a cognitive, cultural, and narrative device for conveying complex experiences to young readers. The results show a distinct shift in metaphorical patterns. Before the Intifada, literature primarily used collective, symbolic, and nature-inspired metaphors involving land, animals, trees, water, light, and birds. These metaphors expressed themes of belonging, loss, continuity, and collective identity, while remaining symbolically distant from painful realities. After the First Intifada, metaphors became more personalised, action-oriented, and closely linked to lived experiences. The thesis notes a transition from collective symbolic metaphors to individual action metaphors and from land-based imagery to aerial and movement-based metaphors. It also highlights a shift from symbolic distance to a more direct experience of reality. The analysis, based on close qualitative reading of selected Palestinian children’s stories from both periods, reveals that later narratives depict occupation, fear, martyrdom, and daily restrictions more explicitly. Structural shifts show stories moving from closed, collective resolutions to more open, individual endings. Overall, this thesis argues that metaphor in Palestinian children’s literature does more than reflect reality; it helps children interpret, organise, and emotionally process their experiences.