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Wajdi Mouawad
Wajdi Mouawad is a Lebanese-Canadian playwright and novelist who writes about family secrets and the aftermath of war. He is best known for the novel Anima and the play Incend
Anima
Synopsis
After his wife is murdered and violated, Waach hunts the killer, a Mohawk man who mutilates his victims in a manner disturbingly echoed by nature. The narrative shifts between wild and domestic animals, who bear witness to the unfolding events and take turns telling the story. This is a novel exploring totemic and animistic themes.
Genres
Characters
WaachProtagonist
Frequently asked questions
How is the animal perspective structured throughout the book?
The narrative is divided into dozens of short chapters, each headed by the Latin scientific name of a different animal, bird, or insect that acts as the sole observer of that segment. This perspective remains strictly external to the human protagonist, meaning readers never get a direct look inside his mind until the final chapter, which is narrated by a human medical examiner.
Does this novel connect to the author's background or other works?
While the story is primarily a road odyssey across North America, it is deeply informed by the author's Lebanese heritage and childhood experiences of fleeing the Lebanese Civil War. The final portion of the book directly excavates these themes, linking the protagonist's personal trauma to the historical atrocities of the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
What major literary awards has this book won?
The novel has received widespread international acclaim, winning several prestigious honors including the French Prix Méditerranée, the Grand Prix SGDL Thyde Monnier, the Prix des Libraires du Québec, and the Catalan Llibreter Prize for Foreign Novel.