Ambivalence, division, and critique: The collaborator in British Palestinian political thrillers

This article examines the use of the collaborator as a literary figure and a critical tool in Mischa Hiller's Shake Off and Ahmed Masoud's Vanished: The Mysterious Disappearance of Mustafa Ouda. I argue that Hiller's and Masoud's political thrillers reclaim the collaborator as a figure of division and ambivalence, which facilitates engagement with local subtleties. These include the issue of collaboration and its implications for individuals as well as the Palestinian national struggle; the straightforward path from resistance to liberation and statehood; and the idea of a unified Palestinian ideology to which Palestinians, including Palestinian authors in the diaspora, need to be loyal. In this sense, Hiller's and Masoud's works offer important insights into wider trends in Palestinian writing, including an emphasis on non-heroic and ordinary characters, while using the political thriller, as a popular anglophone genre, to bring awareness of the Palestinian cause, in all its ambivalence and complexity.

Automated summary

This article explores the use of the collaborator as a literary figure and critical tool in Mischa Hiller's Shake Off and Ahmed Masoud's Vanished: The Mysterious Disappearance of Mustafa Ouda. It argues that these political thrillers redefine the collaborator as a figure of division and ambivalence, allowing for engagement with local subtleties. The works also offer insights into broader trends in Palestinian writing, emphasizing non-heroic characters and highlighting the complexities of the Palestinian cause.