Halim Barakat (Arabic: حليم بركات December 4, 1931 - June 22, 2023 ^[1]) was a Syrian American novelist and sociologist. He was born into a Greek-Orthodox Arab family in Kafroun, Syria, and raised in Beirut.^[2][3]

Career

Barakat received his bachelor's degree in sociology in 1955, and his master's degree in 1960 in the same field. He received both from the American University of Beirut. He received his PhD in social psychology in 1966 from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. From 1966 until 1972 he taught at the American University of Beirut. He then served as research fellow at Harvard University from 1972 to 1973, and taught at the University of Texas at Austin in 1975-1976. From 1976 until 2002 he was Teaching Research Professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies of Georgetown University.

Barakat has written about twenty books and fifty essays on society and culture in journals such as the British Journal of Sociology, the Middle East Journal, Mawakif and al-Mustaqbal al-Arabi. His publications are primarily concerned with difficulties facing modern Arab societies such as alienation, crises of civil society, and a need for identity, freedom and justice. He has also published seven novels and a collection of short stories. These are rich with symbolism and allegory to world events. His novel Six Days (Sitat Ayam, 1961) is prophetically named for a real war yet to come in 1967; as such, it became a prelude to the later novel Days of Dust ('Awdat al-Ta'ir ila al-Bahr, 1969), which unfolds the existential drama of the June War of 1967.

Selected books

Barakat, Halim. Riyah wa Zillal (Wind and Shadows). Dar Nelson, 2012

Barakat, Halim. Ghurbat al Kateb al-Arabi. Beirut: Dar Al-Saqi, 2011

Barakat, Halim. "Mudawanti Liyawmiyat Ihtilaal Al-Iraq; Maqamat Al-Huzn Wal-Ghadab”. (My Blog: Diary of the Occupation of Iraq; Shrines of Sadness and Anger). Al-Ma'aref Forum, 2003

Barakat, Halim Isber. al-Mujtamaʻ al-ʻArabi al-muʻāṣir: baḥth istiṭlāʻī ijtimāʻī. (Arab Society in the Twentieth Century) Al-Ṭabʻah 1. Bayrūt: Markaz Dirāsāt al-Waḥdah al-ʻArabīyah, 1984. (in Arabic). Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies

Barakat, Halim (2008). Ta'ir al-Hawm The Crane. The American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-977-416-141-4. OCLC 181138745. (1988) A novel in Arabic translated into English by Bassam Frangieh and Roger Allen.

Barakat, Halim (2006). Al-Ightirāb fī al-thaqāfah al-ʻArabīyah: matāhāt al-insān bayna al-ḥulm wa-al-wāqīʻ (Alienation in Arab Culture) (in Arabic). Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies. ISBN 9953-82-090-2. OCLC 123501655.

Barakat, Halim (2006). Al-Madīna Al-Mulawwana (City of Colors) (in Arabic). Beirut: Dar Al-Saqi. ISBN 1-85516-781-6. OCLC 73486809.

Barakat, Halim (2004). Al-Hawīyah: Azmat al-ḥadāthah wa-al-wa`y al-taqlīdī [Identity: An Encounter Between Modernity and Tradition] (in Arabic). Beirut: Riad Alrayes. ISBN 9953-21-140-X. OCLC 58477760.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (2000) "Adonis, Poete Du Reel e de Son Oppose." (Adonis, Poet of Reality and his Opposite) Traduit de L'Arabe par Francois Zabbal, Adonis: Un Poete Dans Le Monde d'Aujourd'hui, 1950-2000, Paris: Institut Du Monde Arabe, 2000, pp. 77-83.

Barakat, Halim (2000). Mujtama ' al-'Arabi Fi al-qarn al-’ishrīn, bahth fi taghyyur al-ahwal wa-al-'alaqaat [Arab Society in the Twentieth Century] (in Arabic). Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies. OCLC 46648968.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (2000) "Explorations in Exile and Creativity: The Case of Arab-American Writers." In Kamal Abdel-Malek and Wael Hallaq (eds.), Tradition, Modernity, and Post-Modernity in Arabic Literature, Brill, p 304-320.

Barakat, Halim (1995). Al-dimocratiyya Wal-’Adāla Al-Ijtima`iyya [Democracy and Social Justice] (in Arabic). Ramallah: Muwatin, The Palestinian Institute For the Study of Democracy. OCLC 33154368.

Barakat, Halim (1995). Ināna Wa al-Nahr [Inana and The River] (in Arabic). Beirut: Dar Al-Adab. OCLC 32475166.

Barakat, Halim (1993). The Arab World: Society, Culture, and State. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-08427-6. OCLC 26300272.

Barakat, Halim (1992). Harb al-khalīj: khutut fi al-raml al-zaman [Gulf War: Lines in Sand and Time] (in Arabic). Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies. OCLC 30476525.

Barakat, Halim (1990). Six Days. Translated into English by Bassam Frangieh and Scott McGehee. Three Continents Press. ISBN 0-89410-661-9. OCLC 22347356.

Barakat, Halim Isber. (1990) Beyond The Always and the Never: A Critique of Social Psychological Interpretations of Arab Society and Culture. In Hisham Sharabi (ed.), Theory, Politics And The Arab World: Critical Responses, N. Y. and London: Routledge, 1990, pp 132-159.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1988) The Crane (Ta'ir al-Hawm). A novel in Arabic, Casablanca: Dar Toubqal. Translated by Bassam Frangieh and Roger Allen as The Crane.

Barakat, Halim (1985). Contemporary North Africa: Issues of Development and Integration. Croon Helm. ISBN 0-7099-3435-1. OCLC 12210270. From the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies' symposium, North Africa Today: Issues of Development and Integration, held at Georgetown University (1982). Introduction and chapter by Barakat.

Barakat, Halim Isber. (1985)"Arab Family and the Challenge of Social Transformation." In E. W. Fernea (ed.), Women and the Family in the Middle East: New Voices of Change, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1985, pp 27-48.

Barakat, Halim Isber. (1983) Ideological Determinants of Arab Development. In Ibrahim Ibrahim (ed.), Arab Resources: The Transformation of a Society, Washington D.C. and London: Center For Contemporary Arab Studies and Croom Helm, 1983, pp. 169-183.

Barakat, Halim Isber. (1979) Der Schnee Wird Mir Nicht Die Augen Schliessen, (The Snow Won’t Close My Eyes) from Sam Kabbani and Horst Erdman Verlag, The Dove of the Mosque and Other Syrian and Lebanese Stories, Horst Erdman Verlag, pp. 228-240.

Barakat, Halim Isber. (1979) Al-Rahīl baina al-sahm wa al-watar, A Journey Between The Arrow and The Cord . A novel in Arabic.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1979) "The Social Context of Lebanon in Crisis. "In P. E. Haley and L.W. Snider (eds.), Lebanon in Crisis, Syracuse University Press, 1979, pp. 3-20.

Barakat, Halim (1977). Lebanon in Strife: Student Preludes to the Civil War. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-70322-8. OCLC 2598612.

Barakat, Halim, 1977 Le Vaisseau Reprend Le Large (a translation of awdat al-ta'ir ila al-bahr into French by Claude Krul with an introduction by Jacques Berque), Canada: Edition Namaan.

Barakat, Halim Isber (1975) Socio-Economic, Cultural, and Personality Forces Determining Development in Arab Society. Social Praxis, 2(3-4), pp. 179-204.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1975) "Arab Novels and Social Transformation." In R.C. Ostle (ed.), Studies in Modern Arabic Literature, London: Aris and Philips, pp. 126-139.

Barakat, Halim (1974). Days of Dust. Medina University Press International. ISBN 0-914456-08-3. OCLC 1104402.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1973) "Social and Political Integration in Lebanon: A Case of Social Mosaic." Middle East Journal, Summer 1973, pp. 301-318.

Barakat, Halim Isber. (1973) "The Palestinian Refugees: An Uprooted Community Seeking Repatriation." International Migration Review, Vol. 7, Summer 1973, pp 147-161.

Barakat, Halim Isber. (1972) "Generational Gap and Family Political Socialization in Three Arab Societies." In Byron Massialas, Political Youth, Traditional Schools, Prentice-Hall, 1972, pp 213-226.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1969) Days of Dust (Awdat Altair Ila albahr). Novel in Arabic. The Three Continents Press

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1969) “Alienation: A Process of Encounter Between Utopia and Reality.” The British Journal of Sociology, vol. 20, no. 1, 1969, pp. 1-10.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1969) "Alienation and Revolution in Contemporary Arab Life.” Mawaqif Journal, No. 5, 1969.

Barakat, Halim Isber. (1968) River Without Bridges: A Study of The Exodus of the 1967 Palestinian Arab Refugees (co-authored with Peter Dodd), Beirut: Institute of Palestine Studies.

Barakat, Peter Dodd Halim. (1971) The Displaced: Uprooting and Exile - A Socio-Scientific Study النازحون: اقتلاع ونفي ـ دراسة اجتماعية علمية. Institute for Palestine Studies, A novel in Arabic 1967.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1967) "The Innovation and Sharing of Teaching Practices." Mark A. Chesler, Halim Isber Barakat, University of Michigan Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge. Print Book, English, 1967-. Publisher: Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1967-1968.

Barakat, H. (1966). Alienation from the School System; Its Dynamics and Structure, Ph.D dissertation., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1963) Un Visage Neuf,(Silence and Rain) translated into French by Michel Barbot, Alger Republicain, Nos. 171 a 173, 6 au 8 Fevrier, 1963.

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1963) Le Silence et La Pluie, (Silence and Rain) translated into French by Michel Barbot, Orient, annee 7. No 25

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1962) La Neige Ne Me Formera Pas Les Yeux, (Silence and Rain) translated into French by Michel Barbot, Orient, annee 6, No 23, 1962.*

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1961) Sitat Ayam (Six Days), a novel in Arabic. The Three Continents Press/Lynne Rienner

Barakat, Halim Isber, (1958) al-samt wa al-matar (Silence and Rain). A collection of short stories in Arabic, 1958.

Barakat, Halim Isber. Al-qimam al-khadrā' (Green Summits) Arabic, 1955.

Notes