Introduction

This chapter argues that the relationships represented in the novels provide a response to the concept of global political community, based on mutual vulnerability and responsibility, formulated by Judith Butler in her post-9/11 essay collection Precarious Life. The novels echo many of the concerns taken up by Butler, and in fact engage with socio-political dynamics similar to those analysed in Precarious Life. Jacques Mourad, or Father Jacques, was the abbot of the small Syrian town of Qaryatain and a member of the community established in the ancient monasteries of Mar Musa and Mar Elian. Even though the future of Father Jacques and the people of Qaryatain remains highly uncertain, the Frenchman’s spectacular escape shows that a specific notion of community can continue to impact on individuals’ lives, even after the violent dissolution of community. Liminal individuals embody the mechanisms that ensure the healthy functioning of a community and its individual constituents.