The question of traumatic events has been recognized in psychology, psychoanalysis, and literature, but scholarly studies have mostly concentrated on traumas enacted in the West- World Wars and the Holocaust. This issue attempts to extend the field of trauma and memory studies to include other parts of the world: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Palestine, Pakistan, multi-ethnic America, and ancient Greece. Whether the Lebanese civil war or the Peloponnesian war, the Nakba of 1948 or the Naksa of 1967, the articles and personal testimonies in this issue explore the impact of such tragic events on literary genre, films, fiction, folk culture, poetry, drama and visual arts. Alif, a refereed multilingual journal appearing annually in the spring, presents articles in Arabic, English, and, occasionally, French. The different traditions and languages confront and complement each other in its pages. Each issue includes and welcomes original articles.Contributors: Nasr Hamid Abu-Zayd, Galal Amin, Gaber Asfour, Mohammed Berrada, Ceza Kassem-Draz, Sabry Hafez, Barbara Harlow, Malak Hashem, Wolfhart Heinrichs, Richard Jacquemond, Andrew Rubin, Doris Enright-Clark Shoukri, and Hoda Wasfi