The book examines the act of mythmaking as an intimate philosophy of the relationship between Arab memory and materiality, as representative of the highest levels of human symbolism. The work engages with two critical texts: The Wounded Arab Name by Abdelkébir Khatibi and The Captive Word by Jamal Eddine Bencheikh. Its primary subject of study is the Palestinian Encyclopedia of Folk Tales, compiled in five volumes by Sharif Kanaana and Nabil Alkam as a record of the moment when oral narratives were committed into writing.