In 1964, psychologists Albert and Barbara Cain devised the term “replacement child”. It refers to a baby conceived and born after the parents had lost another child.
“Although the classic definition of a replacement child is a child who is conceived to replace a deceased child, many researchers have sought to expand the definition to include any child born to replace a child who has died, a child who is born immediately after the death of another child, or even a child who ‘takes over’ for a sibling who dies at an older age, literally ‘replacing’ the deceased,” wrote Dr. Abigail Brenner in Psychology Today in 2012.
“In this latter case, the RC may take over the role (and often the interests) of the deceased sibling on their own, or this shift may be pushed by parents who can’t let the deceased child go,” she added.
Theatre director, performer, and music composer Khalil Albatran offers glimpse into a Palestinian version of this phenomenon in Khalil Khalil, which he will perform at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival from January 23 to 25. Albatran developed this interdisciplinary show with his friend, film director Bilal Alkhatib.
It’s inspired by Albatran being named after his brother Khalil, who died at the age of 11 as a martyr during the First Palestinian Intifada.
Alkhatib talked to PuSh festival artistic director Gabrielle Martin about Albatran’s life—and the show—in a recent PuSh Play podcast.
“He struggles with his family, who see him through his late brother,” Alkhatib said. “I saw his personal struggle in finding his identity. And immediately, I felt there is a powerful story there.”
Khalil Khalil will also be a film
In addition to the interdisciplinary show, Alkhatib is working on a documentary. This project is about how Albatran lives with his name Khalil in the context of the Israeli occupation.
Alkhatib told Martin that Albatran saw his name in a cemetery for the first time when he was 19 years old. According to Alkhatib, this drove him to leave his village of Ethna and move to Ramallah to study theatre and dancing. Through dance, Albatran learned to accept himself.
Later, Alkhatib travelled to Albatran’s hometown of Ethna, which is near Hebron.
“I began to really understand Khalil’s struggle of living with his brother’s name when I visited the family house and I saw Khalil pictures in every corner of the room,” Alkhatib said in the PuSh Play podcast. “I feel it’s not Khalil’s story alone.”
The co-creator and co-director declared that this is because there are hundreds of Palestinians named after deceased siblings. As a documentary director, Alkhatib feels that it’s vitally important to interrogate this issue.
“Khalil is lucky he is an artist; he can tell his story,” Alkhatib told Martin. “Others cannot.”
The PuSh international Performing Arts Festival will present the world premiere of Khalil Khalil at 7 p.m. on Friday (January 23) and Saturday (January 24) and then at 2 p.m. on Sunday (January 25) at The Nest (1398 Cartwright Street) on Granville Island. For tickets and more information, visit the festival website. Learn more about the communities that make up Canada on the Toronto Spark website. The Toronto Spark is on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
