Analysis of the Narrative, Ontological, and Symbolic Space in Salim Barakat's Novel "The Caves of Haydrahudahus

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.

10.22059/jalit.2026.406384.613046
Abstract
Salim Barakat, the Syrian-Kurdish poet and novelist, radically relocates the entire narrative geography of his novel "The Caves of Haydrahudahus" (2004) into a subterranean world confined within a cave. This research aims to dissect the multifunctional nature of this space, addressing the central question of how the cave transforms from a physical location into a complex narrative, ontological, and symbolic structure. Employing a descriptive-analytical method, the study is grounded in a integrated theoretical framework comprising Gaston Bachelard's "Poetics of Space," Mikhail Bakhtin's "Chronotope," and Michel Foucault's "Heterotopia." The findings indicate that the "cave" in this novel operates on multiple levels. As a Bakhtinian "chronotope," it freezes historical time, supplanting it with a mythic-cyclical temporality, thereby transforming humans from historical subjects into linguistic interpreters. From a "Bachelardian phenomenology" perspective, the cave possesses a dual function: it acts both as a protective "womb/shelter" and as a "grave/labyrinth" that provokes existential anxiety stemming from confinement. Finally, as a Foucauldian "heterotopia," this space becomes an "other space" and a "counter-site" that simultaneously serves as a distorting mirror of the external world and a laboratory for creating a "linguistic homeland" in the absence of a physical one. The overarching conclusion is that the cave in this novel constitutes a multifaceted metaphor for collective memory, fragmented history, and the "placeless" existential condition of modern humanity, particularly within the context of the Kurdish historical experience.

Keywords



Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 26 June 2026

  • Receive Date 17 November 2025
  • Accept Date 26 June 2026