Arabic Literature

There is a clear overlap between postmodern theories such as postfeminism, poststructuralism, and postindustrialism. An exception to this overlap is postcolonialism where the time frames ... Read More There is a clear overlap between postmodern theories such as postfeminism, poststructuralism, and postindustrialism. An exception to this overlap is postcolonialism where the time frames of these theories and movements intersect at a contradictory point, even though the texts of each theory contain literary techniques from the other theories, as is the case in the relationship between postcolonialism and postmodernism. For instance, postmodernism attempts to dismantle the structures and restrictions imposed by the theories of literary genre, power, and value, even if they are prevalent traditions. As for the postcolonial approach, it is, to a large extent, politically oriented and seeks to dismantle the structures that consecrate hegemony, control, and power, and to establish relations between unequal forces through bilateral encounters such as I/the other, we/they, the first world/the third world, and white/black or yellow. Edward Said has been considered the founder of postcolonialism since he wrote his famous book Orientalism. We find traces of this critical field in his biographical book Out of Place: A Memoir. His works, especially his books Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism, opened new horizons to various fields of knowledge. The books of this Palestinian-born writer and intellectual have revolutionized Middle Eastern studies and contributed to the creation of new areas of knowledge, such as postcolonial theory. In Culture and Imperialism, he contends that global imperialism has used its dominance in literature, especially the novel which Western imperialism has effectively employed to gain domination over colonized people. He investigates the compatibility of goals between the novel and colonialism and asserts that the novel in particular and narratives in general play important roles in the issue of identity and belonging, as the novel was employed by imperialist powers in the nineteenth and twentieth century as a vital medium in order to extend their imperial control, subjugate the colonized people, and rob them of their identities.

Research Paper

Quranic Stories and Narratology: Researchers’ Critical Methods and Approaches

Soraya Rahimi; Khalil Parvini

Volume 12, Issue 3 , November 2020, Pages 25-48

https://doi.org/10.22059/jalit.2020.310613.612283

Abstract

The study of the narrative structure of texts has had a significant influence on literary criticism. This influence has even spread to the analysis of Quranic stories so that these ... Read More

Research Paper

The Cinematic Montage in the Novel I’jaam by Sinan Anton in Light of Sergei Eisenstein’s Views

Ahmad Adel Saki; Mohammad Javad Pourabed; Rasoul Balavi; Ali Khezri

Volume 12, Issue 3 , November 2020, Pages 49-71

https://doi.org/10.22059/jalit.2020.286842.612123

Abstract

Montage is one of the techniques which modern novelists borrowed from cinema. This technique depicts the scenes of novel in a specific order to affect the mentality of the reader and ... Read More

Research Paper

A Study of the Literary Style of Homeland Poems by Shair al-Qarawi

javad garjami; Adel Azaddel; Masoomeh Shabestari

Volume 12, Issue 3 , November 2020, Pages 73-93

https://doi.org/10.22059/jalit.2020.129172.611302

Abstract

Style, in a general lexical sense, refers to the system and rules for expression in a specific literary genre. Literary style is a set of rules and standards that are distinguished ... Read More Style, in a general lexical sense, refers to the system and rules for expression in a specific literary genre. Literary style is a set of rules and standards that are distinguished by a literary character and that distinguish a literary text (poetry or prose) from other texts. A stylistic study is a systematic study of the structural elements and the way of formulating them to express the ideology of the literary text. Rashid Salim al-Khouri, known as Shair al-Qarawi, is one of the most prominent poets of the Mahjar — a literary movement started by Arabic writers who had emigrated to America at the turn of the twentieth century. His literary style is distinguished by the characteristics of migrant literature and this is clearly reflected in his poetry collection titled Homeland Poems. This paper employs a descriptive-analytical method to study the literary style in al-Khouri’s Homeland Poems; it analyzes different structures in his poetry, such as the lexical structure at its morphological, syntactic, and lexical levels, the musical structure at its internal and external levels, the rhetorical structure with its expressive capacities, and the semantic structure. The results express that Homeland Poems is characterized by employing a deviant style in the superstructures and substructures, and this is the result of the poet’s creative ability. These deviation can be seen in different lexical, semantic, rhetorical, and musical layers of his poetry. Lexical and semantic deviations include employing statements that suggest new meanings to serve the intended purpose musically and semantically. Rhetorical deviations include the use of simile and metaphor to do without traditional images and create new poetic images. Musical deviations include the liberation of the music from the traditional constraints with the re-experience of Andalusian poetry, and the change in the number of poetic syllables that leads to various poetic rythems.

Research Paper

Imperative-Didactic Speech Acts in Mourid Barghouti’s Novel I Saw Ramallah

Roghieh Rostampour; Zahra Aghajani

Volume 12, Issue 3 , November 2020, Pages 95-118

https://doi.org/10.22059/jalit.2020.306262.612233

Abstract

Speech act theory is one of the well-known theories in applied linguistics. By considering language in the context of human acts, it reveals what is left unsaid in the text and enables ... Read More Speech act theory is one of the well-known theories in applied linguistics. By considering language in the context of human acts, it reveals what is left unsaid in the text and enables us to arrive at an interpretation of it. Based on this theory, one does not merely use words and sentences to communicate a meaning, but commits acts which are called speech acts. I saw Ramallah is an autobiographical novel by Mourid Barghouti, a Palestinian poet and writer. The events of the novel revolve around his return to Ramallah and Deir Ghassana after thirty years of exile to European and Arab countries. The article highlights and analyzes imperative-didactic speech acts of the novel in order to determine the author’s purpose in using them. The importance of the research is evident in the fact that the novel contains emotional speech acts contained in interrogative speech acts in order to express the plight of Palestinians and their resistance against the Zionists. The research argues that two kinds of interrogative speech acts are used in the novel: direct and indirect. The direct speech acts are used by the characters in order to acquire information. The indirect speech acts, however, are used by the writer in accordance with the societal circumstances to express his goals. They are mostly used to express denial, anger, scolding, ridicule, sadness, regret, and surprise upon seeing what has happened and is happening to Ramallah. This type of speech act is prevalent in the novel since it is the most effective in expressing the writer’s intentions and it highlights the communicative aspects of language, which are convincing, encouraging, and affecting the interlocutor. Thus, the writer uses indirect speech acts to reveal his psychological state, as he wants to influence the reader and stir the feelings of the Arab and Islamic nation so that they realize the issue of the Palestinian people and the right that is taken from them by the Zionists.

Research Paper

The Element of Time in Muhammad Afifi Matar’s Poem “Uprooted Steps”

Hamed Poorheshmati; Shahriar Hemati

Volume 12, Issue 3 , November 2020, Pages 119-142

https://doi.org/10.22059/jalit.2019.254687.611878

Abstract

Arabic neo-poetry is known for breaking down the traditional structure of poetry and extending its semantic boundaries by equipping the literary discourses with narrative structures ... Read More Arabic neo-poetry is known for breaking down the traditional structure of poetry and extending its semantic boundaries by equipping the literary discourses with narrative structures which enable the poet to show their creative imagination and aesthetic views towards objects. “Time” is one of the prominent elements of narration. Formerly, it manifested itself through the logical sequence of events, whereas nowadays narration time does not depend on this sequence and the narrator can change its structure through the interaction between different levels of time to avoid monotonousness. Muhammad Afifi Matar has paid special attention this in his poem “Uprooted Steps” in which, through forming a semantic bridge between present, past, and future events, we see a temporal overlap. This article seeks to analyze the element of time in this poem. It suggests that the poem has a fluid temporal structure so that inside time present, the past and the future are contained. In many cases, the poet does not narrate the events according to the order of their happening, but rather delays or even stops them. The functions of time in this poem are different, changeable, and intertwined depending on the context of the events. These events sometimes take a long time and sometimes happen in the blink of an eye to create a temporal overlap between the past, the future, and the present. Returning to the past in the context of the present sometimes depicts the unpleasant experiences of the past, and sometimes has epic and hopeful effects through the historical calling of non-narrative characters. The poem uses flashforwards from the beginning to highlight future events and to respond as early as possible to the reader’s curiosity about the future. The poet continously plays with the time of narration; to avoid monotonousness, he, with the aid of temporal paradoxes, fills the gaps in time past, informs the reader of future events before their happening, and sometimes interferes with the the passage of time.

Research Paper

The Effects of Women’s Oppression in Saudi Arabia as Reflected in Badryah al-Bishr’s Love Stories on al-Asha Street

Farhad Rajabi; Shahram Delshad

Volume 12, Issue 3 , November 2020, Pages 143-160

https://doi.org/10.22059/jalit.2020.302984.612215

Abstract

The novel is a genre of literature that can be employed to reflect the problems of humans and societies, in particular societies in which abundant problems deny people their freedom ... Read More

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Volume & Issue: Volume 12, Issue 3, November 2020, Pages 1-160

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Abstract

Postcolonial Criticism: A Cultural Approach to the Book Culture and Imperialism by Edward Said

Abstract

Quranic Stories and Narratology: Researchers’ Critical Methods and Approaches

Abstract

The Cinematic Montage in the Novel I’jaam by Sinan Anton in Light of Sergei Eisenstein’s Views

Abstract

A Study of the Literary Style of Homeland Poems by Shair al-Qarawi

Abstract

Imperative-Didactic Speech Acts in Mourid Barghouti’s Novel I Saw Ramallah

Abstract

The Element of Time in Muhammad Afifi Matar’s Poem “Uprooted Steps”

Abstract

The Effects of Women’s Oppression in Saudi Arabia as Reflected in Badryah al-Bishr’s Love Stories on al-Asha Street

Abstract