Arabic and World Literature: Comparative and Multidisciplinary Perspectives

Land, Body, and Resistance: An Ecofeminist Reading of Susan Abulhawa’s Against the Loveless World

2025-02-01T10:34:26+01:00

This paper provides an ecofeminist reading of Susan Abulhawa’s Against the Loveless World, examining
the intricate relationship between the exploitation of Palestinian land and the commodification of
women's bodies. Through the protagonist, Nahr, the novel explores how colonialism and patriarchy are
interconnected systems of oppression that impact both the environment and women’s autonomy. The
paper draws on ecofeminist theories from scholars like Vandana Shiva, Greta Gaard, and Ynestra King,
emphasizing how patriarchal and colonial forces exploit nature and women in similar ways. By analyzing
Nahr’s experiences—her forced marriage, imprisonment, and involvement in sex work—the study shows
how her resistance to the degradation of her body mirrors the Palestinian struggle for land and identity.
The paper argues that reclaiming the land is paralleled by reclaiming bodily autonomy, both of which are
acts of resistance against broader systems of domination.

Surviving the void: Identity threats and the plague of violence in Rawi Hage’s De Niro’s Game

2025-05-21T09:21:25+02:00

In the postcolonial era, many third-world countries, instead of enjoying prosperity, were driven into long
term civil wars and political unrest. Among the Arab countries which were plagued by a prolonged social
conflict is Lebanon where the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) lasted nearly 15 years, devastating the social fabric of the country. Among the novelists who capture this critical period in the history of Lebanon is the Lebanese-Canadian author Rawi Hage. Characterized by his nihilist and apocalyptic tone, Rawi Hage portrays, in his De Niro’s Game (2006), the chaos of war and its impact on personal and national identities. Through the lens of Glynis Breakwell’s Identity Process theory, a social psychological framework, this paper aims to explore the different identity threats that the protagonists face during the chaos of violence, the correlation between public and private spheres and the versatile collection of coping strategies they adopt during wartime.

Individualism and Community in Robert Bage’s Hermsprong

2025-05-21T09:27:28+02:00

This paper explores the tension between individualism and community in Robert Bage’s Jacobin novel,
Hermsprong: or, Man As He is Not (1796). Published in the midst of the heated French Revolution debates,
the novel responds to the view that, by positing the individual as the agent of political, economic, and moral
authority, individualism threatened the dissolution of the ties between the individual, the community, and
the state. The critical work of J. Hillis Miller, which incorporates various community theories into literary
criticism, is used as a guideline for this analysis. This study argues that Bage drew attention to the
exclusionary and self-destructive nature of traditional communities by depicting individualistic characters
in conflict with the legal, religious, and social apparatus of the community they inhabit and that the novel
presents three possible solutions to this conflict: the formation of subcommunities, the shift to a more
contract-based social model, and emigration.

Arab, African, or Both? Cultural Identity Crisis in Leila Aboulela’s Lyrics Alley

2025-05-21T09:30:45+02:00

According to H. J. Sharkey, Sudan’s “unique Afro-Arab hybridity, cultural tolerance and capacity for
internal coexistence” is a preferred reading among academics in this area (27). Indeed, this is true in a sense;
however, some tension can be traced. Set in the fifties of the twentieth century, right before the end of the
Anglo-Egyptian colonization of Sudan, Leila Aboulela’s Lyrics Alley (2010) demonstrates a process of
interpellation where the characters' Arab-African identities are put into test. Lyrics Alley presents special
cases of cultural and ethnic identities who are struggling to know who they are according to cultural systems
that raise conflicts about the characters’ inward and outward lives. The paper explores how Aboulela
succeeds in presenting different characters with different shades of flexibility and ideologies, and she
manages to portray more than one character who, despite the difficulties and tragedies they face between
Sudan and Egypt, can embrace both closely related cultures and work through them not in a fairy tale
manner, but in a manner that reflects pain and beauty at the same time. Last but not least, the paper
demonstrates how the characters' acknowledgment of their Arab-African identity gains them agency and
offers new perceptions of the world and how the lack of embracing both identities (i.e., Arab and African)
leads to further disintegration.

Melting of the Spaces of Memory: A Study of Raja Shehadeh's A Rift in Time

2025-05-28T22:31:53+02:00

Conflicts mostly rip lives apart. But sometimes they extend beyond personal boundaries to encroach upon
communal spaces. The century-long Israel-Palestinian conflict turned the Palestinian geographical spaces
into debris. Along with the lost spaces, millions of memories that connected the refugees and their lost
homeland were fragmented forever. This was melancholic for Palestinians who took to the aid of memory
to eradicate the spatiotemporal distances. The cry for the lost spaces found a place in the personal narratives
of the refugees. Their chronicles about the land of their memories gave them scope to relive their past. For
Palestinians who lacked a national historiography, memoirs serve the purpose well. Over the years, Israel's
nation-building projects drastically degraded the resplendent landscape of Palestine. Eventually, the
ongoing conflict and its ramifications wiped out the heartwarming memories of many Palestinian refugees
who found solace in the memories of their lost nature. Thus, everyday urbicide and spaciocide culminated
in memoricide. This paper examines the depiction of the extirpation of memory in Raja Shehadeh's A Rift
in Time. The memoirist places the autobiography of his uncle against his own experiences in occupied
Palestine and laments over the huge transformation the country has undergone over the years. This
conceptual study aims to bring to light how a landscape transformed and how the memories of the lost
landscape evade Palestinians, through the lens of memoricide.

Beyond the Meadow: Exploring the Violence and Dynamics of Power in Watership Down Through Critical Animal Studies and Cinematographic Lens

2025-06-06T13:20:52+02:00

This paper aims to analyze the 2018 Netflix miniseries adaptation of Richard Adams's classic novel,
Watership Down, using Critical Animal Studies and a Cinematographic lens. The analysis focuses on its
visual storytelling through the camera angles, lighting, and character representation. Adams’ novel was
adapted three times. The first two animated versions were horrifying to the extent that one of them was
banned. The most recent version used Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) technology to be more friendly.
The CGI version toned down explicit brutality while maintaining the novel's darker themes. Unlike the two
previous versions, the CGI focused on inferred violence and emotional depth to build character rather than
shocking the audience. The animated miniseries effectively depicts the lives of rabbits and explores themes
of freedom, survival, and anthropomorphism. By examining cinematographic techniques, it becomes
obvious how these elements shape audience perceptions and ethical considerations regarding the nonhuman
animals. This is going to be assessed through the opinion of the critics who collected the views of the audiences.
This analysis contributes to broader discussions on animal rights and the importance of visual media in
shaping narratives about animal lives. It highlights the significance of representation in contemporary
storytelling and its role in raising awareness and evoking empathy toward animals.

Beyond power and politics: precarity and the human cost of conflict in Graham Greene’s The Quiet American and Ghassan Kanafani’s Men in the Sun

2025-06-21T10:47:51+02:00

Individuals and communities still struggle with the enduring impact of war, colonization, and occupation.
This paper reconceptualizes the human cost of these adversities through a comparative reading of Arabic
and Western literary representations. It explores Graham Greene’s The Quiet American (1955) and Ghassan
Kanafani’s Men in the Sun (1962), with the former illustrating the effects of the Vietnam War and the latter
depicting the aftermath of the Nakba. Despite portraying distinct geopolitical struggles, both texts share a
deep concern with the psychological, cultural, and social toll of colonization. Drawing on Frantz Fanon’s
and Edward Said’s postcolonial theories, this study argues that colonization and occupation are not only
power struggles but are also deeply emotional and dehumanizing experiences that fracture identity.
Extending the analysis into the present, the paper engages Judith Butler’s theory of precarity, arguing that
the persistent conditions of imperial intervention and occupation have recently evolved into a precarious
system that renders colonized and displaced populations politically and existentially neglected. Eventually,
this study contributes to ongoing debates on postcolonialism and critical human rights, highlighting how
literary narratives capture the persistent structures of global precarity.

Forced Marriage in Islamic Countries: A Study of Zana Muhsen’s Memoir Sold

2025-07-02T08:58:02+02:00

This paper delves into the pervasive issue of forced marriage in Islamic countries, examining the personal
narrative of Zana Muhsen as presented in her memoir, Sold. By analyzing Muhsen’s experiences of child
marriage and subsequent sexual exploitation, the paper aims to shed light on the complex interplay of
cultural, religious, and socioeconomic factors that contribute to this harmful practice. The paper begins by
contextualizing forced marriage within the broader framework of gender inequality and human rights
violations in Islamic societies. It explores the cultural norms and religious interpretations that often justify
or normalize this practice, highlighting the devastating consequences for victims, including physical and
psychological trauma, limited educational opportunities, and restricted economic prospects. The paper
examines Muhsen’s personal journey, tracing her experiences from childhood betrothal to her eventual
escape from sexual slavery. The memoir documents a practice that continues till today and shows how
literature can play a role in raising awareness and enhancing women rights. By analyzing Muhsen’s
narrative, the paper seeks to understand the psychological impact of forced marriage on victims, as well as
the strategies they employ to resist and overcome their circumstances. Ultimately, this paper argues that
addressing the issue of forced marriage requires a multifaceted approach that encompasses legal reforms,
educational initiatives, and community-based interventions. By shedding light on the plight of victims and
advocating for systemic change, progress can be made toward eradicating forced marriage and promoting
gender equality in Islamic countries.