Research on the Changes to Narrative Discourse in Modern Arab Literature Post-Defeat in the War of 1967: Focusing on Naguib Mahfouz’s Novel, Under the Canopy

Abstract

This study began with the premise of recognizing the importance of narrative analysis that focuses on analyzing and critiquing a work of literature based not on its content, but rather on how its content is delivered. Therefore, this study first elaborates upon the concept of the narrative being its own independent research topic in the field of literature, as well as the serial processes and principles by which it can become its own standard in analyzing works of literature, and at the same time, examines in detail what the formative elements of a narrative are. In addition, this research identifies how, after defeat in the Third Arab-Israeli War in 1967, narrative discourse in modern Arab literature changed and developed in a form different from previous discourse; the research further analyzes the cause of these changes from internal and external perspectives. Furthermore, the researcher uses Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz’s short story Under the Canopy as an example to discuss the main characteristics of narrative discourse in Arab literature as newly formed after the War of 1967, and to analyze the hidden messages within this narrative technique.