BETWEEN TELLING, WRITING AND BECOMING: FLUIDITY AND TRANSCENDENCE IN ʿALAWIYYA ṢUBḤ’S MARYAM: KEEPER OF STORIES

Abstract

This article explores literary representations of fluidity in the novel Maryam: Keeper of Stories (Maryam al-Ḥakāyā) by the Lebanese writer ʿAlawiyya Ṣubḥ. It discusses the subtle ways in which the form and imagery as well as the thematic focus of the novel all contribute to establishing and further illuminating the fluid boundaries between telling, writing and becoming. It explores how the blurring of the lines between storytelling and writing, between the past and the present, between the author and the character, and, last but not least, between the creation of a work of literature and the construction of the subject, all play a vital role in creating the narrative flow that transcends rigidity of structure in favour of the fluidity of structuration. To this end the article also provides an extensive discussion on the role of water symbolism present in the novel, which further enhances the notion of fluidity that is sustained not only through the structuration and plotting but also through the imagery employed throughout the novel.