Ethnic Narrative in Contemporary Arabic Novel: A Cultural Reading of Kurds: Masters without Horses

Author
Kayyessah Mallah
Lecturer, Department of the Department: Arabic Language and Literature, University of Boumerdès, Algeria
10.52547/san.2.2.24
Abstract
Since its emergence, novel has been concerned with the concept of freedom in relation to society. Kurds, Masters without Horses deals with several concepts such as freedom, imagination, society and identity. The Arabic novel, refusing to be pushed into social margins, has become a safety valve that prevents nations from falling into the pit of oblivion. The novel takes place in a complex world where freedom is the concern and goal of literature and identity is the concern of the writer. In this context, the main question concenrs the challenges of the Arabic novel in relation to identity, freedom and history. Is the novel a cultural necessity for freedom? Is it rooted in a cultural need, without which it is impossible to live? Is this the same anti-historical novel crafted by official institutions under the name of the History of the Utopia which is full of lies? Does the novel have the power to speak of the unspoken history and the power to protect the bridges of dialogue that are getting narrower and narrower every day? This article tries to study the cultural issues presented in novel from a critical framework. The novel is a prime example ethnic identity narration as it relates the pains and sufferings of the Kurds. Despite the language of the novel, which is devoid of poetic overtones and decorations, sometimes it tedious and difficult to understand it. The novel contains an implicit appeal which invites the reader to read the novel up to the end. It is a novel that expresses the fate of a nation and the oppression it has received from other countries. As with the protagonist, readers witness the redefinition of ethnic identity in this novel.
Keywords
ethnic identity
contemporary Arabic novel
Cultural Reading
Kurds
Masters Without Horses
Mustafa Saeed
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