The Aesthetics of Place and Its Semantic Dimensions in Amr Abdel Hamid’s Land of Zikola

Authors
Azade Montazeri 1
Mahmoudreza tavakoi mohamadi 2
1 Qom University
2 farhangian university
Abstract
Place constitutes one of the central structural elements in the narrative text, as it contributes to shaping events, determining the relationships between characters and time, and providing the text with artistic and aesthetic coherence. This study seeks to explore the aesthetics of place and its semantic dimensions in Amr Abdel Hamid’s novel Land of Zikola by examining its various spatial types—open and closed spaces, as well as spaces of transition and residence—and analyzing the psychological, political, and social connotations they generate within the narrative structure. Adopting a descriptive–analytical approach, the study investigates how place is employed to articulate intellectual and human values in the text. In the novel, place functions as an artistic space where time and events intersect, through which the author’s worldview and ideological perspective are manifested. The study concludes that place in Land of Zikola transcends its geographical boundaries to become a semantic and aesthetic dimension that intertwines reality and imagination, expresses the human struggle between freedom and confinement, hope and despair, and contributes to shaping the psychological and social structure of the characters, thereby embodying the author’s comprehensive humanistic vision of the world.
Keywords
Arabic Narratology
place
semantics
Land of Zikola
Amr Abdel Hamid
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