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El Kheir A. Narrative Techniques in Cities of Sal . san 2020; 1 (2) :62-82
URL: http://san.khu.ac.ir/article-1-111-en.html

This article explores the nature of the narrative techniques adopted by the writer "Abd al-Rahman Munif" in his novel Cities of Salt، and the significance of these techniques in terms of the fact that this novel is considered one of the important petroleum texts in post-colonial Arabic literature that deals with Western postcolonial discourse in general and the American discourse in particular. This novel has been the subject of profound debates in terms of its literary classification، but in-depth objective research proves that Cities of Salt is a magical، petroleum، post-colonial novel that addresses the negative social، economic and political impacts of oil discovery on the societies of the Arabian Peninsula. To this end، this article will shed light on the narrative tools that Munif used to communicate his post-colonial contradictory message through modern narration techniques such as magic realism، character formation، and multiple voices with the aim of presenting various perspectives of events by the author. In this way، Munif has presented an innovative narrative genre in Arab literature and a rare work on the international level، as very few Arab and international literary works have addressed the issue of oil، which has become considered as a taboo due to the American political pressure to prevent this sensitive issue from being discussed. On the other hand، in order to accurately explain the multiple layers، levels، and encodings embedded in Cities of Salt، this article will adopt Edward Said's theory known as contrapuntal reading، as a scientific methodology of research، with the aim of placing the novel in its appropriate socio-political place. This article will also build on concepts of magic realism by Stephen Slemon. It should also be noted that this article will touch on how Munif embodied the concept of inclusion، according to Todorov's narrative criticism theory، to explain how Munif incorporated minor stories into the general narration with the aim of shedding light on a specific point that serves the overall purpose of the narration. And of course، putting a work in its proper literary position contributes to establishing a kind of civilized mutual understanding between East and West through the current and future cultural dialogue، in a world where the struggle and resistance against hegemony، imperialism and aggressive wars are the main engines that generate global crises and many disasters and tragedies again and again، especially in the West Asia region.