Social agents play an important role in shaping a text or discourse. They are central to its meaning and purpose. However, little atention is given to how they are represented. Van Leeuwen argues that agents are represented in two main ways: exclusion and inclusion. Each has its own subcategories. Understanding these representations helps reveal underlying discourses.
This article has chosen the novel Sa’at Baghdad by the Iraqi author Shahad Al-Rawi as a research subject. It aims to examine the representation of social agents in this novel. It will also identify and introduce the main functions of these social agents that passes through the underlying layer of the story, This research aims to understand the discourse of the work. It also examines the socio-semantic functions that these agents show to the reader through their representation
The results show that the author uses various methods of representation. However, the focus is more on inclusion than exclusion to describe the tragedies of Iraq. Among the inclusion strategies, partial identification is emphasized the most. It highlights movement and dynamism in the story, despite themes of war, destruction, and occupation. This research follows a descriptive-analytical approach.
