Roghaieh Rustampourmaleki, Zahra Aghajani Alishah ,
Volume 1, Issue 1 (3-2019)
Abstract
In My Heart A Hebrew Girl (2012) is a contemporary novel written by the Tunisian author Khawla Hamdi. The novle is written based on a real event that took place in Palestine and south of Lebanon whereby a group of people convert to Islam and resist oppression. In his influencial S/Z (1970), Roland Barthes proposes five narrative codes for textual analysis: Hermeneutic, Proairetic, Semantic, Symbolic, and Cultural. This article adopts a analytical-decriptive framework to exmine the textual representation of hermeneutic and proairetic codes in In My Heart A Hebrew Girl. The importance of this study is twofold: first it examines contemporary Arabic novel and second reads the novel based on Barthes’ narrative codes. The article finds that the author uses all Barthes’ narrative codes particually hermeneutic and proairetic codes because event and suspense constitute the main narrative bulk of the novel. The symbolic code is reflected in binary oppositions like Mulims and Jews, Islamic and Jewish hijab, light and dark, and behavior of characters. Also, the semantic code is reflercted in the characterization of Rima who as a Palestinenian suffers from oppression, against which other Muslim countries show no reaction. Finally, the cultural codes can be observed in Islamic and Jewish religious rituals and teachings as well as Palestinian resistance and jihad for the homeland and freedom.
