Techniques of Beginning in Arabic Novels after the 1960s: Thartharah fawq al-Nil by Najib Mahfuz

• The beginning of Arabic novels of the first half of the 20th century, including those belonging to the so called “realism” trend, are charatcerized by certain traits concerning, among other things, the way they insert the  three elements : space, time, character into the text, the reality effect  they create, and the presence of the narrator as an addressor. With  the introduction of new writing techiniques after the 60's, these  trends changed gradually. From, for example,  introducing the the (space, time character) as a block and describing them in length , creating a realistic setting for the story , and having a discrete presence of the addressor, they have evolved into more diverse models where the three elements are spred ; the realistic impression loses its importance ; and the interpolations of the addressor into the text are more frequent. The present article aims, firstly, to present the major teatures of that evolution, and secondly, to show through a detailed analysis of the beginning of Thatrthara fawq al-Nil, 1966 by N. Mahfuz that this work, written in a pivotal moment of the history of the Arabic novel, includes already the beginnings of that evolution.

Nyckelord

Beginning

Arabic

Literature

Narrative

Literature

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