ARABIC NOVEL BORN SATIRICAL

Abstract

Despite the fact that many researchers have traced back the development of the Arabic Novel, little attention is paid to the critical tone that characterizes this genre since its outset. This paper, although it explores the emergence and development of Arabic fiction, its primary concern is to textually trace and analyse the interrelation of society and fiction showing how changes in society are being contextualised in fiction, and thus, how themes and narrative techniques of the genre develop accordingly. In this sense, I would argue that a critical concern for social affairs constitutes an essential aspect of the Arabic novel, since the initial stages of its appearance. The analysis shows that satire appears to be an essential feature of this genre, as the novel is intended to teach and enlighten the public rather than merely to entertain them. But before delving into further analysis of the use of satire in the Arabic novel, I shall first focus on the emergence of the genre.

Keywords: social satire, Arabic literature, Sixties Generation, Zaynab, development, genre