A Critical Study of the Components of Postmodernism in the Fiction of Jabra Ibrahim Jabra (Based on the novels Bahth an Walid Masud and Yawmiyyat Sarab Affan)

IntroductionPostmodernism is a term which has been used to describe theories related to philosophy, literature, arts, and other different sciences. Some scholars believe that postmodernism emerged as a consequence of the crisis of the modern age developments, excessive intellectualization of affairs, bureaucracy and the dominance of technology over man which has limited the freedom of man rather than help it thrive. The familiarity of Arab world with postmodern fictions dated back to the translations of postmodern writers like Borges. The main reason of this approach is the alteration and change experienced by Arab world in the past decades. Providing some grounds of doubt about many of the past political and idealistic values , and also the grand narratives as dubious ideologies.
Question and hypothesis of researchThe authors have critically presented the distinguishing characteristics of postmodernism in the fiction of Jabra trying to answer the question how these developments have influenced the novels of Jabra. Having been influenced by postmodernist tendencies, it was hypothesized that Jabra has developed new methods in different aspects of novel writing.
Since postmodern fiction is not essentially a congruous movement, it is difficult to determine precisely the characteristics of postmodernism in the novel, but some of its prominent features in novels and stories include: ontological content, adaptation, unconsciousness in the narrative of events, collapse, collage, intertextuality, magical realism, multiple endings, multifaceted.
MethodThis is a descriptive-analytical research. First, the definition and significance of character in the world is explained, and then, within the body of the research, some theoretical backgrounds are provided in each section, followed by the analysis of the examples.
Introduction novels
a) The novel Al Bahethan Waleed MassoudJabra wrote the novel Al Bahethan Waleed Massoud in 1978, which is a turning point not only in Palestine literature, but also among his works. The content of the story is about the disappearance of a Palestinian person called Waleed Massoud whose friends are going to solve the mystery of his disappearance with past evidence.The story's characters are: Javad Hasani, Kazem Ismail, Ibrahim Haj Nofal, Mary Safar, Marwan, Jesus Nasser, Tariq Roof, Wesal Roof, Jannan Thamir, Hisham and other subordinates. The techniques used by the author in this novel include the phonetic nature of the novel, return to the past, the stream of consciousness, the inner monologue, the dialogue, and so on. The story begins with the mysterious disappearance of Walid Massoud, Palestinian successful banker and author who is resident in Iraq. Inside his car, found on the Jordanian-Iraqi border, an audio recorder was found that Massoud spoke to in the turbulent way of thinking, and stream of consciousness of his childhood memories of Palestine, his wife, his distressed thoughts and his relations with women and also grief of the death of Marwan whom killed by Israeli soldiers.
b)The novel "the journals of Sarrab Affan"
The novel was first published in 1992. The story is about the love of a girl named Sarab Afan to a writer named Nael Imran. It begins when Sarab writes her memories and speaks of her love to her beloved writer. The turning point of the story is when Sarab met him in the street accidentally. The main characters of the story are Miyat Afan and Nahal Imran, and the other characters are Ali Afan, Tala, Abdullah Rami and his other friends. The techniques and methods of this novel include polyphony, stream of consciousness, internal monologue, and so on.
Results and DiscussionThe findings of this analytical-descriptive study highlighted the presence of components such as the dominance of ontological content over epistemological content, polyphony, multiple narrators, magical realism and intertextuality.