The Role and Function of the Narrator in Zoha Said by Baha Tahir

The narrative text consists of a network of narratives based on the narrator and his influential role and function. Critics today agree that the narrator is the most important element in the narrative text whose significant work connects the text with the reader. Hence, we find in each narrative text the special presence of the narrator. Although the narrator’s presence in contemporary novels has diminished and has become neutral in contrast to classical tales and stories, it still has an active and significant role among the narrative components. The purpose of this study is to analyze the role and function of the narrator in the novel Zoha Said by Baha Tahir through the descriptive-analytical approach. The study is based on the views of a number of Narratologists such as Gérard Gennette, Tzvetan Todorov and Abdul Rahim al-Kurdi. The study shows that the narrator in this novel is a dynamic character undergoing change as the story develops and he oscillates between neutrality and non-neutrality. The novel’s narrator is a young cultivated character who narrates the events based on focalization and with the help of characters such as Zoha, Sayed and Hatem, who have prominent roles in coordinating the narration and its consistency.