Narrative Techniques in Warraq Al-Hob: A Genettian Study

Narratology, which helps to study structural elements of literary texts, is an important aspect of literary theory, and has generated much criticism in the field of contemporary literature. Gérard Genette is one of the pioneers of narratology and has identified five central categories that make up the narrative elements of story: system, continuity, narrative frequency, shape and tone. The aim of this study is to take advantage of Genette’s narrative categories to analyze narrative techniques in Warraq Al-Hob novel written by the contemporary Syrian author, Khalil Sweileh. The search achieves the following findings first person point of view is used in this novel and the narrator is the main character; there is a gap between the time of the narration and the time when events occur; and the narrator narrates the events after the event. To put it differently, the story is narrated in non-chronological order, which indicates that the novel contains a paradox. Also the Genettian system, continuity and narrative frequency are used. There are two narrative methods and techniques in terms of size and continuity in the novel: (1) there is a positive acceleration that usually takes a short volume of the novel to tell about a long event and (2) there is the negative acceleration of the narration, in which the events are mentioned in more detail. We also note that the writer uses dialogue and description of elements to slow down the speed of the narration. In addition, we observe the use of various narrative identified by Genette. The author informs the recipient of events what happens in his novel step by step. In addition, we observe that Sweileh began his novel in an introductory way, but the end of the story readers come to know  that the novel is an introduction to a novice writer who wants to write a love story. This is a narrative technique developed by Sweileh in order to confuse the mind of the reader. Then it seems that Khalil Sweileh was able to come to terms with what he learned and that he mentions different titles in his account to the audience. We can point out that the repeated description of an event is one of the salient features in the narrative structure of the novel, which exemplifies the technique of recurrence or narrative frequency. The narrator tells the story of events that happened several times in a similar way, and his narration is amazing every time. The author integrates a number of literary texts into his narration. The relationship between the identity of the author and the date of reading and the time associated with the author is referred to when "The History of Reading" is mentioned in which the writer imaginatively lives with Jorge Luis de Borges. Warraq Al Hob is one of the most prominent works of Khalil Sweileh Roulieh. In fact, this novel is a story about writing a story. It is about writer struggling to write a story about love and history and was inspired and started to write his own story about his real world, his mind and his imagination, as well as the literary information he acquired during his lifetime to write. The author can be compared with world-famous writers such as "Gabriel Garcia Marquez (author of the novel" One Hundred Years of Solitude "), Nizar Qabbani, and Alberto Mangel. In the novel, the author simultaneously experiences humor, joy, and sometimes hatred. He also experiences other writers’ experiences, or is inspired by writing world writers in some places such as writing in the kitchen; refers to the events that occurred to him and mentions historical events that he came across in historical or romantic books. Probably that is why he named the novel Warraq Al Hob.