Psychoanalytic analysis of the main character of the saat Baghdad novel based on the theory of Jacques Lacan

Interdisciplinary studies provided the basis for a better understanding of literary texts and made new sciences such as psychology a suitable platform for the analysis of literary works. Jacques Lacan is one of the neo-Freudian psychologists who reviewed Freud's traditional views and combined them with modern linguistics to provide a scientific and accurate method for researching literary texts. He supported Freud's views with a scientific and modern approach and redefined the  Freudian theory of unconsciousness with the term "Return to Freud" which caused a great change in psychology. The difference between his work and that of other psychologists was in the combination of Freud's traditional theories with the views of Dossussor’s linguistics and Hegel's phenomenology and philosophy. Accordingly, he proposed a new framework for the human subconscious that did not exist in Freud's view. This manifested the transformation and advancement of psychoanalysis, which has become an interdisciplinary study and integrated scientific theory. Therefore, his method is not limited to psychology; rather, it draws on the basic concepts of other sciences, especially linguistics. Lacan, like Freud, has always been a fan of literary works and considers them worth teaching to psychoanalysts. As a result, such a view provides the basis for the psychoanalytic criticism of literary works, especially fiction, and investigates the unknown subconscious world of the characters in the story.Shahd al-Rawi is a young Iraqi writer who rose to fame with his first long novel The saat Baghdad. It was nominated for Booker World Prize for Arabic Novel and attracted critical acclaimations. Al-Ravi gave the novel a psychological look by using a new and distinctive narrative method and paying attention to the personality issues and the psychological structure of the characters in the story. This novel is a clear image of the inner world of its characters, especially the main character, i.e., the narrator, who was affected by the devastating consequences of the Gulf War in the 1990s. The novel consists of discrete narratives in which the narrator tells various events during and after the war that happened to him. The discontinuous and episodic structure of the story reflects the anxiety and distress of the main character of the story by reconsidering his past memories. The important role of the childhood is also reflected in his subconscious. Since Lacan examines the structure of the human personality in three separate dimensions, his view can be a suitable theory to show the psychic rupture of the main character of the novel Saat Baghdad and to express the fragmentary narrative structure of the story. Therefore, according to Lacan's integrated approach, the psychological damages of the story character should be investigated in the deepest semantic layers of the text of the novel.

The present study seeks to psychoanalyze the main character of this novel, the narrator, based on Jacques Lacan's triple theory and to show the reflection of imaginary, symbolic and real areas in his personal and social life.

According to the research findings, the main character of the story escapes from everyday reality due to the unfavorable and war conditions in Iraq and drowns in his imaginations in the hope of achieving unity with the mother body. He takes refuge in the world of childhood and dreams and gradually moves away from the symbolic realm and the world of social codes and norms. He also suffers a loss of dignity and loses his connection with real life, thus becoming an isolated and depressed creature.

Considering the psychoanalysis of the main character of the novel Saat Baghdad and based on Jacques Lacan's theory of psychological realms, it can be concluded that the formation of the narrator character from childhood and from the Persian Gulf War in 1990 to the US and British invasion in 2003 is similar to the psychological realms of Lacan’s theory, which is manifested in the three categories of imagination, symbolism and realism. Due to the conditions of war, this character takes resort to the world of dreams instead of the real world. Moreover, due to his excessive desire for the imaginary realm, a psychotic tendency appears in his behaviors. Examining this novel on the basis of the aforementioned cases makes it evident that the beginning of the symbolic realm, learning of language, acceptance of social norms and father’s law cause the narrator's character to be lost and emptied when he tends to the imaginary field to fill this gap. He suffers from a loss of dignity, and unspeakable emotions flow through his mind by language, which remain only in the pre-linguistic stage and do not flow onto his tongue. The narrator depicts these vague states and feelings through the stream of consciousness and inner monologues.In addition, the narrator or the main character of the story gets familiar with another great person (father) and his relatives, namely Ahmad (Nadia's fiancé) and Farooq (his lover), by entering the symbolic field and learning the language. This is in complete contrast with the other little one, so he sees them as the cause of his separation from the other little one, which prevents him from achieving the sense of security he has gained from being one with mother in the imaginary realm. Thus, the other great person and his relatives become a barrier between the narrator and the other little one. This creates a lot of anxiety and stress for him. As a result, he becomes a shy, depressed and dependent person who feels lonely and abandoned in this world.