The Significance of Fictional Spaces in Persian and Syrian Maritime Literature (The Novels Ahl-e Ghargh by Moniro Ravanipour and Al-Shera va Al-Asifa by Hanna Mina: A Case Study)

Stories with settings of the sea, the port, and the island are considered maritime literature.The sea is one of the outstanding concepts in Persian and Syrian literature.In the current study,Moniro Ravanipour from Iran and Hanna Mina fromSyria represent maritime literature in modern fiction writing.It is worth mentioning that novels in the maritime literature domain often seek to bring about change,and,as a result of the deep and unknown nature of the sea,call for radical change and emphasize the socio-political struggles of the people.In these novels,sailors or fishermen and the people of port cities and villages symbolize the masses.This study aims to introduce, analyze,and elaborate on these two novels written in the field of maritime literature:the novelAhl-e Ghargh(The Drowned)by Moniro Ravanipour and the novelAl-Shera va Al-Asifa(The Sail and the Storm).Ahl-e Ghargh refers to the people’s social changes in Jofreh village in Bushehr,Iran and illustrates their transition from rural simplicity and traditional beliefs to a modern and industrial society,considering the notion of tradition and modernism as contradictory.Moreover,the novelAl-Shera vaAl-Asifa by Hanna Mina is concerned about the evolution of theSyrian society from ignorance and submission to a warrior and well-informed society.Employing the a descriptive-analytical methodology.this research explores the impact of space on characters, the element of myth-making(mythopoeia),and the representation of rituals and customs in these two novels.Observing different elements of the story with an eye to the settings,this research finds the search for profound and fundamental change and the relationship of setting and all elements of the story as prominent characteristics of maritime novels.