Part I - Awakening of the Awareness of Subjugation – The Prophecy of the Spring of Nations in Arab Novels

Summary

There are many works in Arabic novel writing describing the injustice and cruelty of Arab dictators. In subsequent coups new dictatorships come to power, but they do not change the world for the better, although they proclaim otherwise in slogans and calls for reforms. The ultimate effect is the destruction of people through exploitation and enslavement.

In the years 2011–2012 a dozen or so novels were published, which announced the upcoming changes and the impending revolution or described the ongoing insurgent actions and venerated taking risk at all costs. Only a few of them very succinctly talked about the upcoming revolution, or merely allusively hinted at it as an upcoming event, or in a veiled way described its arrival. Thanks to this approach, the reader could learn about the backstage and characters involved in revolutionary activities in everyday situations. He could also read about the feelings and experiences of their participants and observers, who believed that involvement in the insurrection was their national duty.

Five representative novels describing this pre-revolutionary time will be discussed in detail: An-Nāǧūn (The Survivors) by the Moroccan writer Az-Zuhra Ramīǧ, next Sarīr Baqlāwa al-ḥazīn (Baklava’s Sad Bed) by the Syrian author Nabīl al-Mulḥim, followed by Waqāi’ mā ǧarā li-al-mar’a ḏāt al-qabqāb aḏ-ḏahabī (Circumstances Related to What Happened to a Woman in Golden Clogs) by Ibrāhīm Darġūṯī from Tunisia, then Ra’s ar-raǧul al-kabīr (The Head of the Great Man) by another Syrian, ‘Adnān Farzāt, and finally ‘Ām at-tinnīn (Year of the Dragon) by Muḥammad Rabī’ from Egypt.