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People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research Larbi Ben M’hidi University-Oum El Bouaghi Faculty of Letters and Languages Department of English Decentering Western Postmodernism: Arabic Postmodern Trajectories in Ahlam Mosteghanemi’s Nessyane.com A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in Anglo-American Studies. by: ANNAB Fadwa Supervisor: ACHIRI Samya Examiner: AaiD Salah Eddine 2014-2015 Candidate Declaration Form I, ANNAB Fadwa Candidate of Master at the Department of English, Larbi Ben M‘hidi University, do hereby declare that the dissertation entitled: Decentering Western Postmodernism: Arabic Postmodern Trajectories in Ahlam Mosteghanemi‘s Nessyane.com. in partial fulfillment of MA Degree in Anglo-American Studies is my own original work, and it has not previously, in its entirety or in part, been submitted at any university. Abstract Arabic literature has emerged amazingly in the last few decades. It has crossed the lines of traditional representations. However, it is still detached from the universal literary movements. More recently, Arabic works have been excluded from postmodernism as a movement despite that the latter has agitated every part of this world. This dissertation examines the existence of postmodernist entities in the work of the Algerian writer Ahlam Mosteghanemi Nessyane.com [Forgetting.com] (2009). This work is consciously chosen because it seems to celebrate the same western postmodernist literary techniques. The major objective behind this study is to investigate the existence of an Arabic postmodernist literature. It also aims to prove that Arabic Literature is able to create delightful works which carry excellence at both levels: the local and the universal. After unveiling the outstanding properties of contemporary Arabic literature, the major target would be to provoke the desire for more researches about Arabic literature. In order to accomplish the previously listed points, this dissertation will be divided into three chapters. The first one is a theoretical base about postmodernism in general, including the Arabic one. The second one explores the literary postmodernist techniques in Nessyane.com. The final part will throw light on the relationship between politics and literature in the late Arabic literature in an attempt to denote the results of such tight relevance. In the final analysis, this dissertation comes to develop a notion that the politically motivational concepts which surround the Arabic literature have eventually pushed the Arabic individual to appeal revolution and insurgency. Résumé La littérature arabe est marquée par une large progression ces dernières années, lorsqu‘elle a dépassé les styles traditionnels d‘écrire un texte littéraire. Mais cela n‘empêche pas qu‘elle n‘a pas encore atteint le niveau international, car elle est encore hors ces grands mouvements littéraires qui ont touché tous les parties du monde, comme le mouvement ―postmodernisme‖. Cette thèse repose sur le produit écrit ― Nessyane.com‖ de la femme écrivain Ahlam Mosteghanemi, comme un exemple pour détecter les lignes communes de ce mouvement en littérature arabe, nous avons basé sur ce travail parce qu‘il contient quelques techniques propres a ce dernier, notre modeste travail vise énormément à confirmer la présence du mouvement du postmoderne dans la littérature arabe ainsi que le déploiement que cette dernière a les capacités de prouver et produire des œuvres de qualité. Mais l‘objectif primordial est d‘encourager les gens à traiter les modernes travaux arabes d‘une manière plus large. Pour réaliser les objectifs déjà cités nous avons divisé notre thèse en trois chapitres, le premier est consacré pour la présentation d‘une étude théorique à propos du mouvement «postmoderne» et ses particularités. Pour le deuxième représente une étude pratique concernant l‘œuvre ― Nessyane.com‖. À-propos du troisième chapitre nous avons mis l‘accent sur la relation exit entre la littérature et la politique en tentant de mentionner les résultats de ce chevauchement. A la fin, cette étude nous amène à une conclusion que le mouvement ―postmodernisme‖ avait un grand impact dans la littérature moderne arabe, ainsi que les profonds concepts politiques dans ces œuvres a une grande influence à propos du lecteur arabe Qui a répondu avec la rébellion et de la révolution. Dedication: To my Father’s soul Acknowledgment: I Thank Allah for giving me the perseverance and determination to continue doing this project. I would like also to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Achiri Samya for the continuous support, for her patience, motivation and immense knowledge. My deepest gratitude goes to my family for supporting me in every possible way throughout this journey. I would like also to thank my friends for offering help whenever needed. THANK YOU ALL. Table of Contents: Abstract Résumé صـخـلم Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………...i Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………....ii Table of Contents….……………………………………………………………………….....iii Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter One: Postmodernism beyond Euro-American Boundaries ………………………….4 I- Conceptualizing Western Postmodernism: ........................................................................... 4 II- Questioning Arabic Postmodernism: ................................................................................. 16 Chapter Two: Exploring Postmodernist Literary Aspects in Nessyane.com…………………30 Chapter Three: Remembering the Other Kinds of Despotism………………………………55 General Conclusions………………………………………………………………………….76 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………….80 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………83 Introduction: Literature, like all arts, is a beautiful fiddle around the ideals and fantasies of life. It has the power to move smoothly between imagination and truth. Social progress, historical struggles and human pitfalls are all pictured in literature. Each literary period holds great concepts. Literary texts mingle the stiff with the soft, sweetness with bitterness. And this creates that charming complexity of literature. Among all those literary periods, postmodernism is probably the most debatable movement in contemporary history. Despite the multiplicity of works surrounding this issue, still there is a perplexing halo that prevents the existence of a high visibility. It is a wide movement that hunted all aspects and disciplines. Literature, art, architecture have all experienced certain characteristics of the phenomenon. The massiveness of postmodernism as a movement is unlimited. However, Arabic literature and arts do not really appear to take a good part in the postmodernist discussions. The previous studies did not count the Arab world to be engaged in such phenomenon. Consequently, this issue is not sufficiently discussed. There exist several studies which project Arabic works through a postmodernist light, yet there is no recognizable frame for an Arabic postmodernism. This dissertation will provoke the curiosity to acknowledge the importance of national literature. To put it another way, it will emphasize the ability of Arabic literature and writers in coping with the versatility of the universal literature. This dissertation will also stand as a basic grounding for the late researches which seek to investigate postmodernism in Arabic 1 literature. Further, it will lead future researchers to establish a clear image about postmodernism in general. This dissertation will seek to interrogate the existence of postmodernist traits in Arabic arts, with a special focus on literature. It will argue that postmodernism is not exclusively limited to America or Europe. In light of these issues, this thesis will uncover the postmodernist literary tendencies in the work of Ahlam Mosteghanemi Nessyane.com in an attempt to detach postmodernism from its western context. Nessyane.com carries numerous postmodernist techniques and themes. It profoundlycelebrates the chaos of postmodernism as a literary movement. The writer in this book shows a great capacity in creating a typical postmodernist work. The writer is not limited by the stereotypical frame of western postmodernist traits; she creatively balances between a universal movement and local needs. The book will serve the aims of the thesis as to prove the existence of such movement in Arabic literature and to shed light on the glamorous status of the Arabic writers. As it is implied by the title, this thesis depends on a postmodernist approach to examine one of the recent works of Ahlam Musteghanemi Nessyane.com in order to elicit the correspondence between the techniques and themes she depends on, and those of western postmodernist paradigm. This analysis is intended in the first place to oppose the western elimination of works outside America to be considered as postmodernist from the one hand, and to prove the efficiency of contemporary Arabic literature from the other hand. This dissertation also uses a descriptive approach along with an argumentative one to exhibit a new area in Arabic literature which is ―postmodernism‖ and to display the personal 2 input added by Arab writers to this movement. The importance of this study lies in its duality; it adds to the western studies concerning postmodernism, and it proclaims the Arabic print in improving such delightful phenomenon. To achieve the aims and the perspectives outlined before, this dissertation will be divided into three chapters.