The Jordanian Novel in Postmodern Context
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University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 5-2021 The Jordanian Novel in Postmodern Context Hamed Alalamat University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Arabic Language and Literature Commons, Arabic Studies Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, and the Translation Studies Commons Citation Alalamat, H. (2021). The Jordanian Novel in Postmodern Context. Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4040 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Jordanian Novel in Postmodern Context A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies by Hamed Alalamat Zarqa Private University Bachelor of English Language and Literature, 2004 Middle East University Master of Arts in English Language and Literature, 2010 California State University, Fresno Master of Arts in Linguistics, 2013 May 2021 University of Arkansas This dissertation is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. _________________________________ M. Keith Booker, PhD Dissertation Director _________________________________ ______________________________ Adnan Haydar, PhD Susan Marren, PhD Committee Member Committee Member Abstract As the Jordanian culture is gradually impacted by the globalization process of late capitalism, this study argues that many Jordanian novels exhibit a number of postmodern characteristics, such as blurring boundaries and disrupting hierarchies, the use of pastiche as a compositional technique, formal fragmentation, and the weakness of utopian imagination. Adopting Fredric Jameson’s theory of postmodernism as a framework, the study explores ten Jordanian novels written between 1986 and 2016 to demonstrate that the modernization process and the cultural changes in the Arab world, in general, and in the Jordanian society, in particular, have increased the density of postmodern features in the Jordanian novels. Therefore, the conventional categorization of Jordanian novels as postcolonial works is challenged by the proliferation of postmodern features in such works. The study also attempts to illustrate that the novels that are written toward the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century display more postmodern characteristics. For comparison purposes, Arab and non-Arab postmodern novels are engaged in this discussion. ©2021 by Hamed Alalamat All Rights Reserved Acknowledgment Praise be to Allah. I would like to express my special thanks and gratitude to my esteemed supervisor Dr. M. Keith Booker for teaching me, supervising my research, and guiding my academic progress. Throughout my study his remarkable knowledge has been an inspiration. I appreciate his time and patience that helped shape and prepare this work. My sincere thanks also go to my teachers and committee members Dr. Adnan Haydar and Dr. Susan Marren for overseeing my comprehensive exam and research. Their knowledge, expertise, and time are greatly valued. Additional appreciation goes to everyone who provided resources or edited this manuscript. I would like to extend my warmest thanks to my wife and children who have been endlessly supportive and encouraging. Also, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to my siblings, relatives, and friends who always helped and supported me with their thoughts and prayers. Dedication Dedicated to my late parents who left this life before seeing the outcomes of their struggle and devotion. Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Postmodernism ...................................................................................................... 39 Chapter Two: Blurring Boundaries and Disrupting Hierarchies………………………………………….…….. 72 Chapter Three: Pastiche as a Compositional Technique..………………………………………………….…… 130 Chapter Four: Fragmentation and Loss of Utopia…………………………………………..………………….….. 165 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 207 Notes ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….… 220 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................ 224 Note on Transliteration and Translation Arabic quoted texts were translated by the researcher from their original resources. As needed, transliteration is applied using the below symbols. dh َ- a ض a أ t ُ- u ط b ب zh ِ- I ظ t ت aa آ ’a ع th ث ei ـِي gh غ j ج oo ـُو f ف h ح ‘ ء q ق kh خ k ك d د l ل th ذ m م r ر n ن z ز h ه s س w و sh ش y ي s ص 1 Introduction Although the Jordanian novel emerged around two centuries after the emergence of the novel in the West, the cultural changes in Jordan, and the entire region, helped the Jordanian novel to achieve a great deal of progress towards catching up with the Western counterpart. A quick comparison between the first Jordanian (and Arabic) ‘hypertext’ novel, Shadows of the Amorous (2001), which blurs boundaries between text, images, videos, and hyperlinks, and one of the earliest American ‘digital’ novels, afternoon, a story (1987; published in 1990), reveals that what was once a wide ‘gap’ between the rise of the Jordanian novel in the twentieth century and the flourishing of the novel in the West in the eighteenth century is shrinking rapidly. Even though the hypertext fiction is considered by many as marginal (or even gimmicky), it still provides us with a vivid hint about the convergence of Jordanian and Western fiction and culture. The swift development of the Jordanian novel might be taken as an example of the development of the Arabic novel, in general, as it is noticed by some critics. Edward Said, for instance, notices the progress that the father of the Arabic novel, Naguib Mahfouz, has achieved through the life of his career. According to Said, Mahfouz’s work “from the late Thirties on compresses the history of the European novel into a relatively short span of time. He is not only a Hugo and a Dickens, but also a Galsworthy, a Mann, a Zola and a Jules Romains” (London Review of Books 10/11). In the age of globalization and technology, when boundaries are crossed and space (and time) is diminished between cultures and societies, the need to explore the development of Jordanian cultural products and their influence by the global milieu becomes necessary. This study is an attempt to contribute to the discussion of the Jordanian novel and its development in the light of global changes and the impact of the Western culture. More precisely, it examines the Jordanian novel in the context of postmodernism. 2 Jordan, Modernity, and the West: Modern Jordan (Transjordan) was established as a British Protectorate under the local rule of King Abdullah I in 1921, a few years after Arabs revolted against the Ottoman Empire. The dream of the Arab leaders to establish an independent Arab state in the Levant, Iraq, and the western side of the Arabian Peninsula was not completely fulfilled. Instead, Britain and France agreed during World War I to divide the (Arab) territories of the Ottoman Empire between them in the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916), and, thus, Jordan fell under the British mandate until its independence in 1946. Shortly after the assassination of King Abdullah I, King Hussein ascended the throne in 1952. Such changes in the Middle East coincided with important changes in the West; like the rise of the United States of America after World War II, the beginning of the Cold War, and the beginning of the postmodern era. During the reign of King Hussein (1952-1999) and his son King Abdullah II (1999- present), the region and the entire world witnessed a great number of changes. One of the most important of them is the escalation of the modernization process that started in Europe and began to affect profoundly other parts of the world, like the Middle East, through globalization. In addition to some internal factors, Jordan’s modernization has always been affected by its direct and indirect contact with the modern world, i.e. Western civilization. As a relatively small Arab society that shares its language and culture with neighboring Arab nations, Jordan’s modernity (as well as its history and destiny) has always been related to the modernization project in Egypt and the Levant that was triggered in the nineteenth century under the influence of the West.1 For decades, students, newspapers, businesses, novels, inventions, and so on have played important roles in boosting the Arab modernization project and spreading Western Enlightenment values and principles in the Arab World. In the age of globalization, the unprecedented transnational flow of cultures increased the reciprocal influence between nations and societies. Although the Jordanian (and Arab) culture is not an exception, 3 Western culture (especially American) has been affecting the Jordanian society more than any other culture. In fact, there are two aspects of this effect. First, due to many reasons, the reciprocal influence between Western