The Space of the place in the Novel Druze of Belgrade

Abstract

This study aims to explore the impact of place on the architecture of the narrative text in the novel The Druze of Belgrade by Rabee Jaber, published by Dar Al-Adab in its first edition in 2011. It examines how the setting influences the construction of other narrative elements, particularly characters and events, through its narrative techniques and historical references. The events of the novel unfold in a spatial setting where imagination intertwines with reality, and narrative intertwines with historical authority. The researcher utilized the possibilities of the semiotic approach, critical discourse analysis (CDA), and narrative poetics to study the artistic employment of the element of place in The Druze of Belgrade and to highlight its aesthetic impact on the narrative The researcher concluded that the element of place has a direct impact on other elements of the narrative, such as characters, events, and others, in addition to extending the power of its influence to texts parallel to the narrative text. The element of place in the narrative narrative worked through the emergence of an antagonistic duality - the hostile place and the friendly place - to exacerbate the events or mitigate their severity according to the quality of this place The house had an impact on the characters in terms of a feeling of comfort and stability, while prisons and castles had a clear impact of suffering and death, and the impact of the place was clearly reflected in the character of Hanna Al-Yaqoubi, whose life was a tense journey from one place to a worse place until he reached the desired place, which was his home in Beirut.