TRENDS Research & Advisory has published a contemporary Arabic novel by Sheikha Alyazia bint Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan – Philosophical Manifestations in Contemporary Arabic Fiction: An Analytical Study of the Novels Turab Sakhoon and Sarmadan – in conjunction with World Philosophy Day. Speaking on the launch, Sheikha Alyazia affirmed that the contemporary Arabic novel has become a shared space in which imagination converges with knowledge, and dreams with thought.
She emphasized that modern narrative works, particularly those written by women, now play a central role in shaping the Arab reader’s aesthetic sensibility and expanding intellectual horizons by presenting profound philosophical perspectives that span the Arab world from East to West.
A Comparative Reading of Myth and Reality
The study examines two notable novels that represent complementary philosophical directions. The first, Turab Sakhoon by Tunisian author Amira Ghenim, explores questions of memory, power, and choice through Tunisia’s modern history and figures such as Habib Bourguiba. Here, “hot soil” becomes a metaphor for the pain and secrets concealed by the earth.
The second novel, Sarmadan by Jordanian-Palestinian author Jumana Mustafa, draws on the supernatural, mythic, and fantastical as the foundation of its narrative world, raising questions about existence, extinction, and faith within an imagined universe where mythical beings coexist while confronting an existential threat.
Individual and Cosmic Existentialism
Sheikha Alyazia explains that the two novels offer distinct existential approaches: Turab Sakhoon embodies individual existentialism, where the self confronts itself. Memory becomes an act of resistance and a reclamation of identity. In contrast, Sarmadan presents a cosmic or total existentialism in which beings transcend the limits of reason to attain a form of awareness grounded in faith and intuition in the face of annihilation.
Drawing on diverse philosophical sources, the study connects narrative structures to the works of major thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Søren Kierkegaard, as well as to the mystical philosophy of Al-Suhrawardi. It argues that philosophy in these novels is not imposed from outside but serves as a means of exploring both the human condition and the world.
Time, Memory, and the Other
The study offers an in-depth analysis of time and space in both novels. In the Tunisian novel, time emerges as an act of recovery where personal and national memories overlap. In the Jordanian novel, time and memory are erased to allow for the birth of a new existence in a fantastical realm. The study also discusses the question of the “other,” noting that conflict in the examined texts is not merely antagonistic but a necessary existential confrontation through which the self tests its fragility or resilience.
A Call to Integrate the Arabic Novel into Philosophical Education
Sheikha Alyazia concludes her study by posing a fundamental question: Can a comprehensive cultural and educational consciousness be formed without the Arabic novel as a foundational element in intellectual and aesthetic development?
In its final recommendations, the study calls for contemporary Arabic literature to assume its rightful place within philosophical inquiry and academic curricula, not merely as an aesthetic tradition, but as a rich epistemological space that helps generate questions and strengthen critical thinking. It affirms that the Arabic language, with its metaphorical depth, can elevate meaning from the level of imagery to profound philosophical reflection.
