Storied matter and literary creativity in Ahmed Alhokail’s Roads and Cities
AbstractLiterary stories as a means of communication highlight the deep connection between human and non-human entities and the association of matter and mind. Ahmad Alhokail’s Turq wa Mudan/Roads and Cities, a contemporary Saudi novel published in 2019, elucidates the idea of “storied matter” and t...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Cogent Arts & Humanities |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2023.2249282 |
| _version_ | 1797423601335402496 |
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| author | Nourah AlSuhaibani Sitah AlQahtani |
| author_facet | Nourah AlSuhaibani Sitah AlQahtani |
| author_sort | Nourah AlSuhaibani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | AbstractLiterary stories as a means of communication highlight the deep connection between human and non-human entities and the association of matter and mind. Ahmad Alhokail’s Turq wa Mudan/Roads and Cities, a contemporary Saudi novel published in 2019, elucidates the idea of “storied matter” and the creative and narrative agency of non-human entities. This work draws a narrative map of stories that trace the physical map of Riyadh and the neighboring villages of northern Najd. This map aims to connect culture to nature and thus gives insights to the dynamic relationship between places (non-humans) and their inhabitants (humans). Drawing on material ecocriticism, Barad’s agential realism and the question of creativity, this study attempts to investigate the human and non-human “intra-actions” and highlight the narrative agency of places encountered throughout the novel as well as the storied bodies of traditional poetry and storytelling. It maintains that places and nature are vibrant, agentic matter that have the capacity to embody the history, memories and traditions of the inhabitants of Najd region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:50:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f0df59f865294d98b34433f0ea460f34 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2331-1983 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:50:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cogent Arts & Humanities |
| spelling | doaj.art-f0df59f865294d98b34433f0ea460f342023-12-03T02:14:21ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Arts & Humanities2331-19832023-12-0110110.1080/23311983.2023.2249282Storied matter and literary creativity in Ahmed Alhokail’s Roads and CitiesNourah AlSuhaibani0Sitah AlQahtani1English, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi ArabiaEnglish, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi ArabiaAbstractLiterary stories as a means of communication highlight the deep connection between human and non-human entities and the association of matter and mind. Ahmad Alhokail’s Turq wa Mudan/Roads and Cities, a contemporary Saudi novel published in 2019, elucidates the idea of “storied matter” and the creative and narrative agency of non-human entities. This work draws a narrative map of stories that trace the physical map of Riyadh and the neighboring villages of northern Najd. This map aims to connect culture to nature and thus gives insights to the dynamic relationship between places (non-humans) and their inhabitants (humans). Drawing on material ecocriticism, Barad’s agential realism and the question of creativity, this study attempts to investigate the human and non-human “intra-actions” and highlight the narrative agency of places encountered throughout the novel as well as the storied bodies of traditional poetry and storytelling. It maintains that places and nature are vibrant, agentic matter that have the capacity to embody the history, memories and traditions of the inhabitants of Najd region.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2023.2249282culturematerial ecocriticismNajdNabati poetrynaturePre-Islamic poetry |
| spellingShingle | Nourah AlSuhaibani Sitah AlQahtani Storied matter and literary creativity in Ahmed Alhokail’s Roads and Cities Cogent Arts & Humanities culture material ecocriticism Najd Nabati poetry nature Pre-Islamic poetry |
| title | Storied matter and literary creativity in Ahmed Alhokail’s Roads and Cities |
| title_full | Storied matter and literary creativity in Ahmed Alhokail’s Roads and Cities |
| title_fullStr | Storied matter and literary creativity in Ahmed Alhokail’s Roads and Cities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Storied matter and literary creativity in Ahmed Alhokail’s Roads and Cities |
| title_short | Storied matter and literary creativity in Ahmed Alhokail’s Roads and Cities |
| title_sort | storied matter and literary creativity in ahmed alhokail s roads and cities |
| topic | culture material ecocriticism Najd Nabati poetry nature Pre-Islamic poetry |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2023.2249282 |
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