The inversion of the contradiction of captivity and freedom in the short story collection Dimashgh al-Ḥaraegh by Zakaria Tamer: A case study of the two stories Wajh al-ghamar and Mawt al-Sha'r al-Asvad using a deconstruction approach

Abstract

The phenomenon of deconstruction emerged in the late sixties of the twentieth century from the point of view of structuralism. Associated with breach of the metaphysics of presence, deconstructing criticism was raised by Jacques Derrida, within which the verbal/parole aspects of the texts are violated. The purpose of this comprehensive outlook is to delve into the hidden meanings of the text and its metaphysical dimensions. Dimashq al-Ḥarāʼiq was written byZakaria Tamer, a well-known short story writer in the Arab world. This article deals with the collection of two short stories, "Mot al-Sha'r al-Asvad" and "vajh al-ghamar" by analyzing the text using the deconstruction approach. The research method is descriptive-analytic. After the text analysis, it emerges that the main contradictions in the stories are hope / despair, dignity / inferiority and captivity / freedom. By analyzing these contradictions and deconstructing them, it is concluded that the existence of contradictory inversion in the stories is due to the disapproval of the higher classes by the oppressed lower class, which is attributed to the lack of knowledge or the lack of power for confrontation.

Keywords

• deconstruction
• inversion dual contradictions
• dimashgh al-ḥaraegh
• zakaria tamer
• lack of knowledge