Divergence and (a)Typicality of the Revolution in the novel The Republic of False Truths

Abstract

This paper focuses on the notions and images of the Arab Spring in the novel The Republic of False Truths by the contemporary Egyptian writer Ala'a al-Aswani. The paper primarily analyzes the main and secondary characters, as well as the heroes and anti-heroes of the revolution, who are grouped into narrative types, and then structured further into representatives of contemporary collectivities of power. The paper also considers the perspectives of the Arab Spring, the consequences of this uprising on Egyptian society, as well as the phenomena of the overemphasized openness of certain concepts, and the destabilizing significance of the absence in the novel.

Keywords

• revolution
• contemporary arabic novel
• the arab spring
• type
• (anti)heroes
• multitude
• people
• unevent
• emptiness
• selection
• absent