Stream Of Consciousness

Why does Mahfouz employ stream of consciousness narration in the novel and to what effect?

Mahfouz revolutionized Arabic literature as her was the first author in the Arab world to use stream of consciousness within his novel. The author uses this to create a closer insight and connection into the author's mind. This is very obviously distinct from the third person narration, as it is italicized to reveal his darkest and innermost thoughts, which are normally not censored and is rational. Sa’id is the character the Mahfouz uses to manipulate the unfiltered thoughts and opinions toward the reader, making the complexity and depth of the novel much richer. Mahfouz typically uses this when Sa’id experiences very strong emotions of betrayal and anger towards the people around him.

The narration fluctuates from Third person to an indirect narration towards a direct narration when Mahfouz choses to reveal Sa’ids true emotions. This is used because it is better conveyed through a first person narration to show authenticity and to control the distance between the reader and the narrator as opposed to narrating it through a third person. This is also showing the metal state of Sa’d which gradually seems to be getting worse as the structure becomes chaotic.

Mahfouz uses this toward his advantage because it is more modernized and is a cleaner and stronger way to reveal characters unfiltered thoughts. There are more insights that are revealed to the audience compared to other literature. This is also because it follows some of the conventions of Arabic literature where every character is symbolic of something. The audience it easily found to show more emotion toward Sa’id and this is to highlight Mahfouz’s thoughts on politics and conflict within the Egyptian revolution. It also reveals internal monologue and it a very intense emotional experience.

Mahfouz, drives away from the normal conventions of Arabic literature and contextually, the themes of religion and especially society. Mahfouz chose to narrate the streets of Cairo near his hometown, where he was familiarized with the streets, making the narration richer with contextualization within the stream of consciousness. Because of this cultural embedment, there is are dual meaning between the characters making it more challenging for the audience to understand Mahfouz’s attitude towards Egyptian politics.

Literature in Translation

Literature in Translation is very important in understand our language and literature part three of the course as it is truly reflective of capturing the essence of changing historical, social and cultural contexts. This is reflective of the narration as well as deviating from the normal conventions of a cultures literature. The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz demonstrates this by narrating the story which is stongly embedded in a cultural context, which evidently is written after Egypt’s’ revolution which ended in 1956. Mahfouz achieved complexity and great depth in his characters by relating them towards cultural criminals through creating political statements and opinions. 

The context the author has written the text in is very important to understand and it significance to the text in translation. There are many words and phrases that are Arabic metaphors that have been translated, giving the word different connotations. The narration is also an example of this as normally arabic literature is written in poetry, making Mahfouz an author in the arab world to revolutionise arabic literature within novels. I provides very truthful and dark insights within the main character Said, as he often implements dialogue in italic font, representing his thoughts, which is different towrds western literature. Also, because in arabic literature is it gernarally known in poetry, characters are often symbolic and representative of something within the their and the dogs, showing that there are various elements of the Egyptian culture reflective upon the text

There are also many conflicts and counter narratives, as Mahfouz has opinions of the government during Egyptian revolution, which creates a more insightful depth and understanding to our appreciation and language and literature students. The characters and opinion within the text are important and they are impactful on the readers, as leaders like Nasser are very con character within this world.