Cultural, folkloric and social connotations in the novel Zainab

By Dr. Hussein Ali Yahya, Bahrain

This paper examines the novel Zainab by the Bahraini writer Rabab al-Najjar for the following purposes:

• Researching folk culture and contemporary Bahraini fiction using structural analysis, which enables the researcher to identify the cultural connotations of heritage, analyse the narrative technique, and measure whether the technique enriches the content of the story
• Bridging the gap between folk and official culture, and emphasising the importance of folklore, in accordance with the movement to develop national culture
• Exploring the diverse environments reflected in fiction and evaluating morals, which requires a study of the techniques used to narrate the stories and the sources of their inspiration, taking into account the rapid social changes in the local community since the 1970s
• Exploring the diversity and characteristics of environments in villages and cities, which represent the spectrum of Gulf Arab and Bahraini Muslim customs, traditions, lifestyles, beliefs and values
• Determining how effectively literature reflects Bahrain’s national identity and openness to other cultures in light of Strauss’ assertion that the degree of difference between two cultures produced by people who belong to one human strain may be greater than that between two cultures belonging to ethnic different groups.
• Encouraging the inclusion of folk fiction texts in folk culture curricula in Bahraini literature and in schools, so that students can learn about the stories’ structures
• Exploring the oral and material aspects of folk literature, and training gifted students in the folk genres