representations The Other in the Self: A Narrative Approach to Muhammad Metwally’s My Days in Berlin

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Arab Open University- Kuwait

Abstract

representations The Other in the Self:
A Narrative Approach to Muhammad Metwally’s My Days in Berlin

Ehab al-Nagdy
Associate Professor - Arab Open University in Kuwait
Did Arabic literary representations match with the apparent presence of Arabs in Germany in the recent decades? This question draws attention to the importance of literary and cognitive representations that are revealing of the other, reflecting, at the same time, the self and its conditions, which in turn affects the civilized communication between peoples.
In answering this question and examining its manifestations, the German presence is renewed in one of recently published books of literary journey. My Days in Berlin (2017), by the Egyptian writer, Muhammad Metwally, renews the era of literary self-writing, based on his journey to Berlin and his observation and experiencing of life. All literary requirements are met in this text, including narration with its elements and discourse, on the one hand, and art with its rich manifestations, elegant style and precise performance, on the other.
If this study is preoccupied with examining the nature of the confronting between the self and the other, as exemplified in the narratives of My Days in Berlin, this confrontation represents a central pole, which polarizes many intellectual and artistic visions, which are inseparable from the orbit of this pole and its extended influence. It is also inseparable from the narrative perspective, but it makes use of the statements of narrative composition and aesthetic formation of the discourse.

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