Narrative Building of the Hero’s Character in Bakatheer’s Historical Novels: A study of Al-Thair Al-Ahmar
Abed-Elqawe Al-Hosaini, Dean of the Faculty of Education, Science and Arts, Department of Arabic, University of Taiz, Yemen.
Abstract
Ali Ahmed Bakatheer wrote Al-Thair Al-Ahmar in 1949 during his stay in Cairo. It consists of four volumes in fifty chapters. It tells us about Al-Qarametah Movement in Iraq and the role of its hero, Hamdan Qormot, who like any other peasant, suffered from the landlords’ mistreatment and thus found it necessary to help peasants get rid of these unjust practices. The novel also describes the hero as a member of the Al-Ayareen Movement that aims at curbing the dominance of capitalism and caused it to decline. In addition, the novel tells the story of the hero as an active member of Al-Kadaheen Movement which believes in ‘comprehensive equality’ as well as the foundation of his state of Al-Qarameta in the Sawad of Iraq.
In this study, the researcher sketches the character of Hamdan Qormot in detail to finding out the narrative techniques the novelist adopts to construct the character of his hero and how he promoted him from a simple peasant to a famous knight and finally to a strong state leader. In particular, the study deals with the construction of the hero’s character in Al-Thair Al-Ahmar from a historical and narrative perspective and the techniques adopted by Bakatheer while constructing the hero’s character. In addition, the study points out to what extent the narrative experience has succeeded in the construction of the hero, Hamdan.