Folk Awareness of Arab National Identity: A Study in the Biography of Hamzah Al-Bahlawan – Hamzat Al-Arab
Shafeeq T. Al-Nobany, Languages and Translation Department, Arts and Science College, Dhafar University, Oman Sultanate.
Abstract
This paper aims to study the folk perspective of Arab National Identity through the folk biography of “Prince Hamzah Al-Bahlawan – Hamzat Al-Arab.” This identity has been represented in certain values that make a point of reference to the hero’s behaviors and other main characters. These values affect the events taken place in the biography and contribute to building relationships between the main characters represented the national identity and other characters represented as the ‘other.’ This research basically depends on identifying the concept of the national identity and its relation with the folk biography. Then the researcher attempts to find out the basic lexicons which form the national Arab identity and sheds light on the transfiguration of these lexicons in various concepts: dealing with others, authority and monarch, and treating women. Finally, the researcher aims to identify a tendency towards the renewal in the national Arab identity through the biography ('seyrah') itself.
Key words: Folk biography "seyrah", Hamzat al-Arab, National identity.