The Spatial Structure in Aqeel Abu Al-Shaar’s Novel Irādat Allāh: A Cultural Semiotic Reading

Abstract

      This study examined the novel Irada Allah by the Jordanian writer Aqeel Abu Al-Shaer, focusing on the spatial structure as a semantic and cultural framework active within the narrative text. The study adopted an integrative approach combining cultural criticism and semiotics, supported by a phenomenological perspective to understand the characters’ experiences of space and its relation to identity, power, and religion.

       The study revealed that space in the novel is not merely a backdrop for events, but an integrated structure shifting between the lost paradise and intimate as well as hostile spaces, reflecting the characters’ struggle for identity and existence. The analysis uncovered the implicit cultural codes that manifest forms of oppression, domination, and the mechanisms of human will’s usurpation. The study also highlighted the role of space as an active element in the production of meaning and narrative, and emphasized the significance of the novel as a critical and aesthetic contribution to the history of Arab narrative.