Repressed Desires and Trauma in Al-Humaidan’s and Al-Hamad’s Novels: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Inner Conflict and Repression
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1603.32Keywords:
Ghuyum al-Kharif, Juruh al-Thakirah, psychoanalysis, repression, traumaAbstract
This essay draws on Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective, among others, to explore Ibrahim al-Nasser al-Humaidan’s Ghuyum al-Kharif (1988) and Turki al-Hamad’s Juruh al-Thakirah (2002). The basic argument is that the psychological turmoil of the characters, Muhaisin and Latifah, in particular, stems from a dual impulse: a desire to adopt Western norms and a simultaneous fear of cultural dislocation. The study shows that these works ostensibly depict the psychological impact and consequences of social transformation in Saudi Arabia, illustrating how rapid shifts in cultural, political, and gender norms infiltrate individual consciousness and collective identity, resulting in psychological tension, inner conflict, and evolving understandings of how individuals perceive their own identity. It further shows that both texts emphasize that the psychological conflict depicted in both texts seems to arise from a strong attachment to cultural traditions, which are deeply internalized and come into conflict with changing social realities.
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