Proceedings of The 5th International Conference on Research in Social Sciences and Humanities
Year: 2022
DOI:
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Taboo in Novels by Omani Women Writers
Prof. Dr. Mariam Albadi
ABSTRACT:
This paper deals with the taboo in the novels by Omani Women Writers. It focuses on novels by Badria AlShihi, which are: “The Circumambulation Where the Coals Are” (The Tawaf Where the Coals Are) (1999), “Physics (1)” (2009) (Phyzia 1), and “Karma of the Wolf: Physics (2)” (2019) (Karma Altheab: Phyzia 2).
The reason behind the choice of Badria Al Shihi’s novels in this research paper is due to two reasons; the first of which belongs to the writer importance in Omani narrative. Badria Al Shihi is one of the most prominent female narrative writers in Oman. Furthermore, and from a critical point of view, her novel “The Circumambulation where the coals” is considered as the first artistically verified novelistic publication in Omani literature. The second reason is: the peculiarity of the taboo in the selected novels, as they insist on the same issues and employ similar strategies.
Looking at the taboo in these novels necessitated a discussion of the characters’ structure, their relationships to the customs and traditions of society, in addition to their relationships with male characters at the fiction. The current paper concluded that the taboo structure in the selected three novels is stable as well as it uses same strategies; despite the fact that ten years separate each novel from another one. However, this characteristic indicates that the taboo subject is directed in AlShihi’s novels by cognitive perceptions outside the narrative itself.
keywords: Taboo, Omani Novel, Badria AlShihi, “The Circumambulation Where the Coals” (The Tawaf Where the Coals Are) (1999), “Physics (1)” (2009) (Phyzia 1), and “Karma of the Wolf – Physics (2)” (2019) (Karma Altheab: Phyzia 2), cognitive perceptions.