The Social Adventure in Talib Al-Rifai’s Novel Kidnapping the Beloved

Abstract

Talib Al-Rifai’s novel Kidnapping the Beloved addresses several contemporary social issues in a smooth and subtle artistic style. Yet, it carries ideas that challenge societal norms, embodying a social adventure that aligns with Lukács' conception of the novel as an art form of society, one that reflects and expresses all its contradictions. The novel is a bourgeois epic representing and embodying values.

The narrative structure relies on two primary movements. The first, and more dominant, forms a personal adventure driven by thoughts and anxieties, ultimately leading to particular behaviors. This self-driven adventure is woven from multiple threads: emotions and love, fatherhood and family, social class, and travel. The second movement unfolds through encounters with "the other," manifesting in tensions with those of different sects, the rigidly conservative, and the woman as the other