The paradox of the very short story in Saudi Arabia: A study of models

Abstract

The very short story succeeded in creating its own space, especially in recent decades, and was able to carve out a unique path for literary reality. That is because of its ability to reach the recipient and influence his conscience and because of what is characterized by excitement, astonishment, irony, symbolism, the ability to provoke sarcasm, the aesthetic of pleasure, and the elegance of the phrase. The very short story is also characterized by the ability to deal with social and human issues that arose from the reality of contemporary life, which is a reality dominated by contradiction and contradiction. Therefore, the paradox was one of the most prominent features of the very short story stylistics. Hence, this study's subject is "The paradox of the very short story in Saudi Arabia" The importance of the study is due to the development and maturity of the art of the very short story in Saudi Arabia in recent decades. This art needs a critical study to show what the narration has reached in the very short story in Saudi Arabia regarding textual coherence, diverse styles, and depth of content. Among the essential aspects of the subject of the study is the prominent role that irony plays in the art of the very short story. It was present in its texts on multiple levels. In this context, this study sought to reveal the presence of paradox in constructing a very short story in Saudi Arabia, especially its narrative structure. Hence, it aimed to achieve several goals, namely: 1. Explaining the role of paradox in constructing time in the Saudi very short story. 2. Revealing the existence of paradox in building characters in the Saudi very short story. 3. Determining the areas of paradox and its sources in the Saudi very short story. 4. Explaining the transmission mechanisms of paradox in the Saudi very short story. The study plan was consistent with the objectives mentioned above. In the preamble, the concept of paradox and the connotations indicated by the term paradox in modern criticism and the Arabic rhetorical heritage were mentioned, and the essential elements of the idea of paradox were mentioned. In the first chapter, the paradox in the construction of time was studied through three sections: a theoretical study of time in narration, retrieval, and anticipation. In the second chapter, the paradox of building characters was explored in three topics: the dimensions of characters and their presence in the narrative, the self-paradox and the other, and the self-paradox and society. In the third chapter, the fields of paradox were studied, which are the religious field, the cultural field, and the social field. The fourth chapter included the transmission mechanisms of paradox in three sections: sarcasm and mockery, satire, and the caricature satirical image. Accordingly, the study came out with a set of results that are related to the Saudi very short story, the most important of which are: - The concept of paradox is still far from being defined despite the attempts that tried to set limits for it. Still, it often denotes a contradiction between two or more parties in a textual context depending on the linguistic elusiveness, the style's gracefulness, and the reader's understanding. - Temporal paradoxes exist in the Saudi very short story texts through the retrieval mechanism, which was effective in building events and expressing the point of view of the narration; This resulted in the past tense dominating the discourse of the very short Saudi story. - Retrieval was a means for the narrator to depict memories, analyze memories, analyze the characters' thoughts from the inside, and justify their actions. Retrieval also played a social role in interpreting some social customs. - The anticipation technique was present in the Saudi very short story texts, but not as much as the retrieval technique. - Anticipation performed some functions in the structure of the Saudi very short story, including preparing for some events, announcing the image of the character, explaining some of its behaviors, and directing the reader's attention to follow the development of events. - The self-paradox and the other in the Saudi very short stories expressed the dissonance and hostility between the self and the other and the conflict within the characters. - The very short Saudi stories drew many paradoxes from the social field related to people, their lives, behavior, and problems. - Sarcasm exists in the Saudi very short stories through sarcastic questioning and exposure. - The satire focused Saudi very short stories on the negative aspects of society and people's negative morals, especially the domination exercised by some men against women; this appeared in the stories of Saudi women writers. - The caricature exists in Saudi very short stories, but its presence is weak compared to the sarcastic question, exposure, sarcasm, and mockery.