Redefining Identity through Code Choice in "Al-Ḥubb fī ’l-manfā" by Bahāʾ Ṭāhir
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5617/jais.4603Abstract
This study examines the use of language and code choice in a modern Egyptian novel, al-Ḥubb fī ’l-manfā (Love in Exile) by Bahāʾ Ṭāhir (b. 1935). The study concentrates on the diglossic situation that prevails in the entire Arabic-speaking world, i.e. a situation in which there are two language varieties: a ‘High’ variety (standard Arabic) and a ‘Low’ one (vernacular dialects), each with a different function. The study will concentrate on the language varieties, or ‘codes’, used by the writer to depict dialogues between the different protagonists in the novel. The question posed is whether the dialogues in this, as well as in other novels published in Egypt and the Arab world, reflect realistic linguistic choices on the part of the protagonists, or whether this literature projects a different reality with different rules and language choices. If the latter case is true then language may be viewed as a tool to redefine reality and project different identities. It is argued that the choice of standard or vernacular has a discourse function, well as a creative one. This case study furthers our understanding of code choice in dialogue in the Arabic literature of Egypt, and of the Arab world in general.
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