Open AccessThe Pursuit of Existential Meaning and Social Justice in Naguib Mahfouz�s Three Short Stories: �Zaabalawi�, �A Day for Saying Goodbye�, and �The Answer is No�
Author(s) -
Dian Natalia Sutanto,
Melania Prischa Mendorofa,
Teti Apriyanti
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
indonesian journal of english language studies/indonesian journal of english language studies (ijels)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2715-0895
pISSN - 2442-790X
DOI - 10.24071/ijels.v3i2.1066
Subject(s) - vision , meaning (existential) , tragedy (event) , patriarchy , existentialism , economic justice , sociology , modernity , literature , aesthetics , psychoanalysis , gender studies , philosophy , law , psychology , epistemology , art , social science , anthropology , political science
Mahfouzs literary fame is mainly based on his novels which become the main source for the critics to understand his whole literary visions. Mahfouzs short stories, on the other hand, are considered secondarily valuable by the critics as the remainder of the ideas from his novels. This paper proposes that Mahfouzs short stories are as important as his novels in a sense that they highlights or magnify particular aspects of Mahfouzs visions. From the analysis of three Mahfouzs short stories entitled Zaabalawi, A Day for Saying Goodbye, and The Answer is No, some of his essential themes and literary visions, which developed further in his novel, are identified. In Zaabalawi, the persistence in maintaining hope of finding meaningful life in spite of the persisting tragedy in human life is emphasized by Mahfouz. In A Day for Saying Goodbye, Mahfouz depicts the futility of modernity without adherence to religious values. In The Answer is No, by depicting the shift of gender relations and accomodating the marginalized womens resistence to patriarchy, Mahfouz encourages the reformation of unjust societal structure. Keywords: womens resistance, existential meaning, social justice