The Structure of the Circular Form and its Existential and Semantic Data in the Novel Nihayat “Endings” and its Stories from “The Wonderful Night” by Abd al-Rahman Munif

Abstract

This research examined the structure of the circular form in the novel “The Nihayat”. It aimed to monitor its aesthetic realizations in the formal structure of the text, within critical dimensions that benefit from the propositions of the structural approach and the science of narration. It was noted that the structural repetition patterns are the most prominent representation of the circular form in the novel, in terms of the repetition of the keywords of the root (to turn) within the artistic context of the narrative event, and by the repetition of scenes, events, ideas, and linguistic and pictorial patterns. At the narrative formative level, the techniques of anticipation and flashback were observed, which complement each other in achieving the structure of the circular form. They benefited from the reality of the similar circular (Nihayat). The circular structure of the novel proceeds in the (space of stability), as it is a pattern that carries within itself the antithesis (movement/stability) and what they lead to in terms of the dialectic of the struggle for survival. The author's use of the circular shape determines the existential path of meanings hidden behind the repeated shape on the symbolic level and what it leads to; the circular structure has led to a (circular) narrative world that represents the constraints of nature in its time, place, and people. This structure is a reference to eternity in the universe with its repeated pages. The circular shape represented a semiotic sign that referred the reader to the existential rotation and repetition of temporal events in a spatial area (the Taybeh village). This structure was formed within the manifestations of life and all its data. It is a semiotic pattern that indicates eternal and continuous movement. These aesthetic values emerged in linguistic forms with diverse artistic dimensions in their rhythm, style, and data. In this study, starting from the structure of the circular form constituted a key to accessing the latent meanings, and guided the recipient to activate the deep structure and enrich it in the narrative text.