Forms of Self-Writing in Al-Marwani's Exiting the Dark Tunnel: From Textual Categorizing to Fragmentation of the Self

Abstract

Abstract

      This study aims to clarify two matters: First, the narrative genre to which Al-MAarwani's text Exiting the Dark Tunnel belongs. Second, the forms and fragmentations of self-writing. We employed a thematic approach to delve into the text, identify the characteristics controlling its production and formation, and understand its dominant themes. We decided to divide the study into an introduction, two chapters, and a conclusion. The study reached several key findings, most notably: that the text is the author's memoirs, and that the forms of self-writing within it are multiple, with the authorial self-fragmented into several selves. This fragmentation is a result of general experiences and political transformations throughout the different stages of their life journey. Subjectivity was manifested through the impressionistic and emotional judgments presented by the author in their text, attributable to the ideological self that directed the author's writing trajectory.

Keywords: Forms of self-writing, Exiting the Dark Tunnel, Al-Marwani, textual gendering, fragmentation of the self.