Religious Imagination in the Contemporary Arab Novel: Its Narrative Functions and Symbolic Representations

Abstract

This study examines the religious imaginary in contemporary Arabic fiction as a dynamic semiotic network that shapes plot construction, character formation, and meaning-making. Guided by the question of how the religious imaginary is textually and symbolically deployed, the research employs close textual analysis informed by semiotics, intertextuality, and cultural studies. Findings indicate that rituals, proverbs, and foundational scriptural allusions function not as ornamental language but as structural devices that regulate narrative rhythm, redistribute narrative space, and endow discourse with a communal authority linking individual experience to collective memory. Aesthetically, the religious imaginary expands metaphorical range, organizes narrative cadence, and thickens interpretive layers. Intellectually, it enables the novel to interrogate power, meaning, and identity, opening a civic horizon for coexistence by transforming shared references into a language of negotiation rather than exclusion. The study concludes that, when skillfully integrated, the religious imaginary enhances the aesthetic value of the text, deepens its existential and human questions, and positions the novel as a vital medium for reimagining the relationship between the sacred and the everyday.