The Theme of Extremism in the Novel Pigeons Don't Fly in Buraidah: A Study in Narrative Discourse

Abstract

This study explores the theme of extremism in Pigeons Don't Fly in Buraidah by Saudi novelist Yousef Al-Muhaimid, focusing on its narrative discourse through description, analysis, and interpretation of its semantic structure. The research examines extremism in relation to place, character, events, and proposed solutions. The novel's narrative discourse demonstrates a dense and impactful presence of this theme, integrating spatial descriptions, character development, and event construction to portray a vision opposing extremism. The study reveals how the narrative reflects the human condition under the dominance of extremism, highlighting critical situations that complicate achieving satisfactory resolutions. The research is structured into an introduction, preface, and two sections: the first addresses extremism in terms of place and character nature, while the second focuses on extremism in state and resolution. The findings emphasize the centrality of religious extremism in the novel, making it the primary narrative focus. The novel’s comprehensive depiction of religious extremism critiques its social, moral, and historical dimensions. However, it occasionally adopts a counter-extremist stance, exaggerating its representations and blending reality with fiction to the point of narrative extremism, which influences the overall portrayal and critique of the phenomenon.