The Semiotics of Place in the Very Short Stories of Hassan Al-Batran

Abstract

This research aims to study the place and search for its implications in the very short stories (VSS) of the storyteller, Hassan AL-Batran. This semiotic study intends to reveal the dimensions of the art of writing short story, its contents and aesthetics, as the place in the (VSS) is the story itself by virtue of its geographical, political, cultural and historical conditions and its reflection on the reality and social life of the writer or recipient of the story. This research has adopted the descriptive approach and the procedures of the semiotic approach as a standard to be referred to when monitoring the elements of the place and expressing the implicit signs and gestures that contribute to deepening our understanding of the underpinning ideas in the very short fictional discourse of Al-Batran. The research concluded that the place constitutes an artistic theme in the anecdotal texts and their titles. This shows us the writer's intellectual visions in dealing with reality and criticizing it in a manner characterized by intense suggestiveness and direct and indirect symbolic intent, which the writer has made as a starting point for the recipient in the search for revelations and symbolic connotations by reading beyond the narrative.