Readings in Narrative Identity and Its Representations within Historical Fiction in Andalusian-Inspired Arabic Novels

Abstract

This study investigates narrative identity as a key concept in contemporary literary and philosophical thought, focusing on its representations within Arabic historical novels inspired by al-Andalus. Grounded in modern narrative theory, the research argues that historical fiction does not merely reproduce the past, but actively reshapes it through narrative and imaginative strategies that generate new forms of identity for historical figures. By examining selected Andalusian characters, the study demonstrates how storytelling reorganizes historical experience into meaningful narrative patterns that negotiate the relationship between selfhood, authority, and collective memory. Structurally, the research is organized into a preface and two main sections: the first examines models of male narrative identities associated with visible political and social power, while the second explores female narrative identities characterized by marginalization yet profound influence. The analysis reveals that these identities function as interpretive reconstructions rather than documentary representations, exposing the tension between history and fiction. Notably, female characters emerge as quietly transformative forces, whose impact resembles the “butterfly effect” in historical change. The study concludes that narrative serves as a mediating space through which the Andalusian past is reanimated, allowing historical figures to transcend factual history and acquire renewed cultural and symbolic significance in the present.