The Arab Self in the Age of Globalization: Transformations of Identity Construction in Contemporary Arabic Fiction between the Local and the Global

Abstract

This study investigates the mechanisms of "identity construction" for the contemporary Arab self within modern Arabic fiction, during an era of globalization that imposes tension between the local and the global. Employing a cultural critical approach, it deconstructs how narrative discourse functions as a symbolic space for shaping an ongoing "becoming" of identities through continuous negotiation, beyond the logic of fixed "being." Through analysis of prominent fictional models - such as Celestial Bodies by JokhaAlharthi and Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi -the study concludes that Arabic narrative has transcended binary confrontational logic toward establishing hybrid and composite identities capable of accommodating change without dissolution, thereby offering an "alternative narrative" that resists stereotyping and affirms the right to difference.