Analysis of the time-based narration of the novel "Mamlakat ol-Ghuraba" by Elias Khoury according to the descriptive theory of Gerard Gent

Elias Khoury is known as a phonetician and post-Mahfouzi writer. His novel "Mamlakat ol-Ghuraba” is a political love story whose time of narration is a significant component in its structure. The theory of Gerard Genette is considered as the most comprehensive theory about the determination of time in the field of narration. Genette demonstrates the theory of time in his story based on three basic concepts including order, persistence and frequency. Through the descriptive and analytical method, this study seeks to review the time-based narrative components of the novel" Mamlakat ol-Ghuraba" according to the Gérard Genette`s theory. The study aims at achieving the degree of adaptation of these components to the structure of the novel and identifying the author's purpose in applying these components. Studying the time of narration shows that the narrative process in this novel is built upon inappropriate prediction, retrospection and breakage of time. Also, the narrative time structure is a circular structure expressed through the continuation of the past in the present and repetition of incidents by date. Elias Khoury has been able to use aesthetic techniques to declare the retrospective and prospective versions of the narrative. Using a postponed descriptive, restatement and poetic prose, the author has decelerated the pace of the story. However, he tries to speed up the expression of the narrative through elimination and summarization.