The Effects and Styles of Satire in the Shakira's Portrait (صوره شاکیرا) by Contemporary Palestinian Novelist, Mahmoud Choucair

Irony is not limited to poetry alone, but is used in all literary forms, especially in short story and novel. In Arab countries, we find narrators and novelists who have mastered this method and excelled at it, treating the suffering of their people and portraying it in a photographic illustrations. Mahmoud Choucair is one of the most prominent contemporary Palestinian writers and storytellers who wrote satirical stories. He used in his fictional works the satirical method to highlight the political and social facts in Palestine. The artistic creativity of the stories of Mahmoud Choucair is in his use of both easy and difficult styles simultaneously. Moreover, he uses the photographic elements in the narration, which makes his novels have a harmonious narration. He used well-known international personalities including the American ones, which led to his being marked by artistic creativity, as he succeeded in implanting the contents of these satirical stories in the minds of the readers. The necessity of research lies in the growing interest in the Palestinian cause, because it contributed to the production of a large number of literature of resistance in its various forms, including the satirical discourse. This made researchers to pay attention to his collection of stories to reveal the new and diverse visions, opinions, and methods of it. Accordingly, the study examined the Shakira's Portrait, a stylistic study, using the descriptive-analytical method, in order to reveal the levels of satirical style and its artistic value in the Shakira's Portrait and understand the methods used in its narrative structure. The results of the research indicate that the writer used various methods such as using a colloquial dialect, manipulating letters, exaggeration or caricature, and dramatic irony. The writer also relies on the blatant paradox that aims at revealing the scandal and works as a harsh criticism to correct the defect. Mahmoud Choucair made his sarcastic criticism of the authorities because they were the reason for his backwardness. He also ridiculed the hateful occupation and outdated traditions, because both are the two sides of the same coin.