A Psychoanalytic Analysis of the Characters and Beliefs in the Novel Al-Nahayat by Abdul Rahman Munif

It has been more than a century since psychological analysis was considered as a science. Freud laid the foundations of psychoanalysis and his students developed this knowledge. Considering the high capacity of literature, the connection of this knowledge with psychology is noteworthy. Abdoul Rahman Munif’s novels are valuable and outstanding works of Arabic literature that can be examined through modern analytical and critical methods in order to explain and interpret their hidden aspects. For this purpose, the present article adopts individual and collective psychoanalysis and prominent psychological concepts to study his novel Al-Nahayat. Al-Nahayat is one of the well-known and influential novels in Arab countries, in which Munif criticizes the circumstances of his society. In the current study, the characters are analyzed with reference to psychological complications and traumas such as fear, anxiety, melancholy, and insanity. Concepts such as Mother Nature, totem, taboo, nostalgia, and defense mechanism are also explored. However, the analysis of the psychological aspects of characters such as Assaf and the people of Tybeh village and their humanism is of primary importance. Assaf reflects the unpleasant social, cultural, and economic atmosphere of Tybeh village. In fact, he conveys to the reader the problems that the people of this community are dealing with and reflects their unfavorable situation in the form of a character in the novel. The results of the study of Munif’s novel from a psychological point of view show that the internal conflict and the constant battle between life and death are among the most important issues that Munif has dealt with. In his novel, he tries to show the disorder, social chaos, poverty and misery of people and considers Assaf’s death as a factor in changing the current situation.