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<p> Narratological Techniques in the Modern Gulf Novel: A case study of the narrative works of Fawziyya Shuwaish al-S&amacr;lim Narratology began to take shape as a discipline in 1966 when the French journal <i> Communications</i> printed a special issue titled "The structural analysis of narrative." The term narratology (&ldquo;narratologie&rdquo; in French) itself was coined three years later by one of the contributors to that issue, Tzvetan Todorov, in his subsequent structuralist manifesto, <i>Grammaire du D&eacute;cam&eacute;ron,</i> which was published in 1969. </p><p> In this dissertation, I attempt to analyze the narrative texts of the Kuwaiti author Fawziyya Shuwaish al-S&amacr;lim, which include five fiction novels and one biography-autobiography, by applying modern narratological techniques suggested by leading narratologists, mainly Mieke Bal. My aim is to provide a systematic and objective assessment of her narrative techniques and style in an attempt to gauge her contribution to the Gulf novel and, perhaps, the modern Arab novel as a whole based on her use of technical and thematic aspects.</p>

<p> Since the majority of Arabic language institutes teach Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), studies of the speech act performance of learners of Arabic as a second/foreign language compare learners&rsquo; productions made in MSA with the productions of native Arabic speakers. However, MSA is not spoken natively, and Arabic speech acts are performed orally. Therefore, individuals in the sample group either use their own dialect or they consciously code-switch to MSA, which leads to artificial production, especially when those productions are elicited via a written DCT. The present study, however, used the closed role-play data collection method so as to investigate the development of refusals to invitations made by L2 learners of Emirati Arabic at two levels of ability, low-intermediate and advanced, and to compare their production with the production of native Emirati Arabic speakers. The goal here is to determine whether there is a positive correlation between the learners&rsquo; language proficiency and their pragmatic development. Further, the study seeks to determine whether length of residence in the target community plays a significant role in acquiring Emirati Arabic refusals to invitations. The goal of the study&rsquo;s second objective is to determine whether there is a positive correlation between length of residence in the target community and pragmatic development. Regarding both objectives, the current study is interested in revealing whether or not the status of interlocutors (higher, equal, or lower) modifies the degree of directness, semantic formulas, and content of NSs and NNS&rsquo;s refusals to invitations in the same way. The study used the same classification scheme of refusal strategies that was proposed by Beebe et al. (1990) but with different situations and scenarios. Findings showed differences between the NS and NNSs of Emirati Arabic in the frequency, content, and order of the semantic formulas used as well as the effect of interlocutors&rsquo; social statuses on these variables. Further, findings revealed that learners of Emirati Arabic were remarkably more direct than the Emirati Arabic NSs, while the former learners who remained longer in the target community produced refusal patterns similar to those the Emirati Arabic NSs produced.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation investigates the tension between the two portrayals of Job in the current form of the biblical book of Job in light of narrative literary theory (ch. 1). It supports the current consensus that the two portraits of Job are best understood as belonging to two separate accounts about Job&mdash;one written primarily in prose and serving as a literary frame and the other written primarily in poetry&mdash;and confirms that the appropriate division between the two accounts is between 2:10 and 11 and between 42:9 and 10, thereby giving each account a complete literary plot structure (ch. 2).</p><p> This dissertation then advances current scholarship by examining each account <i>in isolation</i> in order to identify its unique characterization and plot elements and by showing how many texts that appear to conflict with each other are actually consistent <i>within their own accounts</i> (chs. 3, 4). A close reading of texts that appear near the seams between the two accounts highlights the thematic, verbal, and characterization links that connect 2:8 with the beginning of the poetic account and 2:10 with the end of the poetic account. This dissertation then applies the insights and terminology of the Russian Formalist school of literary criticism to the book of Job in order to propose that the most coherent reading of Job emerges when the two accounts are read non-sequentially&mdash;that is, when entire poetic account is understood to overlap with 2:8-10 in the prose account (ch. 5).</p><p> The proposed, overlapping reading of Job succeeds both in accounting for conflicts between the prose account&mdash;where Job responds to his calamities with instant and extraordinary piety&mdash;and the poetic account&mdash;where Job&rsquo;s eventual pious response comes only <i>after</i> prolonged bitterness, accusations, and discontentment&mdash;and in explaining the overarching coherence of the combined accounts, which may now be understood to provide a unified perspective on the Principle of Retribution, on the Satan, on God, and on Job. Together, the two accounts reveal all that transpired to bring about Job&rsquo;s transformation from bitter sorrow in 2:8 to remarkable submission to God in 2:10.</p>

<p> Evidence for violence is found in all periods of Mesopotamian history. Kingship, which was divine in origin, included the exercise of power and the legitimate use of violence. Mesopotamian violence reflects the culture's understanding of ontology, order, and justice. Although there is scant archaeological evidence for its actual practice, the worldview that allowed it to flourish can be reconstructed from myth, ritual, and historiography. </p><p> Approaching Mesopotamian conceptions of violence through these three modes of discourse, this study explores the behavior through the lens of theory, practice, and presentation. The investigation is guided by the following questions: </p><p> &bull; What do the myths say about violence? How is violence imagined and theorized? </p><p> &bull; How do the war rituals promote and normalize the practice of violence? </p><p> &bull; How and why is violence presented in the narrative(s) of the royal annals and in the visual program of the palace reliefs? </p><p> This study moves from offering a general account of Mesopotamian violence directed against the enemy "other" to analyzing the portrayal of a particular act. </p><p> Mesopotamian myths served as paradigms for successful kingship. It is argued that the thematic content, asymmetrical characterization, chronotypes, and emplotment observed in <i>Lugal-e, Bin &scaron;ar dadm&emacr;</i>, and <i>En&umacr;ma eli&scaron;</i> are also operative in the war rituals and the royal historiography. Central to Mesopotamian theorizing about violence is the concept of evil, which is best understood in relation to the culture's ideas about divine and social order. </p><p> Waging war in Mesopotamia entailed various practices that framed the conflict as part of the cosmic struggle against chaos. This study addresses the contexts in which these practices occur and the social structures that make them seem natural, necessary, and desirable. The so-called war rituals involved processes of socialization that allow violence to commence, escalate, and terminate. This symbolically loaded ritualized violence reflected and created (or destroyed) relationships, both natural and supernatural. </p><p> Finally, accounts of ritualized violence were strategically incorporated into the historiography of Mesopotamian rulers as expressions of royal ideology. This study analyzes the sources for the beheading of Teumman, arguing that variations in the textual and pictorial presentation were influenced by the Assyrian conflict with Egypt and Babylonia.</p><p>

<p> Turkey's most controversial religious figure is the Muslim cleric and author Fethullah G&uuml;len, whose followers have established around one thousand schools in 135 countries. Since 2003, the G&uuml;len-affiliated educational non-profit T&Uuml;RK&Ccedil;EDER has organized the International Turkish Olympiad, a competition for children enrolled in the G&uuml;len schools. The showpiece of this event is its song contest, in which students perform well-known Turkish songs before live audiences of thousands in cities all over Turkey and reach millions more via television broadcasts and the Internet. While the contest resembles American Idol in its focus on individual singers and Eurovision in its nationalistic overtones, the fact that the singers are performing songs associated with a nationality not their own raises intriguing questions about the intended message of the competition as well as about its publics. To answer these questions, I analyzed YouTube videos of the competition and examined YouTube comments, popular websites, and newspaper opinion columns. I conclude that the performers themselves are meant to feel an affinity with Turkish culture and values, while Turkish audiences receive a demonstration that G&uuml;len's brand of Islam is compatible with Turkish nationalism. Moreover, the competition reaches a multiplicity of publics both within and beyond Turkey. While some of these can be characterized as essentially oppositional counterpublics, I find that, in the case of the Turkish Olympiad, the dichotomy between rational public and emotional or irrational counterpublic established collectively by such theorists of publics as J&uuml;rgen Habermas and Michael Warner begins to break down.</p>