An Imagological Study of Literary Representations in Robert Hichens’s The Garden of Allah (1904)
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Date
2023
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Université Mouloud Mammeri Tizi Ouzou
Abstract
The core of the present dissertation is an imagological study of literary representations, also called the analysis of “Cultural Images”, in The Garden of Allah (1904): a sensational and dramatic love story written by Robert Hichens. Through a close reading of the text, we investigated the ways in which the English author expresses his Western point of view through a narrative voice that emphasizes the spiritual significance of the landscape while ignoring the culture of its inhabitants. The dissertation is structured into two main chapters: the first examines the depiction of characters and how they reflect the dichotomy of "Self" versus "Other," while the second analyses the portrayal of the setting, focusing on how the desert landscape is depicted as "alien," "exotic," and "spiritual." In addition, we studied the main theme of the travelogue. In order to achieve our work, we relied on “Imagology” or the study of cultural images, “the image of”, one of the most important subdivisions of Comparative Literature. The aim behind this textual analysis using is to explore how Hichens constructs these dichotomies in the context of his own background, ideology, and audience. The results of our study revealed that Hichens depicts the British and Europeans as 'civilized' in contrast to the populations of the Algerian desert, who are portrayed as 'primitive' and 'backward.' The desert itself, on the other hand, is depicted as 'strange,' 'exotic,' and 'spiritual.' It reveals also how, as a romantic author, Hichens focuses heavily on the romanticized narrative of love between Androvsky and Domini rather than providing an objective description of the Algerian landscape and its people.
Description
63p. ; (+CD-Rom)
Keywords
Imagology, Cultural Images, Exoticism, Portraying, Stereotypes, Hostility, Travelogue
Citation
Literature and Civilization