Syrian writer and researcher Nour Ahmad published her book "Defamiliarization as an Experimental Mechanism in Contemporary Arabic Fiction," released by Nino Press for Studies and Publishing in 2026, which explores the narrative's ability to break audience expectations and open new horizons for understanding.
From Taste to Critical Reading
The study is based on reception theory, which views meaning as the result of the interaction between the text and the reader, and groups under the concept of defamiliarization phenomena such as the fantastic, the magical, deviation from conventional expression, and metasfiction. The author clarifies that criticism is not about issuing ready-made judgments, but rather a dialogue with the text that helps understand the writer's choices and develop writing.
Twenty Stories Testing Experimental Tools
The book's practical section includes twenty stories by writers from Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, including Islam Abu Shaker, Osama Al-Hawij Al-Omar, Mamdouh Hamada, Rahab Bassam, Ahmed Al-Khamissi, Rida Bin Saleh, Iman Al-Safi, Ezzeddin Jalouji, Al-Khair Shwar, Jamal Al-Shahhi, Latifa Baqa, and Amal Al-Faran. The author reads each story in light of theoretical concepts to investigate the impact of artistic choices on text construction and reception experience.
Simplified Criticism Without Compromising Methodology
Ahmad told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that she wanted to write criticism in simple, calm, and understandable language for the ordinary reader or a student in their early literary studies years, drawing from her personal experience with the difficulty of some terms in criticism books. She noted that her goal was to present a book that combines simplification with methodology, benefiting both students and general readers, while offering a practical approach for specialized readers.
The book consists of 176 pages in medium format. Nour Ahmad is a graduate of the English Language Department at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Homs University, and her short story collection "How Are You" was published in 2019.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
Comments (0)