Saudi Arabia - Paris - Berlin: Some thoughts about time, place, and language

Abstract

This paper offers a critical reading and analysis of the novel al-Ḥizām (The Belt, 2000) by Saudi novelist and poet Ahmed Abodehman. By focusing on different aspects of the 'time' theme in the novel and comparing it to other Saudi novels, it shows how Abodehman portrays the unique temporal culture of his village and the beginning of the changes that rural Saudi society went through with the advent of modernity in the 1950s and 1960s, bearing in mind that urbanization has been the setting in which the modernization and individualization of Saudi society has unfolded throughout the second half of the twentieth century. The paper also discusses issues of place and language, asking why this very 'Saudi' novel was originally written in French and published in Paris. The paper shows that Paris allowed Abodehman to grow as an individual and how it was only in Paris that he could truly discover Saudi Arabia and rediscover his village. It also shows that Abodehman’s decision to write in French was dependent upon socio-linguistic considerations related to the advantages of the French language and the disadvantages of Arabic, and was also, as I argue, connected to Abodehman’s experience as an immigrant and his need for belonging.