A Critical Cognitive Semiotics Approach to Character Construction and Heroism: : Analyzing Mahmoud Al-Khatib’s Novel ʾAṣluhā Thābit

Abstract

This study examines the pivotal role of the main character in Mahmoud Al-Khatib’s novel ʾAṣluhā Thābit, focusing on how the character’s construction conveys how meaning and significance are produced and comprehended. The novel’s main character, marked by both centrality and heroism, shapes and reflects the novel’s thematic depth through recurring motifs and influence. Following Ibrahim Taha’s critical cognitive semiotics approach, the analysis uncovers the various layers of meaning and significance embedded in Al-Khatib’s novel. The novel particularly highlights the existential concern and ideological need to preserve land and resist the power structures of colonialism that seek to marginalize the Arab Palestinian minority living in Israel. These dynamics frame the main character’s journey, demonstrating his role as a ‘semi-hero’ who achieves particular objectives but whose quest remains unsuccessful due to the circumstantial constraints found in his context. Al-Khatib’s main character thus illustrates the dynamic and anecdotal nature of meaning and significance as they evolve through continuing cycles of real and fictional interpretations and reinterpretations, further showing how characters are not only constructed for fictional semiotic purposes but also to depict real human subjects.