The Colonial Theme and IdentityRepresentation in Bashir Mufti'sNovel the Fire Doll

Abstract

Bashir Moufti's novel, "The Doll of Fire," serves as a representative exemplar of discourses that remain ensnared in the clutches of ideology, much akin to other Algerian novels. It vividly depicts a panoramic tableau of post-independence Algeria, replete with the enduring agonies and inequities wrought by French colonization. The novel capitalizes on linguistic multiplicity, harnessing the marginalized and the absent within the literary milieu, deferring to the reservoirs of popular heritage and historical underpinnings. The novelist's oeuvre reflects a palpable imprint of these embodied circumstances, alluding to the presence of a pervasive pattern interlinked with the colonial pattern that engenders the ambiguity and fluid nature of hybrid identity. Consequently, this research embarks on a profound exploration of the depths within the pages of "Doll of Fire," laying bare the silenced aspects through the prism of cultural criticism. To what extent can these Western and Algerian Arab literary methodologies be harmoniously assimilated, each bearing their own cultural and ideological freight?