Teaching, Inspiring, and Enriching: The Role of Studying Literature in Enhancing the Sense of Belonging and the Pride in the Arab National Identity among Young People

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the role of studying literature in enhancing the values of belonging and promoting the sense of pride in the Arab national identity among young people. Literary texts have the power to deepen the national sense inside young men and women, urging them to love their homeland, adhere to their national identity, and feel proud of belonging to their nation. Throughout their literary works, writers address the youth everywhere, promoting their sense of home and raising their national consciousness. This can, for example, be seen in the major works written in both English Literature and Arabic Literature. In English Literature, for example, writers such as James Joyce, Gregory Burke, Robert Browning, and Maya Angelou place the theme of national identity at the heart of their works. In Arabic Literature, likewise, enhancing the sense of belonging and pride in national identity is a central topic in the literary works of Arab writers such as Nagib Mahfouz, Leila Buck, Mahmoud Darwish, Mustafa Balilah, and Suad Al-Sabah. The researchers reached the conclusion that the works written by these writers in both English Literature and Arabic Literature enhance young people's sense of belonging and pride in their national identity.