The Gulf War in Saudi Fiction

Abstract

Abstract There exists only limited scholarship on Saudi novelists as producers of war literature. Research into Saudi fiction has focused on the questions of its historical development, universality, women’s writing, and the reluctance of earlier writers to negotiate socio-political and psychological dimensions compared with the candidness and boldness of contemporary writers portraying these taboo subjects and daring to investigate unexplored regions of human consciousness. This article, however, diverges, using select novels to critique fictional treatment of the Gulf War by Saudi writers. Two prominent American war novels will be used as reference points through which to determine the similarities and differences between the Saudi war novel and its American counterpart. Putting Saudi novels that deal with the theme of war on a par with some American literature that has the same focus aims to uncover patterns of similarity and highlight differences. The goal is ultimately to show how Saudi fiction saw the war while establishing a war narrative that lends the story coherence and meaning.