We Narrative in Ghassan Kanafani is Stories

Abstract

The appearance of the first-person narrator is perhaps one of the most well-known narrative techniques. While the singular "I" is more common, the plural is only employed when addressing an issue concerning a nation or group, or when narrating a shared experience. Using a descriptive-analytical approach, this research conducted to examine "we" narrative in Ghassan Kanafani's stories. The research revealed that in stories employing this technique, the singular "I" of the narrator often broke away from the group to express an idea, feeling, or opinion. This break consistently reinforced the story's central theme and trajectory. Furthermore, the research found that the boundaries of the group, as represented by the "we narrator", often diminished in many stories. Any behavior that deviated from the group's consensus led to the expulsion of a member and a reduction in its size. Other findings will be presented later. The current research focuses on the significance of the shift in the pronoun referring to the plural narrator in a way that serves the story's central idea, either by reinforcing it or by alluding to a subtle, implicit meaning not explicitly stated in the narrative. This represents a new approach to the study of narrators, and it also focuses on we narrative, a perspective rarely explored by scholars and researchers.