The Dialectic Between Reality and Imagination in the Arabic Novel: Mohamed Berrada’s "The Woman of Forgetfulness" as a Case Study

Abstract

Contemporary Moroccan fiction has witnessed significant transformations, shifting from a self-referential experimental mode of writing to a narrative discourse that actively engages with the complexities of cultural, social, and political realities. Within this context, literary texts are increasingly evaluated not merely for their aesthetic dimensions, but for their ability to interrogate lived experience and contribute to the understanding of collective and individual concerns.

 This paper offers a critical reading of "«The Woman of Forgetfulness" by Moroccan author Mohamed Berrada, examining how the novel negotiates key thematic and structural elements such a narrative technique, cultural memory, the interplay between the real and imagined, and the construction of identity. Through these dimensions, the novel becomes a site for reimagining the past and retrieving it through the lens of present-day questions and historical transformations.