Dystopian Cities in the Novels of Saad Mohammed Rahim

Abstract

This paper aims to reveal the manifestations of violence in the cultural novels of Saad Mohammed Rahim and to highlight the manifestations of violence that appear in most of his works. The novelist attempts to shed light on violence in its various forms and types, including political and authoritarian violence, collective violence, external and local violence, as well as social violence embedded within cultural structures centered in cities. Violence in the novels of Saad Mohammed Rahim constitutes a phenomenon that deserves careful examination and analysis. This is reinforced by the clear presence of such violence in his narratives, whether political violence resulting in prisons, detention centers, torture chambers, the silencing of voices, and the suppression of anyone who expressed freedom; or local violence within the city’s boundaries, represented by armed groups; or international violence exercised beyond state authority and controlled by other countries. Accordingly, this paper adopts the framework of cultural studies, as it offers the most comprehensive and suitable approach for analyzing such phenomena. The paper is divided into two main sections: the first, entitled Foundational Concepts, and the second, A Critical Analysis of Cities of Violence in the Novels, both within Iraqi society and beyond. A conclusion follows, presenting the most important findings