Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

What readers encounter in literature directly affects their views and impressions of the world. Hence, it is essential to acknowledge this effect and analyze it to understand how readers identify and pass judgment about significant issues. One important issue to investigate is the depiction of mental disturbance in modern fiction. The present work reconceptualizes the depiction of mental disturbance in Arabic fiction through an analysis of Somaya Ramadan’s Leaves of Narcissus. To this effect, Leaves of Narcissus (Awraq al-narjis) the depiction of mental disturbance is examined. The stylistic devices Ramadan uses, such as schema alterations to convey the content are also investigated. The study extends across frameworks of cognitive stylistics, including schema theory, characterization, and split-self theory. The method employed is a qualitative, close reading approach of seven excerpts. To this effect, linguistic features such as deixis, rhetorical shifts, and bilingualism are observed throughout the study. The findings reveal that Ramadan’s Leaves of Narcissus uses linguistic mastery to represent mental disturbance as opposed to linguistic distortion. Moreover, this challenges previous schematic knowledge about mental disturbance. Notably, instances of split-self occur through code-switching and bilingual passages. The study asserts the importance of employing cognitive stylistics approaches to recognize the unique stylistic features adopted by Arabic authors to represent mental disturbance in Arabic fiction.

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