توظيف حكايات (كليلة ودمنة) في الأدب العربي الحديث (المحالفة الثلاثية لأمين الريحاني نموذجاً)

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis research studies the incorporation of Kalila and Dimna fables, which were translated into Arabic during the Abbasid era, into Modern Arabic Literature. This was achieved through three key elements: the characters, the events, and the themes. In Amin Raihani’s The Tripartite Alliance of the early twentieth century, animals have been used symbolically in the same way as we see in Kalila and Dimna fables. These stories tell of the tragedies and hardships of the societies of the time which suffered from poverty and misery at the hands of despotic religious and political rulers. The portrayal is made through a sham trial of the fox, which symbolizes the character acting in defence of people’s rights and in opposition of what is done towards the people, by each of the horse, donkey, mule and those representing the authority. Yet, finally the fox is executed after he is indicted with charges of heresy and atheism. Notably, the central theme of the story is to symbolically highlight issues that trouble the society in order to facilitate understanding and achieve the desired goal. Finally, it must be admitted that this story has not received adequate analysis ever since it was published in 1903, a fact mainly attributed to its exposition of the Christian clergymen who, then, strongly opposed it.