The Interaction of Literary Genres in Al-Jahiz’s *Kitāb al-Bukhalāʾ (The Book of Misers): A Narratological Approach in Light of Gérard Genette’s Theory

Abstract

This research paper examines Al-Jahiz’s Kitāb al-Bukhalāʾ (The Book of Misers) through a rereading informed by modern narratology, particularly the theoretical framework developed by Gérard Genette. It seeks to assess the applicability of these analytical tools to a classical Arabic text that has often been classified within the genres of anecdotes and narrative reports.

The study is based on the hypothesis that Al-Jahiz’s text is characterized by a complex narrative and discursive structure that transcends the boundaries of a single literary genre, without necessarily requiring its classification within modern literary categories. Accordingly, the central research question is formulated as follows: To what extent can modern critical approaches offer a new reading of a classical text such as Al-Jahiz’s The Book of Misers, viewing it as a text that traverses multiple literary genres and moves beyond the traditional distinctions between narrative, maqāmah (literary assembly narrative), tale, and intellectual discourse?