Elements of Historical Novel in Najib Mahfouz’s Palace Walk

Abstract

Historical novels enacted an important role at the early stage of Arabic novel. This important literal component had completely obtained from the Western novel and literature. Najib Mahfouz the outstanding figure of Arabic literature whose works describe the life of man in relation to society. Palace Walk, the celebrated novel of Najib Mahfouz discusses the social, political, historical and cultural conditions of the 20^th century Egyptian society. The author closely observes the people of his nation whose life styles are completely different to the faith they acknowledge. His observation reached to the individual, family and the nation as a whole. His novel also deals with the poverty, hunger, caste politics, inter-racial relations, tradition and modernity, and changing values of the modern civilization. While these are the various ingredients we find in Najib Mahfouz’s novel Palace Walk, the present paper aims to explore the main elements i.e. historical elements.