Representations of Disability in Modern Arabic Narrative: A Comparative Socio-Emotional Study of Asrār Qawqaʿa and My Beloved Is Mute

Abstract

This study examines the representation of disability in contemporary Arabic
narrative through a comparative socio-narrative analysis of two novels: My Beloved Is
Mute (Ḥabībatī Bakkmāʾ) by the Saudi novelist Mohammed Al-Salem and Asrār Qawqaʿa
(Secrets of a Cochlea) by the Jordanian writer Shahira Munir Al-Hasan. The article
investigates how the two novels employ disability mutism and hearing impairment not
merely as bodily conditions, but as symbolic and social structures that reveal exclusion,
stigma, emotional alienation, and struggles for recognition within conservative Arab
societies. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical and comparative approach grounded in
close textual reading of narrative structure, paratextual thresholds, characterization,
psychological and social conflict, representations of women with disabilities, and the
relationship between disability, love, and marriage. It also draws on disability studies and
socio-cultural approaches to narrative representation. The analysis demonstrates that both
novels challenge stereotypical portrayals of people with disabilities as passive or marginal
figures. Instead, disability emerges as a narrative mechanism that exposes the violence of
social norms, particularly regarding women, emotional relationships, and marriage. While
My Beloved Is Mute foregrounds emotional deprivation and the rhetoric of silence through
an epistolary romantic structure, Asrār Qawqaʿa emphasizes empowerment, resilience, and
social integration through educational, familial, and emotional support systems. The study
concludes that suffering in both novels is produced less by disability itself than by social
perceptions and exclusionary structures. It further reveals the persistence of “double
marginalization” experienced by women with disabilities and highlights the role of Arabic
narrative in reshaping awareness toward disability as a human experience rather than a
deficit.