Vision and Form in the Novel the Thorn and the Carnation

Abstract

This study examines the novel al-Shawk wa-al-Qurunfulas acomplex literary text that transcends the boundaries of traditional narrative. Its significance lies in foregrounding a rare work in Palestinian resistance literature that combines storytelling with
intellectual reflection. The study aims to show how the novel transforms the pain of the Palestinian human experience into symbolic language expressing an existential dialectic between pain and beauty, thus presenting the novel as a space for articulating the Palestinian self in its struggle for freedom and dignity. It is guided by a central question: how does The Thorn and the Carnation reconcile narrative structure with intellectual vision in order to reconstruct the Palestinian self and turn the text into a mirror of conflict and a means of producing meaning? To address this, the study adopts a textual-analytical approach focused on the novel’s internal structure, language, narrative techniques, characterization, and symbolism in order to reveal its aesthetic and intellectual mechanisms. The study concludes that The Thorn and the Carnation represents a resistance narrative project that reconstructs aesthetic and symbolic meaning within the broader context of the Palestinian struggle for freedom and dignity.