Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran
2
PhD Student, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Tehran North Branch. Tehran. Iran
10.22080/ltcat.2026.33129.1013
Abstract
Sociolinguistics, as an interdisciplinary field of linguistics, examines the reciprocal relationship between language and social, cultural, and historical structures. It demonstrates how variables such as age, gender, occupation, social class, educational level, ethnicity, and sociocultural beliefs contribute to the formation of linguistic variation and the reproduction of power relations. Fiction, particularly the novel, serves as a vital arena where language dynamically intersects with social realities, making it a valuable source for studying sociocultural issues. This study adopts a sociolinguistic approach, grounded in the frameworks of sociolinguistics and cognitive sociolinguistics, to analyze Ghada al-Samman’s Beirut Nightmares. Set against the backdrop of the Lebanese Civil War, this novel chronicles the lived experiences of individuals struggling to preserve their identity and humanity amidst violence, fear, and devastation. The primary objective of this research is to identify sociolinguistic markers within the novel and to investigate the rationale behind the author’s deployment of these elements. Employing a descriptive-analytical method, the study draws upon the text of the novel and relevant theoretical sources. The findings indicate that the sociolinguistic markers in the novel include age, gender, occupation, educational attainment, social class, and belief systems, as well as the use of symbolic and metaphorical language to represent social structures. These markers not only reflect the social realities of war-torn Lebanon but also function as discursive tools for reproducing or critiquing power dynamics, identity, and human crises. The analysis reveals that al-Samman, by leveraging the multilayered capacities of language, succeeds in representing the experience of war not merely as a series of events, but within the realm of language and discourse, thereby transforming the novel into a mirror of the social, cultural, and psychological structures of a society in conflict.
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