MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

As a country that had been under colonization and dictatorship for over 100 years, the Libyan society suffered socio-political turbulence and insecurity which lead to cultural damage. There is no doubt that this socio-cultural instability was, to a large extent, revealed in literary works especially in short stories. According to Fagih (2008), the leading character in Libyan short stories is mostly a simple man struggling daily to survive hardship and oppression, or a helpless woman suffering social inequality according to Alhaddad (2010). It is no surprise that one could detect the sense of vulnerability in the protagonist in the face of political oppression and/or social injustice, especially throughout the era of Qaddafis dogmatic role. With the Arab Spring and the radical change that swept the region, came socio-political changes that re-shaped, and continue to shape, society and its cultural attitudes. With these changes came freedom of speech, and accordingly freedom of writing. Writers in Libya have broken their chains of political censorship and are now writing more freely and openly about the struggles of the nation. This study is a discourse analysis that aims to examine how the protagonist in Libyan short story has developed or changed with free creative writing. I investigate whether the construction of the protagonist has changed from oppressed and helpless to hero and active with change in the real environment. A number of short stories are analyzed by different Libyan writers, male and female. The study will compare these writers works pre and post the Arab Spring. The purpose of this research is to provide a social/psychological perspective of how the protagonist is evolving and what contribution he/she is making in the narrative. Is the protagonist now free?