A Study of Concept of Cultural Schema in Arab Literary Criticism

Abstract

Subjects like linguistics, anthropology, and literary theory have extensively examined the complex relation between cognition and culture, with a specific focus placed on how subjects perceive literary texts and narrative forms. This study examines how mid-20th-century Arab societies shifted from critiquing literature to critiquing ideas, analyzing the role of cultural schemas in shaping thought, influenced by religious and traditional factors. The research explains the role played by a literary critic in revealing dormant ideologies in heritage literature including both modern and traditional thinking. Employing a qualitative and analytic-descriptive model with a basis in social theory, and specifically utilizing Parsons' model, it reveals dominant ideologies in Arab literature in its long and rich heritage. Literature is understood in terms of cultural artifacts that transmit such ideations. This study promotes inter-disciplinarity in revealing hidden ideologies in works of Arabic literature. It paves the way for a wide range of forms and eras to investigate and understand social identity and long-lasting impacts of literary and cultural structures in society.