The structure of place and character in Baghdad clock and over bridge al-jumhouriye by Shahad al-Rawi

The novel gained significant importance in Arab literature in general, and Iraqi literature in particular, coinciding with the fall of the state and the American occupation of Iraq. Iraqi novels began to express political, social, and religious views. The novel portrayed the situation literally to the reader through storytelling. I chose this topic due to its importance and the need to explore previously uncharted aspects, especially my interest in the art of novels, particularly Iraqi novels, and my familiarity with the political aspect. I adopted a descriptive-analytical approach in my study. I examined the texts related to the setting, analyzed them, and focused on the artistic, political, and historical significance of each location. I also analyzed the characters according to criteria and data. Consequently, I arrived at several conclusions: The writer employed all components of the Iraqi people in the narrative, including the middle and upper classes, while neglecting the struggling poor class. This is a contradiction for which I could not find an explanation. The narrator recorded the facts and events that occurred in Iraq at that time but the recording was not comprehensive; it omitted the tragic incident of the bombing of the Ameriya shelter, which claimed thousands of lives, as well as the bombing and explosion at the Balat Al-Shuhada School, where Iran targeted this school with a surface-to-surface missile. All of these tragedies and sorrows were absent throughout the narrative. Therefore, we can say that the novel was not comprehensive, limited in its scope and dimensions. There were errors in the use of time, characters, location, and events. As for language, it was not free from linguistic and spelling errors, which critics criticized. The second novel (over the bridge of the Republic) is an imitation of her sister, in terms of events and characters, and this repetition caused a feeling of boredom and boredom among readers in general. As for the writer's introduction of the vernacular language into the vernacular and its repetition, it was miserable and boring to the utmost, and this made the novel weak and naive.