An anlysis of Muhammad al-Ârûsî al-Matvî's novel "al-Tūtu'l-Mur"

The novel "al-Tūtu'l-Mur" was published in 1967 and it addresses society and the problems of the period using a fictional framework. In contemporary Tunisian literature, it has continued to occupy an active and central position amongst the literary genres. Within the Tunisian field of literature, some of the earliest names to be associated with important contributions to the systemization of this literature include Salih Suveysī al-Kayravanī, Mahmud al-Masʽadī, al-Bashir Hurayyif, and Muhammad al-Ārûsī al-Matvī amongst others. However, there exist a literature gap in the study of modern Tunisian novel literature in Turkey, and bridging this gap underpins the importance of this thesis. The study adopts as its scope, the historical processes of literature genres such as short stories, poetry, and theatre in modern Tunisian literature as well as the life, literary personality, and the works of Muhammad al-Ārûsī al-Matvī. Analytical emphasis is put on the author's novel: "al-Tūtu'l-Mur" in terms of its structural and technical elements. In its findings, the study highlights that novel played a direct role in the development of modern Tunisian literature after independence. Keywords: Novel, Modern Arabic Literature, Tunisia, Muhammad al-Ārûsī al-Matvī, al-Tūtu'l-Mur.