القضايا الاجتماعية في المجموعة القصصية القصيرة "العبرات" لمصطفى لطفي المنفلوطي : دراسة تحليلية فنية

Abstract

Social issues greatly affect human life, whether on an individual or community level. Musṭafa Lutfi Al-Manfaluti skillfully portrayed these issues in his prose, reflecting human realities with depth. His works, especially Al-ʿAbarat (The Tears), stand out for their elegant style and vivid depiction of social life, making them a key reference for understanding Arab society in the early 20th century. Therefore, this study aims to explore the social issues and artistic techniques in Al-ʿAbarat. It begins with a brief biography of Al- Manfaluti, followed by an analysis and critique of the social themes presented in the stories, along with an examination of their artistic elements. The research concludes that Al-Manfaluti effectively portrayed a wide range of social issues, including poverty, alienation, suicide, the negative influence of Western cultures on Islamic cultures, betrayal in love or marital life, adultery, governmental oppression, slander, addiction to alcohol and gambling, neglect of a father's responsibilities toward his wife and children, domestic violence, sexual harassment, accidental killing, mental illness, denial of lineage, abuse of power, embezzlement, bribery, prostitution, unemployment, and debt accumulation. Regarding artistic composition, the researcher found that the most prominent and distinctive element is the characters. In all the original stories written by Al-Manfaluti, the characters are unnamed, and the author himself appears as the main character using the first-person pronoun ‘I.’ Furthermore, even in one of the translated stories, Ash-Shuhada' (The Martyrs), the characters are also unnamed, except for ‘Rafael,’ the maternal uncle of the young man.