An Analysis of Yusuf Al-Qa'eed's "The War in the Land of Egypt" Based on Paul Grice's Cooperative Principle

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant professor. Department Of Arabic Language and Literature. Farhangian university. Tehran. Iran

2 Assistant professor. Department Of Arabic Language and Literature. Lorestan university.

3 Assiatant professor, Department of Arabic language and literature, farhangian university, tehram, iran.

Abstract

Dialogue is considered a crucial and fundamental element in any narrative work, especially the novel, playing an effective role in advancing the plot at various stages. Dialogue, particularly when it deviates from standard language, often carries an important message in thematization. Paul Grice (1913-1988), a Western theorist with a pragmatic approach to language, in his theory entitled "The Cooperative Principle," discusses four ways in which dialogue violates rules and norms. By examining these four maxims in fictional works, one can discover the reasons for this violation and, through its analysis, find a path towards the discourse and underlying theme of the work. The present study, relying on this theory and using a descriptive-analytical method, seeks to examine Yusuf al-Qa'eed's novel, "The War in the Land of Egypt." Al-Qa'eed is a realist and detail-oriented writer who depicts the events and issues related to the underprivileged society of Egypt. In this regard, he uses dialogue and the violation of its principles to present a discourse and strengthen a theme based on the reflection of a feudal society. The results obtained indicate that Al-Qa'eed has used dialogue in a completely purposeful manner in this novel, and in some cases, he has used the violation of the Cooperative Principle to depict themes such as horror, discrimination, poverty, and oppression. In this context, among the four maxims of violation, he has made the most use of the maxim of Quantity to achieve his goal.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Research in Narrative Literature

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 15 October 2025

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