Discourse Analysis of Resistance in The Thorn and the Carnation by Yahya Sinwar Based on Laclau and Mouffe’s Approach

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Professor Assistant of language and Aarab literature in Shahid Bahonar university of Kerman- Iran

Abstract

Laclau and Mouffe’s theory of discourse analysis, by foregrounding the discursive nature of social phenomena, offers an innovative framework for understanding society that facilitates the redefinition of identity and the envisioning of society’s future. Drawing upon this theoretical framework and recognizing the need to clarify the mechanisms through which hegemonic narratives are constructed and consolidated within the discursive space of Palestinian society, the present study examined Yahya Sinwar’s novel Al-Shawk wa al-Qaranful (The Thorn and the Carnation) through a descriptive-analytical method. The analysis was grounded in key concepts, including articulation, nodal point, antagonism, hegemony, marginalization and foregrounding, myth, accessibility, and credibility. The findings indicated that by employing the principle of antagonism and constructing a hostile discursive order, Sinwar not only narrates the political history of a particular period but also utilizes the literary structure of the novel to construct the identity and meaning of the discourse of “We” (the Resistance) in opposition to the “Other” (the Zionist). The identities of Palestinian subjects in the novel are constituted through their absolute opposition to the external, threatening other, namely Zionism, via the logic of equivalence, whereas the agonistic and pluralistic structure of Palestinian society is articulated through the logic of difference. Moreover, the novel functions not merely as a narrative text but as a hegemonic instrument that seeks to marginalize the dominant Zionist discourse while foregrounding the discourse of resistance on the basis of religious, cultural, and educational principles and transforming it into an objective social reality within Palestinian society. By positioning the myth of Hamas in a context of accessibility during periods of crisis and imbuing it with historical-religious credibility, the discourse of Islamic resistance presents itself as the sole viable and hegemonic alternative to the failed discourses of compromise, particularly Fatah’s discourse of reconciliation and negotiation

Keywords

References

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Journal of Resistance Literature
Volume 18, Issue 34
July 2026
Pages 165-188

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