Tayeb Salih and Sudanese Fiction: Negotiating Nationalism, Modernity and Realism

Abstract

This study examines the development of the Sudanese novel from its early nationalist narratives to the later social realist works that have come to dominate. A qualitative analysis of Salih’s principal works, especially Season of Migration to the North and The Wedding of Zein, reveals the transition in Sudanese literature from the nationalistic narratives to a mature social realism. An analysis of the thematic preoccupations of Salih’s fiction—postcolonial identity, colonial legacy, intercultural ambiguity gender bias, and political disillusionment-reveals a critical engagement with socio-political shifts in postcolonial Sudan. Salih’s stories reveal the contradictions of the nationalist rhetoric expose the contradictory impacts of modernity and highlight the experiences of the voiceless. The research demonstrates that Salih was instrumental in the development of Sudanese and Arab fiction because, through his writings, he links Sudan’s historical memory to contemporary realities. The study takes the form of literary realism on the one hand, and postcolonial theory on the other.