Implicit cultural patterns in the novel "The Distant Return": A reading in light of the cultural approach

Abstract

This study aims to uncover the implicit cultural patterns in the novel The Long Way Back (Al-Raj‘ al-Ba‘id) by the Iraqi writer Fuad Al-Takarli, viewing them as cultural structures subject to the mechanisms of ideology and power within a specific social context. The research proceeds from the hypothesis that the novel does not merely depict modern Iraqi reality, but actively engages in reproducing an implicit cultural discourse that reinforces certain values while opposing others. The study adopts the cultural criticism approach as a reading tool that reveals the operation of cultural codes beneath the surface of the text and highlights the conflict between dominant culture and counter-culture. The research concludes that the novel serves as an archive of various cultural patterns, most notably the patriarchal, sectarian, political, and class-based codes, in addition to patterns related to language and silence.