The Systemic Implications in Narrative Discourse: Frankenstein in Baghdad as a Case Study

This study seeks to approach narrative discourse from the perspective of cultural criticism by analyzing Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, in order to uncover the implicit cultural systems embedded within its deep structure. The study is based on the hypothesis that narrative texts are not produced solely within an aesthetic framework, but also express cultural, social, religious, and political systems underlying their surface structure. Its objective is to demonstrate the applicability of cultural criticism tools to the modern Arabic novel and to assess the extent to which Arab critical approaches have benefited from Western achievements in this field. The study concludes that Frankenstein in Baghdad serves as a narrative model rich in cultural systems that reflect the fragmentation of Iraqi identity and the transformations of post-occupation society. The analysis also highlights the capacity of cultural criticism to penetrate the rhetorical and aesthetic layers of the text to uncover the intellectual and ideological structures that shape it.