THE CONCEPTUAL NETWORK OF THE APPROACH “RHETORICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE NOVEL”: AN ANALYTICAL READING OF THE INTRODUCTION TO HASSAN AL-TAWIL’S BOOK

Abstract

This review seeks to deconstruct and reconstruct the conceptual framework that underpins the approach to “rhetorical interpretation of the novel” as formulated by Hassan Attaouil in the introduction to his book “Rhetorical Interpretation of the Novel: Issues and Applications.” The review proceeds from a central premise: that the introduction is a foundational conceptual apparatus that governs the paths of reading and defines the conditions of interpretive possibility. The review also performs a reverse engineering of the logical structure of the introduction, extracting its core concepts to organize them into a system of productive binaries. The review demonstrates how the author transforms methodological contradictions into cognitive energy that reframes the historically tense relationship between rhetoric and the novel, shifting rhetoric from a mere tool for direct descriptive analysis to a creative interpretive practice of meaning that relies on the interaction of the reader. The paper also highlights how Attaouil’s conceptual apparatus addresses the risk of interpretive chaos by linking interpretive practice to the constraints of rhetoric to justify the reading. The review concludes that this approach opens up a new space for rhetoric within fictional narrative, thereby providing a clear roadmap for the specialized reader. The paper concludes by laying the groundwork for researchers through recommendations calling for an examination of the robustness of this theoretical framework in light of the applied work in the book’s subsequent chapters.