Abstract:

Novel is a narrative literary genre. It acquires a unique identity with its person, time, place, plot and narrative techniques. Its acquisition of identity today is the result of its legacy from classical narratives such as epic, story, legend and masnavi. Bildungsroman, which is a genre of novel that can be found in different varieties in the historical course, draws attention with its unique fiction. The first accepted bildungsroman is Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre, written by the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in the 18th century. In this work, Goethe deals with the moral, psychological and intellectual development of a naive male character. In this novel, the protagonist’s reaching maturity is evaluated gradually, internally rather than physically. In this article, the establishment of the modern Arabic novel and the information about the nature of the first modern novel are evaluated. In addition, the identity acquisition of the modern Arabic novel is presented through the work named Zeyneb by Hüseyin Heykel. Afterwards, information about this type of novel, which is known as bildungsroman, is presented with different names such as "oluşum romanı" in Turkish, “رواية التشكيل” in Arabic and "coming of age" in English and it is pointed out that the bildungsroman is mostly fictionalized over its protagonist. In this study, the historical development of the Arabic bildungsroman is emphasized by looking at Zeyneb's belonging to this genre, which is accepted as the first literary novel of modern Arabic literature. As it can be understood from the name of the novel named Zeyneb, although some information is presented about the development of the protagonist with the same name in the fiction, it is evaluated whether it is substantially a bildungsroman or not. At the same time, Zeyneb's literary position is determined and information about other Arabic novels with the same characteristics is shed light on. In this regard, it is tried to redraw a frame through Hay b. Yakzân, which is a story written by İbn Tufeyl, by referring to works such as Hüsn-ü Aşk and es-Sâk 'ala's-sâk, which are considered as bildungsroman in Arabic and Turkish novels. Although it is accepted that this mystical story about the development of Hay, who was raised by a gazelle on a desert island, contributed to the development of both European and Arabic bildungsroman, it is concluded that the work does not belong to the modern novel in terms of its structural features and narrative techniques. Muhammad 'Abdulhalîm Abdullah, the author of the novel al-Bâhis 'ani'l-hakîka, which constitutes the pillar of the research, is briefly mentioned in order to determine his place in the formation of the modern Arabic novel. The first edition of al-Bahis 'ani'l-hakîka was made in Cairo in 1966 with 143 pages. This novel is a realist and historical work written by Muhammed ‘Abdulhalîm ‘Abdullah by transforming his literary personality. It is worth noting that the first period of Abdullah's literary personality was romantic, the second period was romantic-realist, and the last period was realist. The novel consists of seven independent parts. Al-Bâhis 'ani'l-hakîka, which Abdullah wrote in the last period of his authorship, is important in terms of addressing the life of Selmân b. Fârisî in the form of bildungsroman. The main reason why al-Bahis 'ani'l-hakîka is considered as a bildungsroman is the adventure of self-realization the study will contribute to any researches on the Arabic bildungsroman.