فاعلية الخيال في بناء القصة العربية القصيرة

Abstract

This research focuses on studying imagination, a fundamental component of literary texts in general and the short story in particular. It illuminates its meanings and critical perceptions regarding it to understand its role in stimulating creativity and enriching creative experiences. It then examines the relationship between imagination and the elements of narrative structure. These elements, in their multiplicity and diversity, are built upon imagination and benefit from its capabilities in consolidating creative texts, thus crystallizing the presence of the event, constructing the setting, and revealing the fictional character. Finally, it discusses the mechanisms of imagination formation in various models of the Arabic short story—stories that affirmed the role and functions of imagination in shaping the creativity of the short story. The research began with imagination as an intellectual tool and an aesthetic mechanism with a theoretical foundation, transforming it into a formative technique. This approach integrates the intellectual with the literary, and the theoretical with the practical. Understanding imagination is not usually achieved through theoretical study alone, but rather is completed systematically through practical application. This is the approach adopted by the research in the field of Arabic narrative literature, specifically the short story in its realistic and experimental forms. The research reveals the qualitative features and elements that contribute to enriching the field of short story narrative and organizing its themes. This approach is also adopted in examining Arabic short story writing as it strives to understand reality and advance its knowledge, just as it seeks to imagine what lies beyond reality and explore its various meanings. The experimental short story, in particular, aimed to understand and elevate its knowledge