Criticism of the Self-Centeredness of the Tribe in the Novel Eating the Wolf as an Example

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the novel The Taste of the Wolf by Kuwaiti writer Abdullah Al-Busais using the socio-narrative critical approach, viewing it as a text that deconstructs and reexamines the tribal structure through narrative form. The novel presents the tribe as a symbolic authority imposed on individuals through inherited values such as tribalism, revenge, and coerced belonging, which are reflected in the characters' destinies and the development of their awareness. The study is based on the premise that the novel does not merely depict social reality but critiques it from within, through a narrative representation that reveals the contradictions of the tribal system. The analysis draws on key sociological concepts such as tribalism, irrational loyalty, and symbolic violence. Through examining the discourse of characters and the surrounding social contexts, the study concludes that the novel produces a critical consciousness that reconsiders the relationship between the individual and the collective in the Gulf context.