Allegory and Its Hermeneutic Horizons: Reflections on Naguib Mahfouz’s Children of the Alley

Abstract

Aims: This article examines the burden of allegory and its hermeneutic horizons in Naguib Mahfouz’s Children of the Alley. Set against state power, revolutionary aspirations, and social inequality, the novel traces a loose chronology from the beginning of history to the modern age. Its five episodes parallel the stories of Adam, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and the rise of modern science. Through the experiences of the alley’s children, history appears as a recurring cycle of creation and destruction, hope and despair. The article therefore outlines the novel’s multilayered allegorical significance.

Methodology and Approaches: Using close reading and textual analysis, the study explores the hermeneutical dimensions of allegory in Children of the Alley. The novel resembles an Arabic roman fleuve (“river novel”), presenting a broad chronicle that maps generations of people and the course of human history over an extended period.

Outcome: A close reading shows that the generations represented in the novel function as a macrocosm of humanity from Adam to modern man. The narrative spans the long transition from reliance on the supernatural to faith in science and reason.

Conclusion and Suggestions: Children of the Alley emerges as a grand allegory of human history in which successive generations experience recurring cycles of creation and destruction, hope and despair. Future research may undertake comparative studies of multigenerational sagas across literary traditions to illuminate both shared patterns and distinctive cultural dimensions.