Character Formation Motives in Novels Winning the Iraqi Creativity Award: An Approach from Max Weber's Perspective on Moral Values and the Stance

Abstract

This study begins with the premise that social events and actions profoundly impact personality formation, shaping behavior and aspirations within societies. Based on this premise, the study adopts Max Weber's perspective on the motivations behind personality development as a critical approach to examining the characters in the novels that won the Iraqi Creativity Award. Weber identified several motivations for social action, with moral values ​​and the value of one's stance towards the past being among the most prominent. He elaborated on these motivations, particularly moral values, which encompass the political, social, and economic issues experienced by the fictional characters, including external and internal wars, identity crises, the influence of armed groups, and the sectarian conflicts that plagued the country. The fictional settings of these novels are largely grounded in reality. As for memory as a value, it was the focus of the second part of the study, which examined the characters' attitudes toward the past as a personal, self-archived historical record that influences their actions and reactions in light of their lived experiences. The reading of these novels adopted a socio-psychological approach, drawing on data from psychology and sociology.