The fragmentation of female identity in Shahd Al-Rawi's novel "On the Bridge of the Republic" in light of feminist criticism

Abstract

          This study focuses on analyzing representations of female identity in the novel "Above the Republic Bridge" by the Iraqi novelist Shahad Al-Rawi. We employ feminist criticism to reveal the fragmentation and division experienced by the female self in an Iraqi context burdened by numerous crises, including political, social, and psychological ones. The study proceeds from a primary hypothesis: the novel presents a narrative space that expresses the crisis of women, resulting from a comprehensive collapse of the symbolic and social system following the American occupation of Iraq. This research aims to understand several fundamental aspects: how this fragmented female identity is portrayed through the narrative, the structure of time, the fragmentation of memory, and spatial connotations, particularly the Republic Bridge, which becomes a symbol of the division of self, place, and identity. The research also highlights the absence of effective male influence in the novel. Male characters do not appear as tools of oppression, but rather as weak or withdrawn symbols, which renders the patriarchal system ineffective and prompts the heroine to search for her identity outside the prevailing traditional frameworks. The research examines the formation of female consciousness within the novel as a fragmented consciousness, expressed in a narrative language that is sometimes disjointed, in which memory is separated and time is reordered according to an irrational internal logic, mimicking psychological disintegration, which in turn reflects a broader social collapse. According to feminist criticism, this language is understood as a form of resistance to power structures and an attempt to establish an independent feminine discourse.

        The study concludes that *Over the Bridge of the Republic* presents a complex narrative model of women's experiences in times of war, and that the writer Shahad Al-Rawi offers a vision for the post-war novel that transcends slogan-based discourse through a subtle and profound treatment of the experience of a woman struggling for survival amidst a world collapsing around her.