Folklore and Superstition in Ahmed Saadawi's Frankenstein in Baghdad (2013): Shaping Collective Identity amidst War

Abstract

Abstract This dissertation explores how Ahmed Saadawi’s Frankenstein in Baghdad (2013), employs Iraqi folklore and superstition to interrogate the construction of collective identity during the chaos of the U.S.-Iraq War (2003–2011). By reimagining Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel within a contemporary Middle Eastern context. Saadawi’s novel critiques the fragmentation of Iraqi society under occupation, using the figure of the Whatsitsname. Therefore, this study aims to uncover first, how Saadawi repurposes the role of Folktales and superstitious beliefs, as elements to cope with trauma, to formulate collective identity and to preserve collective memory. Second, to trace how non-western epistemologies are prioritized and third how the author highlights the link between traditional narratives and oppressed communities, to achieve these goals, the study relies on theories of collective memory, collective trauma, and postcolonial Gothic literature, following folkloric stories and superstitious beliefs of Iraqi people, who negotiate shared identity in the absence of a strong national background. The monster becomes both a metaphor for Iraq’s political fractured body that seeks revenge from the old regime and a folkloric manifestation, a symbol of resilience and resistance. This dissertation asserts that Saadawi's novel Frankenstein In Baghdad is full of events that link the postwar Iraqi reality with superstition and folkloric stories to build a collective Iraqi identity, and help them cope traumatic war horrors.