摘要
This paper examines how the socio-cultural contexts have affected readers＇ responses to particular Saudi novels. It draws on Fish＇s concept of ＂interpretive communities＂, which argues that interpretation is an institutional practice, and that consequently readers hold shared prior assumptions that constrain their interpretive strategies （Fish 1980）. Not surprisingly then, some responses to Saudi authors are based on the ideological belief that their novels consist of acts of rebellion against a conservative culture. A close reading of the conflict between Saudi novelists and the social responses to their works can reflect how cultural and social contexts shape the reception of contemporary Saudi novels, and can also help to construct public attitudes toward these texts. Saudi novelists have faced a number of social constraints and factors which have affected the development of the novel in Saudi Arabia. For example, works by al-Gosaibi, Munif, Khal, al-Hamad, al-Mohaimeed, Alsanea, and al-luhani have all been banned because they were seen to pose a major threat to the dominant, patriarchal Saudi ideology. While the social controversy around these writers was raging, some other writers applied self-censorship to avoid touching upon what were perceived to be the most sensitive issues.
