Introduction of the thematic issue: Pandora’s Box as a Metaphor for the Crisis in Contemporary Arabic Fiction and Drama
in La rivista di Arablit, a. XIII, n. 26, dicembre 2023, pp. 7-9.
Pandora’s box can be interpreted as a metaphor for the consequences of curiosity, and serves as a warning to keep away from what should remain unknown. Like this popular myth, the Arab revolutions may be seen as a catalyst for a series of events that had unintended and sometimes unforeseen consequences. The events of the Arab revolutions, for example, have certainly contributed to the spread of political unrest and instability in the region, as well as to the overall turbulence and conflict that has characterised the Middle East and North Africa in the years since. In other words, Arab revolutions – it could be argued – came in a box containing both hope and destruction. […]
