Fragmentation of the Self and the Alienation of Objects: An Interpretive Study of The Secret Migration to Things, a Short Story Collection by the Saudi Writer Siham Al-Aboudi

This study examines the fragmentation of the self and the appropriation of things in contemporary thought and Saudi literature through an interpretive reading of Seham al-Aboudi’s Secret Migration to Things. It argues that external pressures fragment the self while objects act as semantic agents shaping characters’ consciousness and behavior, making narrative a means to explore human interaction with the material world. Using a hermeneutical approach inspired by Paul Ricoeur and combining semantic, stylistic, and phenomenological analysis, the study addresses three axes: narrative hermeneutics and meaning-making, representations of objects and identity disintegration, and the formation of narrative space and consciousness transformations. It concludes that objects in al-Aboudi’s texts function as active symbols that reconstruct identity, organize moral awareness, and guide storytelling, underscoring the value of interpretive approaches for understanding psychological and social dimensions in modern Saudi literature