Saddam Husssein and His Novel: Imaginary Utopia

Abstract

Ukhruj Minha Ya Mal’un is a thought-provoking imaginary work written by the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. This novel is dedicated to Iraq's invasion history during his time in power and considered a piece of political fiction. Even though this novel tells of Iraq’s invasion in the past, the main message of this novel is the desire to expose the concept of a perfect society. Hussein takes the readers on a journey into a fictional condition where the boundaries of reality and fantasy are hazy. This topic is interesting to study because the issue of an imagined place or state of things (in which everything is perfect) is still being discussed in various forms and forums.

This paper discusses how Ukhruj Minha Ya Mal’un describes an author’s vision of a world free from societal flaws and inequality. In this imaginary work delves into the political structure, economic system, and social dynamic of this utopia and Hussein poses various challenges and ethical conundrums that test the resilience of this imagined society. The text shares the emerging intellectual discourse about the invasion of Iraq in 2003 to 2011. Through its narrative, Ukhruj Minha Ya Mal’un invites readers to reflect on the feasibility of an idealized society. The method that the researcher applied in this research is to read the novel more than one more time and pay attention to the unsayable message of the imaginary work. This paper argues that the novel challenges conventional notion that the world of reality affects the mind by producing ideas in it. However, the mind cannot always affect or even change the world of reality perfectly.