Abstract

Statement of the Problem and Objective: Given that the novel Sleeping in a Cherry Orchard (Al-Nūm fī Ḥaql al-Karaz) by Azhar Jergis deeply explores themes of spiritual turmoil, loss of identity, and the search for peace in two contrasting environments—Iraq and Norway—this study seeks to analyze the function of Logotherapy, Viktor Frankl’s existential school of thought, within the novel. The work’s emphasis on the quest for meaning in life, disillusionment, and moral struggle makes it an ideal ground for the application of Frankl’s theory. The central question addressed is: How does Azhar Jergis employ the three core components of Logotherapy—creative values, experiential values, and attitudinal values—to portray his characters’ confrontation with suffering, inequality, and their pursuit of meaning and serenity? Furthermore, the research examines how the notions of divine unity (Tawhid) and the afterlife (Ma‘ad) operate as tools that link the experience of death to a sense of existential meaning and inner peace. The primary objective of this research is to analyze and explain the function of Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy in Sleeping in a Cherry Orchard. The secondary objectives are: (1) to examine and interpret the direct and indirect implications of the novel through the lens of Logotherapy; (2) to identify the techniques through which the author enables his characters to find meaning in life through human experiences, moral values, and suffering; (3) to clarify the role of divine unity and the afterlife in connecting the confrontation with death to inner peace; and (4) to substantiate that the novel is not merely a narrative work but also a philosophical exploration of the meaning of life, reflecting the principles of Frankl’s therapy of meaning.
Methodology: This study applies a descriptive–analytical method to explore Viktor Frankl’s theoretical components within Azhar Jergis’s Sleeping in a Cherry Orchard. Data were gathered through library research and direct textual analysis of the novel. Each of Frankl’s core concepts—creative, experiential, and attitudinal values—was traced in the text, with corresponding evidence analyzed to determine how they contribute to the work’s overall philosophical and psychological dimensions.
Discussion and Analysis: Azhar Jergis’s Sleeping in a Cherry Orchard is grounded in profound Logotherapeutic concepts that draw from diverse value systems and universal human experience. Logotherapy in this novel is not confined to individual crises but expands to encompass cultural and transnational dimensions, defining life in broader and more complex terms. Emotions and experiences intrinsic to human nature are presented as essential instruments for constructing meaning, particularly in the face of spiritual turmoil, leading to balance and inner peace. According to Jergis, endurance of pain and suffering yields meaning only when it leads to liberation from distress and the attainment of security—security from the threats of death, infanticide, and genocide, all of which are thematically rooted in the post-war and occupied Iraq depicted in the novel. Likewise, guilt is reinterpreted through an ethical and altruistic lens: the protagonist perceives the shame of his lost literary gift as a means of serving others, transforming guilt into purpose and suffering into redemption. Through such portrayals, Jergis translates existential struggle into a journey of moral self-realization consistent with Frankl’s principles.
Findings: The findings indicate that Jergis employs human experience, moral values, suffering, and other meaning-giving elements to help his characters transcend despair and resist the injustices of life. He defines the attainment of peace amid mortality through the dual framework of divine unity and belief in the afterlife. Death serves as a central motif, approached from two distinct perspectives. The first, rooted in faith, views death as an opportunity for union with divine mercy—mirroring Frankl’s assertion that meaning can be found even in suffering and finitude. The second perspective, based on nihilism, regards death as the absolute end of existence, resulting in alienation, addiction, and despair. The ethical principles embodied in the novel—resistance, justice, altruism, and self-sacrifice—align directly with Frankl’s Logotherapy, illustrating that the salvation of humanity arises through meaning-making, moral steadfastness, and compassionate action. Ultimately, Sleeping in a Cherry Orchard emerges not merely as a story but as a literary enactment of Logotherapy’s central idea: that life retains meaning under all circumstances, even amid suffering and loss.