Abstract

In recent years, the existential approach in psychology has become one of the prominent and influential approaches, gaining special attention not only among psychological fields but also across interdisciplinary studies, particularly in literature. This approach delves deeply into the fundamental concepts of human life and emphasizes the necessity of finding meaning and consciously confronting existential challenges. Issues such as death, freedom, responsibility, absurdity, and meaning constitute the main concerns of existential psychology, with the way individuals face these crises determining the quality of their psychological life. In this perspective, fictional characters are not merely reflections of external events but represent existential concerns and the quest to create meaning for life in a world full of fundamental challenges. The present study, using a descriptive–analytical method, reviews the core concepts of existential psychology as a framework to analyze the character  of “Malik” in Khawla Hamdi’s novel “Show Yourself to Me That I May Look at You”. The findings indicate that after a long search, Malik realizes that the meaning of life is neither fixed nor predetermined, and that absurdity is an inseparable part of it. By accepting this reality, he attains a form of personal and direct faith in God that transcends traditional beliefs. Malik’s awareness of his fundamental separation from others, and even from himself, manifests as alienation from society, religion, and human relationships, which intensifies his psychological and spiritual isolation. By embracing the pains and contradictions of life, instead of fleeing from them, Malik seeks to create personal meaning for himself. From an existential perspective, this pursuit reflects his psychological well-being, as he actively seeks answers to existential questions rather than denying or escaping them.
Keywords: Existential Psychology; Ultimate Concerns; Meaning of Life; Irvin Yalom; “Show Yourself to Me That I May Look at You”.
Extended summary
1.Introduction
Existential psychotherapy is one of the most significant psychodynamic theories after Freud, which considers the roots of human’s inner conflicts in their confrontation with fundamental existential issues. These concerns are often hidden in the unconscious and masked by mechanisms such as repression and denial. From this perspective, the quality of an individual’s confrontation with crises such as death, freedom, responsibility, loneliness, and the search for meaning determines their psychological health or disorder. This approach is rooted in both philosophy and psychology and, in connection with the teachings of ancient philosophy -such as Socrates’ dictum “Know thyself”- emphasizes human agency and their endeavor to find purpose and meaning.
The application of this approach in literary criticism provides an interdisciplinary method to explore the inner experiences of characters and to reveal how they face fundamental existential challenges. In this study, the novel “Show Yourself to Me That I May Look at You” by Khawla Hamdi is reviewed from this viewpoint. The novel’s main character, “Malik,” struggles with concerns such as loneliness, freedom, responsibility, and the fear of meaninglessness. His behaviors and inner whispers reflect these crises. This analysis is closely related to the theories of Irvin Yalom, who in his works has addressed issues such as death, meaning, and lonliness. Ultimately, the novel illustrates that Malik, in the midst of these conflicts, seeks a new meaning for life.

Methods:

The present study, using a descriptive–analytical method, reviews the novel “Show Yourself to Me That I May Look at You” by Khawla Hamdi based on Irvin Yalom’s existential psychology. In the first stage, the research data were collected through direct reading of the novel’s text and the passages reflecting fundamental existential concerns and conflicts of the main character, “Malik”, wre selected. Then, the data were analyzed and categorized within Yalom’s theoretical framework, which is based on the four main existential concerns: death, freedom, lonliness, and absurdity/the search for meaning.
In the second stage, a qualitative analysis was conducted based on Yalom’s key concepts in order to clarify how the character confronts these fundamental existential issues and the strategies he employs to cope with them. In this process, alongside the psychological analysis, attention was also given to the literary and narratological dimensions of the text, in order to reveal the relationship between narrative structure and the representation of character’s existential crises.
The method applied is interdisciplinary, trying to combine existential psychology’s approach with literary criticism to provide a comprehensive portrayal of the main character’s existential experiences. Therefore, the study contributes both to the enrichment of literary studies and to a deeper understanding of existential psychology.
3.Research findings:
Within the framework of existential psychology, key concepts include death, freedom and responsibility, lonliness, absurdity and meaninglessness, and existential anxiety. Death, as an unavoidable reality, is considered a primary source of existential anxiety; Malik faces the death of his beloved Reem and experiences a sense of absurdity and lack of meaning, which leads him to search for meaning through spiritual experiences and travel, such as practicing yoga. Freedom and responsibility are understood as the idea that human is free but must bear responsibility for their choices and actions; Malik distances himself from traditional beliefs and makes new choices, such as abandoning certain religious practices. He accepts responsibility for these decisions and strive to create personal meaning in his life. Lonliness as the sense of separation from oneself, others and the world, deepens for Malik after Reem’s death, causing him to withdraw from others. However, he attempts to mitigate this sense of separation by forming new relationships and seeking meaning through interactions with others. Absurdity and meaninglessness become apparent to Malik in the face of failures, such as losing his job or educational status, prompting him to search for meaning in various religions and philosophies, including studying jurisprudential (Fiqh) and Sufi texts. Finally, existential anxiety arises from confronting fundamental realities of life, such as death, freedom, lonliness, and absurdity; Malik addresses these anxieties, particularly through spiritual practices like meditation and worship in Mecca, in his quest for peace and meaning.

Conclusion:

The findings of this study indicate that the protagonist seeks existential freedom by attempting to break free from religious and social constraints. However, this freedom not only liberates him but also confronts him with the responsibilities result from his free choices, leading to psychological crises and deep anxiety. These responsibilities weigh heavily on him, intensifying his sense of psychological instability and doubts.
Malik experiences a loneliness deeper than social isolation, realizing that no one can fully understand his inner experiences. This fundamental sense of separation from others, and even from himself, manifests as alienation from society, religion and human relationships, further deepening his psychological and spiritual lonliness.
The death of “Reem” forces Malik to confront the inevitable reality of death and life’s instability. This experience intensifies his existential anxiety and raises fundamental questions about meaning, values, and the absurdity of life, with death like a mirror reflecting life’s fragility and instability.
Ultimately, Malik comes to accept that there is no absolute or predetermined meaning to life. By embracing absurdity as a part of life, he attains a form of existential faith—a personal and direct relationship with God beyond traditional frameworks. This approach allows him to accept existential contradictions and sufferings as human realities and to create his own personal meaning in this process.
From an existential perspective, Malik’s continuous search for life’s meaning reflects his psychological well-being, as he actively confronts existential questions rather than denying or avoiding them and tries to find answer to them.
In the end, given the depth and originality of existential psychology in exploring the inner aspects of the human spirit, it is also recommended to consider references and works found in classical Arabic texts. This approach deals with fundamental issues of the human soul by going beyond limitations of time and place and can serve as a valuable tool for understanding and resolving the psychological challenges of contemporary life.