Document Type : علمی- پژوهشی
Authors
1 Group of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
2 Group of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz Ahvaz. Iran
3 PhD Candidate of Persian language and literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. Iran
Abstract
Discussing the “extraordinary” element in a system in which the place of elements is determined according to their relation to the overall design of the narrative is an appropriate way of analyzing magical realism and those mystical narratives consisting of extraordinary events. In order to display the existent correlation between the magical deep structure and the plot of these literary productions, the narrative structure of these mystical texts: Asrārottowhid, Resāle - ye Qoshayriye, Kashfol- Mahjūb, Mersādol-’ebād, Mesbāhol- Hedāye and Meftāhol- Kefāye and these fictions including One Hundred Years of Solitude, Metamorphosis, The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings and Aura is investigated with an eye to Claude Bremond’s model so that we can extract the main sequences in these works and we can specify the structural similarities and dissimilarities in these works’ main sequence according to the combination of “realistic” and “extraordinary” functions in a sequence. The obtained results indicate that there are similarities in the structure of the main sequence and their utilization of “realistic” and “extraordinary” sequences. The shared structures in the analyzed works are: “the linear structure without excluding the main constituents”, “the exclusion of initial state of equilibrium and the commencement with a crisis”, and “the nonlinear structure”. The shared combinations of main sequences in terms of the inclusion of realistic or extraordinary tasks are depicted as “exclusionary-extraordinary-realistic”, “exclusionary-extraordinary-extraordinary” and “extraordinary-extraordinary-extraordinary”.
Highlights
Extraordinary work in Persian mystical anecdotes and some stories of magical realism[1]
Introduction
Claude Bremond has proposed a three-phase pattern for the analysis of narratives. In this pattern, we achieve a structure designating a gradual movement from a stable situation to the state of disequilibrium and transition and then a return to the stable state of affairs. Bremond considers the logical sequence of several functions as a basic unit and calls it “sequence”. The study of “mystical” and “magical realism” narratives through Bremond’s theory reveals that these types of works have similarities in structure and the combination of basic sequences due to their “extraordinary” and “realistic” constituent
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[1] Parvin Golizâde: Assiciate Professor of Persian Literature; Ahvaz Šahid Camrân University
Manucehr Joukâr: Assiciate Professor of Persian Literature; Ahvaz Šahid Camrân University
Zeinab Rahmati: Ph. D. Student of Persian Literature; Ahvaz Šahid Camrân University
Discussion
The structural similarities among these works can be summarized as “the linearity of the narrative structure without the exclusion of the constituent parts”, “the exclusion of the initial state of equilibrium and the commencement of the narrative with the crisis” and “the nonlinear narrative structure”. The linear structure, without excluding the constituent parts, in the form of “the initial state of equilibrium - the intermediary phase- the secondary state of equilibrium” is the most applicable structure in the analyzed narratives including “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”.
In narratives, the tendency to exclude the initial state of equilibrium and to begin the narrative with intermediary state is witnessed in the representation of mystical dreams with such themes as visiting and conversing with the God, the angels, prophets, Imams, and the deceased mystics with such intentions as paying a tribute to the dreamer, emphasizing the mystic’s high spiritual status and his felicitous destiny. Commencing the narrative with a crisis is also seen in these stories: The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, Aura, and Metamorphosis. Through deviating from the usual form of narration and the exclusion of the initial state of equilibrium, the writers of these narratives (“the Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”, Aura, and Metamorphosis) start the narrative with the intermediary state and gradually accomplish the state of equilibrium. Generally speaking, the principal structural similarity in the investigated narratives is their commencement with an extraordinary sequence in the transition state; and their dissimilarity resides in the fact that the authors employing magical realism in their narratives refer to the initial state of equilibrium in the middle of the narration and in fact, after the intermediary state; because in comparison with other narrators, these authors have more opportunity to elaborate on the details.
In the nonlinear structure witnessed in some of the narratives and also One Hundred Years of Solitude, we notice the disarrangement of the constituents of the principal sequence such as the commencement with the secondary state of equilibrium and backward evasion.
The combination of “extraordinary” and “realistic” sequences also takes three common forms as following: “exclusionary-extraordinary-realistic”, “exclusionary, extraordinary, extraordinary”, “extraordinary, extraordinary, extraordinary”.
This combination of sequence, “exclusionary-extraordinary-realistic”, can follow another mostly applied sequence, which is “realistic- extraordinary-realistic” and in which the initial state of equilibrium has been removed, but the reader can guess that the realistic event is in progress in the first constituent. This combination is also utilized in magical realism narratives such as The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World in which the extraordinary event is witnessed in the intermediary state.
In narratives, the combination “exclusionary-extraordinary-extraordinary” is mainly allotted to prayers and God’s answering those prayers, the supplicant’s fervent prayers and the answer of Hātef (God’s invisible messenger from the Unseen World), Sheikh’s prophecy and the fulfillment of his prophecy, and such cases that come in the second and the third states. In Aura and Metamorphosis, the extraordinary event that did not exist in the initial state of equilibrium finds its way to the second state of equilibrium after its appearance in the intermediary state like what we see in the characterization of the protagonist in Metamorphosis who possesses a magical and extraordinary body.
Sometimes in some narratives the real and the unreal are so blended that the imaginary coexists with the real throughout the story and in addition to the intermediary state, they also exist in the state of equilibrium. Narratives belonging to this category usually have a pivotal extraordinary event in the intermediary state and in the other two states two extraordinary events. This combination is seen in One Hundred Years of Solitude and A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.
Regardless of the similarities in the main structure and of the combination of sequences in both magical realism and mystical narratives, we can also specify some dissimilarities in their functions. Narratives of magical realism are creative texts that render a more personal interpretation by letting the reader have more freedom to come to conclusion, while in mystical narratives we will face a final interpretation more compatible to the author’s objective.
The most significant feature of magical realism narratives is the creation of suspension and the author’s adhering to the feature of accidentality of events in such narratives leads to the unpredictability of the following sequences, but in mystical narratives, due to the abundance of narrational similarities, the feature of accidentality of the events in particular parts of the narrative such as the secondary state of equilibrium becomes less obvious and the final sequence can be predictable.
The sequence of constituent parts in mystical narratives is more remarkable and the narrative has internal coherence, while in magical realism narratives sometimes the main narrative halts in order for the author to add more subsidiary events to the story. The function of mystical narratives mainly concerns the confrontation of good and evil forces and the main objective is to promulgate religious belief, while in magical realism the fantastic element leads to the creation of a world replete with oddities and joyfulness.
Since the authors of this style of writing choose the design of their work with the help of preplanning, we can consider magical realism as something factitious. However, mystical experiences lack this artificiality and are more inspirational than factitious.
The interplay of actions and the emphasis upon incentives, the character’s deportment, the formation of the hero and the events he experiences, cause the magical realism narrative to be more developed and complete. In mystical narratives, however, the action and its objective are emphasized and characters become an instrument to make the plot proceed.
In mystical narratives, the descriptive function of the story helps the reader specify the cause of extraordinary actions and that cause is the eternal divine power. Yet in magical realism narratives, the cause of unnatural phenomena stays in the dark.
References
Ahmadi, B., (1386 Alef). Az nešânehâye tasviri tâ matn. Tehran: Našr-e Markaz.
Ahmadi, B., (1386 bâ). Sâxtâr va ta̕vl-e matn. Tehran: Našr-e Markaz.
[1] Parvin Golizâde: Assiciate Professor of Persian Literature; Ahvaz Šahid Camrân University
Manucehr Joukâr: Assiciate Professor of Persian Literature; Ahvaz Šahid Camrân University
Zeinab Rahmati: Ph. D. Student of Persian Literature; Ahvaz Šahid Camrân University
Keywords
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