Document Type : Research article
Author
Ph.D. student of Persian language and literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. Ahvaz. Iran
Abstract
Highlights
Analyzing the Fictional Works of Adnan Ghorayfi with an Ecological Approach based on the Concept of Power in Foucault's Thought
Fatemeh Hayatdavoodi[1]
Introduction
The generalization of negative trends and developments in modern society, which is the result of unsustainable industrial development, should be considered in literary works as a significant attraction for change before it is too late.as critical analysis of literary representations of relationship between nature and technology can play an important role in public opinion and visualization of people's attitudes. In fact, "deep thinking about a literary work may become the origin of a movement or a campaign that affects the fate of other people." (Grace, 1988: 20) That is why we will answer the following questions with an environmental approach in a descriptive-analytical way: What factors have distorted the interaction of humans with environment and distanced nature from its object position and, resultantly, have been involved in those environmental and human crises as depicted in societies of Adnan Ghorayfi's fictional works? We need to answer these questions in order to understand the importance of function of "environmental" elements and its role in human action, as well as the direction of his relations in dealing with environment, which we think flows in all the components of these stories.
Discussion
With a Foucauldian analysis of the ratio of knowledge and power in Adnan Ghorayfi's fiction collections, the hegemony of truth in the 40s and 50s is revealed; This is so because the propositions of the discourses of developmentism, authoritarianism and capitalism have caused Adnan Ghorayfi to speak about a specific subject at a specific historical moment and to represent the knowledge related to that discourse , which allows us clearly see the portrayal of such discourses which leaves adverse effects on the environment and humans, in his fictional works such as Palm’s Mother, Love Bird, Four Apartments in Tehran-Pars and Cloak in the Fog. For example, in the story "Palm’s Mother", we see a garden that was destroyed due to the deception of land grabbers, speculators and people in power, its palm trees were cut down one by one and now they have started building houses in its place. Such an act has marked the poverty of Seyyed's family and caused crises in their lives,Crises that can be traced to the authoritarian discourse of power and the political economy that accompanies it; because as Foucault says, "With the emergence of political economy, the concept of nature will change. For the political economy, nature is not a genuine and protected region that the power should not touch for fear of becoming illegitimate.Nature is something that flows within the framework of, through and within the actions of governance" (Foucault, 2011: 29), or in the collection of stories "Love Bird" a family is depicted that the dominant discourse of capital have left adverse effects on their behavior with each other and turned them into subjects whose actions and behaviours are shaped actions and behaviors,actions and behaviors that are not limited to themselves; rather, it has been shown in the hostile behavior of birds with each other and changes in the sound and appearance of birds due to the change in their food, or in the story "The Road" by Adnan Ghorayfi from the collection of stories "Four Apartments in Tehran-Pars", relationships of power influenced by development atmosphere, which is shown by building roads and extracting oil from riverbeds, has caused crises in the relationship between the person and the place. This story with the space it depicts is an important element for examining the material role of power relations, place and subjectivity.In this story, not only humans, but also the river bed, by exercising power on the part of the development owners to extract oil, moves away from its objectivity, a move away that is not only an environmental damage; it also endangers human health. The discourse of development, which is considered a type of "individualizing power technology" means "a technology that targets people up to their bodies and behaviors and a kind of political anatomy" (Foucault, 1389: 190), in the story of "Road" has targeted a poor section of society, i.e. the residents of shed, or if we examine the construction of the subjects with an environmental approach in Adnan Ghoraayfi's "Cloaked in the Fog" story collection, we see society and environment in which issue of power and prison-like society has caused the creation of subjectsas the ruling power has not only sought to control people's lives but also their environment. In general, bio power governs on fictional society, which, as Foucault defines bio power, "is generally applied to the population, life and living beings." (Foucault, 2010 B: 357).
Conclusion
Challenging the discourses that leave effects on all aspects of an individual's and society's life is essential in order to improve biological and human life, the necessity that we have shown by analyzing the stories of Adnan Ghorayfi with an ecological approach. In the story of Palm’sMother, the autocratic discourse of power and the accompanying political economy have caused crises in biological and human life. In the story "Love Bird", the capitalist discourse by turning people into subjects has shaped their actions and behaviors not only with themselves but also with nature. In the story of "The Road", the discourse of development and the application of disciplinary techniques of the developed bourgeois societies for urban development, which is illustrated by the construction of roads and the extraction of oil from riverbeds, have disturbed the relationship of individual with physical place. In the short story collection "Cloaked in Fog", the issue of power and prison-like society has caused the creation of subjects. The root of such crises can be found on the one hand in the destructive discourses and the application of disciplinary techniques of developed societies in body politics without regard to the humanity of humans and, on the other hand, in the attention to development and achieving profit mostly without paying attention to the importance of the environment and the continuity of human societies. Therefore, according to these stories, one of the ways out of these crises is to challenge the destructive discourses and, in addition, the disciplinary techniques of developed societies and their application in developing societies that pursue their goals with a one-dimensional view of development without considering the environment and humanity of people living in a region.
Keywords: Adnan Ghorayfi, environmental approach, concept of power, Foucault
[1]. PhD in Persian language and literature of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. Ahvaz Iran.Hayatdavoodi.fatemeh@gmail.com
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