Document Type : Research article
Authors
Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.
Abstract
Highlights
Extended Abstract
Introduction
An account, in which there is a sequence (frequency) of time, causality, and inference, is called a narrative. Narrative is the foundation of the science of "narratology." Vladimir Propp established the basis of narratology in his book "Morphology of Fairy Tales." Scholars such as Paul Ricoeur, Roland Barthes, Algirdas Greimas, Claude Bremond, Gérard Genette, Fredric Jameson, and Tzvetan Todorov significantly contributed to the evolution of this science. As a result, the characteristics of narrative have been identified, and the concept of narrative has gained a definition. However, the generality of the concept, its multiple synonyms – especially in Persian – and its diverse fields of application have made the term "narrative" somewhat ambiguous and unclear.
Narratives can be examined in at least three domains: essence, structure, and function. The essence of narrative has two commonly accepted meanings: the act of narrating and the text that is narrated. The content structure of a narrative reflects a series of events that are shaped by the characters of the story over several time periods, while its formal structure can be identified in literary works that are distinguished by two features: the existence of a story and a storyteller, thus qualifying as a narrative text. The outcome of narrative is the creation of a "text." Typically, through its function, a narrative distinguishes a narrative text from a non-narrative one, meaning narrative is an action through which a story is defined.
Saaedi (1314-1364 ش.) had an unsettled spirit, and historical conditions and the environment greatly influenced and stimulated it. He began to engage in political affairs and collaborate with newspapers and write stories from the age of seventeen. Alongside stories and novels, he showed a keen interest in screenplays and plays. He believed that the awakening of the people was more effective for social reform than the efforts of intellectuals and politicians, and he placed greater emphasis on the impact of narrative language, especially with its objective and visual (cinematic) qualities. Over ninety works in various genres, including novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, pantomimes, translations, and essays, have been published by him. In 1960, he published a collection of stories titled "The Magnificent Evening Gathering," which consists of twelve short stories with a humorous and critical tone. The last story in this collection is titled "The Farewell Ceremony," which is the subject of this article.
The aim of this research is to demonstrate the formal and content nature and function of the narrative in the story "The Farewell Ceremony" and the position of Gholam Hossein Saaedi in using narrative techniques for social purposes. He intends to express the state of society regarding the political and social relationships of the government with the masses in the language of humor and symbolism, and his motivations in this aim are elucidated.
Methodology
In examining this story, John Peck's method (in his book How to Study a Novel) was considered as a model, but not to the extent of complete adherence to his method. Peck has established the interpretation of the text and reaching the unwritten aspects from the statements and implications of the novel as the main framework of his work. Thus, it can be said that the method of this research is descriptive-analytical.
Discussion
"The Farewell Ceremony" is the twelfth story in the collection The Magnificent Evening Gathering and is approximately ten pages long. Its subject matter concerns the unstable and formal relationships of employees with managers, where in practice, their relationship is severed. Therefore, it is symbolically stated that the connection between the ruling apparatus and the context of the society has been broken, yet no one dares to express it. The message of the story is that the people of Iran are in a situation that can be likened to a futile wait on a cold autumn night. Hence, the language of the story is intertwined with humor and symbolism.
This story is structured with a variable focalized perspective within the narrative framework, using the voices of several narrators – passive characters in a descriptive-objective style, from which a theatrical text can be reached. The author has intentionally incorporated many theatrical conditions into the story. If this story possesses many characteristics of a play and were to be adapted into a cinematic performance, many of its scenes would be filled with eerie shadows; a style that influenced Iranian works from 19th-century Europe, with successful examples like "The Blind Owl" and unsuccessful ones like "Her Eyes" by Bozorg Alavi. The message of the story is that time, in an ironic language, resembles a night in which humans have turned into shadows and are devoid of their essence.
In the story, there are two categories of narrators: the first category consists of narrators who appear to agree with the status quo, while the second category includes narrators who boldly oppose it, creating a dual-voiced narrative. The opposing voice frequently speaks of "night" and "cold," revealing the impacts of the symbols of Nima Yushij (night) and Mehdi Akhavan-Sales (winter). Thus, "time" is more of a concept than a calendar, holding different meanings in the minds of the characters. Consequently, instead of formal events, the "states" of the minds drive the story's direction and movement.
Conclusion
Movement, relying on time and causality, leads to the narrativity of the story. Narrativity signifies the characteristics that distinguish a narrative text from a non-narrative one. This story possesses the most important characteristics that narrative researchers have identified for narrative texts; therefore, it is a narrative text. In addition to these, it has other characteristics that are not deemed necessary for non-narrative texts. In this story, all events and actions of the characters align with the sentences that appear at the end of the story: "The night is very long, and the sun will not rise anytime soon," revealing a specific meaning alongside them. The story is a portrayal of life intertwined with feelings of alienation and helplessness of a people who, in the language of allegory, await in vain on a cold night. Thus, the story inevitably shifts from explaining human conditions to displaying actions, with characters' traits being superficial and actions merely completing the stage of display. A narrative text can exist without traits but cannot exist without actions.
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