A study of the Cognitive Narrative of time in Sohrvardi's Red Wisdom with an Emphasis on Gerard Genette's opinion

Document Type : Research article

Authors

• Mehdi Mohammadzadeh ¹
• Mohammad Hossein Naserbakht ²
• Farzad Taghilar ³

¹ Professor, Faculty of Applied Arts, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran.

² Associate Professor, University of Art, Tehran, Iran.

³ . PhD student in Islamic Arts, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

Highlights

A dramatic work, with a specific purpose, aligns its characters with the subject matter in harmony; through contrast and definition—which lead to recognition—it disrupts the balance of the characters’ lives and brings about disorder. A conflict then emerges so that the disrupted state may return to its original form. The ensuing complications test the characters, trapping them in trials and errors that generate suspense. As the drama expands and intensifies, the critical situation reaches its climax, and tragedy unfolds. The outcome, shaped by this chain of events, conveys the central aim to the audience.

The Red Wisdom (ʿAql-i Surkh) possesses such dramatic and narrative capacities, particularly because of the prominent role of temporal elements within the narrative. This makes it increasingly worthy of attention from both readers and writers. Time, whether in its Aristotelian form or in its narrative form, provides a foundation upon which intellectual perspectives on storytelling can expand—interweaving Eastern meanings with Western forms and concepts.

Suhrawardī employs time in The Red Wisdom as a tool to disrupt linear sequence, introducing ruptures through anachronies—whether anticipations or retrospections—to illustrate the seeker’s journey toward liberation from worldly bonds. The story, told by a first-person narrator who acts as focalizer for part of the tale, continues until another figure—the old sage within the narrative—appears and assumes focalization in a different way. In the absence of Suhrawardī’s direct presence, the perceptual, psychological, and ideological dimensions of the author/narrator are nevertheless conveyed to the audience through temporal play.

The Red Wisdom functions, in a sense, as a metadrama and a narrative-within-a-narrative. In terms of duration, order, and frequency, it possesses narrative features capable of influencing every reader depending on their perspective of engagement with the work. This very structuring of temporal order and duration—where much of the story unfolds within a compressed time span—imparts a kind of negative acceleration to the narrative, though at times it operates in the opposite manner. The presence and analysis of Genette’s concept of frequency within The Red Wisdom, beyond inspiring creative approaches to reading for performance purposes, can also open pathways to understanding Suhrawardī’s philosophy.

Thus, narrative time in The Red Wisdom surpasses story time; through focalization, it aids the author in more effectively transmitting the deeper meaning and message embedded within the tale.

Keywords

• Singular/ Repeated frequency
• Red wisdom
• Structure
• Genette
• Narrative
• Time
• Negative acceleration

Main Subjects

• Interdisciplinary Studies