نشریه نقد و نظریه ادبی
سال دوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 3، بهار و تابستان 1396)

Inspired by Cassirer’s and Eliadeh’s mythological insights and employing Fraser’s and Freud’s views as well as New Critical ideas, Northrop Frye gained deep insights into the cyclical and dialectical structure of myths. In his view, the formation of a myth is considered to be the outcome of two different functions: the tendency of the myth to present narratives in a cyclical system, and its movement toward self-sufficient verbal structures. Frye studies the latter function under myth’s theme-centred aspect and believes that dianoia, or meaning, is myth’s dialectical structure which is formed as a result of the formulation, interpenetration and interconnection of images. Nonetheless, the concept of dianoia has, so far, been overlooked in the majority of the studies on Frye’s theoretical position. Therefore, employing a descriptive-analytical method, the present article aims to investigate Frye’s theories in this regard and, concentrating on his theoretical origins, analyse dianoia’s internal function. This study will demonstrate that dianoia is associated with the hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic aspects of speech, and that the transition from the myth to romance, epic and, ultimately, history is made possible due to the function of the paradigmatic axis. In this transition, the untransformed myth finally moves toward naturalism’s realistic dimension and the myth, though hidden and dormant, does not disappear at all. Thus, according to Frye, even those works that have been written by adopting a basically historical approach, have the potential to be examined and analysed through a mythological reading.

One of the main themes of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time is that of love and it can be claimed that other themes in the novel take on meaning in their relation to this central theme. Even though in the analysis of love that he presents in this work Proust has been influenced by Stendhal’s insights in his work On Love – and naturally there are common points between the two views – we should not ignore the basic difference that distinguishes them. This difference can be grasped through the difference between two conceptions of consciousness: first, a classical conception which is based on Descartes’ interpretation of consciousness, and the other a modern one which is connected to Merleau-Ponty’s understanding, among others. Presenting these two conceptions and introducing Proust’s analysis of love by comparing it with Stendhal’s insights, the present study will demonstrate the ways in which these different conceptions of consciousness can help us in analysing the essential and fundamental difference between Proust’s and Stendhal’s analyses of love.

In any of the functional texts of classical Persian literature such as ethico-political writings, there is a hidden and ideological voice that, despite the apparent difference between the tales and the diversity of their subjects, flows through all parts or stories of the texts. In Kalileh and Damneh, this voice, which is an outcome of the implied author’s position, emphasises, in an indirect but consistent way, a hierarchical connection in all social relationships. In the present article, the implied author’s position in Kalileh and Damneh is discussed according to two contexts constructing the text – i.e., the situational and verbal contexts. Of course, based on the historical roots of the formation and composition of the tales, Indian Caste ideologies and the Iranshahri political doctrine are assumed as the text’s situational-epistemological context, while for the introduction, categorization and analysis of the verbal context the pattern of spatial distribution in Nasrollah Monshi’s writing has been relied on. The study concludes that the pattern of spatial distribution expressed by in-text agents on different levels indicates the production and dissemination of a discourse of pre-determined order and its resulting demarcations in the shape of an award/punishment system, so much so that the reward of keeping order and observing the borderlines is survival and redemption, whereas transgressing these points leads to death or loss.

Schizophrenia, in the sense of mental disintegration and split personality, is one of the features of postmodernist characters whose difference from normal persons is shown in postmodernist works. Unlike Oedipal characters, schizophrenic characters, as Deleuze and Guattari hold, do not limit their desire to one object only but, rather, think of different objects and, in this way, are afflicted with disintegration. Existentialist, nihilistic and nomadic characters are afflicted with such disintegration but sometimes their mental disintegration is intensified. The present study concentrates on three well-known Persian novels and regards them as examples of Iranian postmodern works. In these novels all types of women characters can be discerned. Moreover, Daneshvar’s Wandering Caravan-Leader and Ravanipour’s The Gypsy beside the Fire, written by women authors as well as Mohammadali’s A Dead Man’s Wet Beliefs, written by a male author, contribute to the present study’s comprehensiveness. The main aim of this study is to analyse women characters in the novels. Adopting an analytical method, it examines the schizophrenic characters in these three novels to explain that women have a more marginal role in novels with male authors. The article concludes that in novels like The Gypsy beside the Fire, the main characters have a more schizophrenic personality and this is likely to have been caused by men.

Even though in philosophical studies the Platonic dialogues have always been an area for investigation, little attention has been paid to their dramatic aspects. Since Plato was an opponent of the mimetic arts, in particular theatre and drama, narrative has been given priority in his works. Therefore, his dialogues can be measured against the criteria of narrative drama. In the modern period, narrative drama gained popularity in Europe and was recognized as closet drama. The present article studies the mimetic and narrative features of such dramas and compares them with Platonic dialogues. First, the concepts of mimesis and narrative are described and, then, Plato’s ideas on these concepts are explained. Plato’s views on tragedy and comedy have also been specifically studied. We have, then, concentrated on the place of theatre in the modern period and among non-mimetic arts – an outcome of which is closet drama. In interpreting closet dramas, Gertrude Stein’s Four Saints in Three Acts as well as the overall structure of the plays of Bertolt Brecht and Samuel Beckett, two modernist playwrights, have been examined. Finally, by extracting the features of closet drama and comparing them with Plato’s dialogues, we arrive at the coordinates of Platonic dialogues as a dramatic type.

In the recent decades, rhetorical criticism has been recognized as a method for the assessment of the letters in the Holy Book and many critics have applied this critical approach in studying Christian epistles. Apart from the communicative structure of the epistles – which is, naturally, fit for rhetorical analysis – another reason for the application of rhetorical criticism in studying the letters seems to be the fact that in their composition, the Christian epistles have been influenced by the principles of ancient oratory. Nowadays, some scholars believe that due to the influence of the instructions of oratory teachers, the principles of letter-writing in the ancient times were regulated in a special style and this has caused similarities between orations and letters in ancient times. Even though this view is not completely accepted in academic circles, it has motivated some scholars to attempt rhetorical analyses of the epistles of the Holy Book following the principles of ancient oratory. The present article first introduces the most important methods that, based on the principles of ancient oratory, have emerged in the rhetorical criticism of the Holy Book and, then, assesses the existing challenges in applying these methods in studies on the rhetorical criticism of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

With the establishment of the field of Popular Literature in Iranian universities, scholarship in the area of Persian folk tales has accelerated. In this regard, one of the innovative and new approaches is the application of literary theories in reading, investigating and analysing oral and written Iranian folk tales. Maryam Sharifnasab’s A Narratological Study of Iranian Folk Tales can be regarded as one of the newly-founded studies, which has attempted to present a new perspective by integrating structuralist narratological approaches, in particular the ideas of Propp, Chatman, Lintvelt and Gérard Gennette, with the traditional approaches in criticism, i.e., studying the elements of fiction. Given the necessity of critical assessment of academic studies, the present article, following a content-analysis method, has attempted to discuss the incompatibility between Sharifnasab’s theoretical and methodological approach and the subject of her study. The article concludes that despite Sharifnasab’s attempt to read Persian folk tales through structuralist narratological theories and present a comprehensive narrative structure for the folk tales, the prevalence of mistakes in the content of the work as well as theoretical and methodological misconceptions have undermined the achievements of her study.