A Lacanian Reading of Ahmad Shamlou's Death of the Nazarene

Psychoanalytic criticism is one of the most widly used approaches in contemporary literary theory. Using this approach in reading literary works can help in the exploration of their deep layers. This article draws on the major notions in Lacanian psychoanalysis, and traces them in Ahmad Shamlou’s well-known poem “Death of the Nazarene”. To do so, first the Lacanian psychoanalytic framework, which includes concepts like the Imaginary order, the Symbolic order, the Real order, object petit a, and the big Other, will be explained. These concepts will, then, be applied to Shamlou’s “Death of the Nazarene” in order to reveal complex layers and present relevant arguments. Jesus was born in Nazareth and, therefore, Shamlou calls him “the Nazarene”. He is a man who, extending his mercy, wants to save the society by orienting it toward the big Other. This characteristic occurs in the Symbolic, but mercy and love usually do not happen after the imaginary world. This study offers a textual analysis for a better understnading of the poem’s implied and hidden layers.