Identity fragmentation and instability and narrative in Mohammad Reza Kaateb's novels

In postmodern novels, the concept of identity does not enjoy any coherence and stability existing in pre-modern novels. Indeed, such a concept is fragmented, disjointed and unstable. Narrative in postmodern stories is thus unreliable, suspicious and contradictory due to the fragmented and fluid identities of the characters. One of the most prominent and prolific writers in the contemporary era is Mohammad Reza Kaateb, some of whose novels are similar to postmodernist elements. In so doing, the concept of identity and narrative is disclosed in this study. In this research, in a descriptive and analytical way, six novels of the author named "Aftab Prast-e Nazanin (Lovely Chameleon)", "Balzans (The Fliers )", "Bi Tarsi (Fearless)", " Pasti (Dowmhill)", " Ram Konandeh (The Domesticator)" and "Hiss" from the point of view of postmodernist components. Identity, character and narration have been investigated. The findings show that most of the characters in the addressed novels are of indeterminate, fragmented identities. Wandering, displacement and overlapping of characters with each other, inability in self-recognition, is evidence to their disjointed identities. Fragmented and contradictory narratives in characters and adventures are one main feature that marked the writer's novels with uncertainty.The post-modernist components of ontological doubt, uncertainty and fragmentation and contradiction in identity and narrative are very impressive in such novels as Lovely Chameleon, Downhill, The Domesticator and Hiss. In contrast, The Fliers and Fearless have used such elements to a milder extent.