Sociological Analysis of Emotions Affecting Salient Identity Based on Stryker's Theory(Case Study: The Protagonist in the Novel Vatan Men Zujaj (Homeland of the Glass))

Identity, in the sense of who one is, defines a person's dialectical relationship with the outside world, and is regarded as an example of the quality of people's behavior in society. Among the sociologists, Sheldon Stryker has linked identity with emotions and believes that among the identities formed in a person, an identity that she/he experiences extreme positive or negative emotions in relation to the roles, people and social situations aligned with it, becomes a salient identity. Considering that narrative literature has a wide scope in reflecting social identity; the novel Vatan Men Zujaj "Homeland of the Glass" written by Yasmina Saleh, an Algerian author, focuses on identity questions that occur in the form of multiple social roles, and portrays an intertwined series of influences of Algerian society on the protagonist's choice of identity. The present research uses content analysis and text-oriented reading based on Stryker's theory to examine the social structure of the target society and the emotions generated from it, which play a role in salience of identity. The findings of the study indicate that the protagonist of the story has achieved common emotional meanings through effective communication with the educated stratum of the society such as his schoolteacher, experience of university environment, and communication with journalist colleagues who have increased his scope of social awareness. This has also led to his commitment to collective groups and his inclination to social roles including journalism, which is in line with his salient identity as "social police". Also, the numerous situations that have been effective in reproducing the emotions of the protagonist are qualitatively noticeable in the canonization of identity.