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Showing 3 results for Jacques Derrida
Hamid Abdollahian, Farnoush Farahmand,
Volume 20, Issue 72 (5-2012)
Abstract
Najdi is one of the outstanding contemporary writers due to his specific style. He has a different attitude towards human life and cultural elements of Iran, which makes his stories a good subject for discussion and research. In this article, two stories of Najdi are analyzed in the light of Deconstruction: “The Day of Asb-rizi” and “The Night of Killing Sohrab”. Deconstruction is mostly based on Derrida’s theory. It originated and was initially used in Philosophy and then it spread to literary criticism. The aim of Deconstruction is to find the binary oppositions, to analyze them in order to reveal the contradictory points and to deny the accepted assumptions. The results of this process is to doubt those beliefs that have been considered as axiomatic up to that time. In Najdi’s stories, the binary oppositions include man/animal, man/nature and man and civilization. In “The Day of Asb-rizi”, the opposition between man and animal, and, freedom and slavery causes some contradictions in the major themes of the story. In “The Night of Killing Sohrab”, the binary opposition is that of harsh patriarchal world/ innocent childish world, or, experience/inexperience.
Ali Rezā Nabiloo, Maryam Hāmoongard,
Volume 32, Issue 96 (4-2024)
Abstract
The story “Zan-e Ziadi” is one of the nine short stories in a collection of the same name, which was first published in 1952 during the lifetime of the contemporary writer, Jalal Al-e Ahmad. The central theme of all the stories in this collection is women, and the author has depicted their sorrows and problems from a critical perspective. This article examines “Zan-e Ziadi” from the perspective of deconstructive criticism. Deconstructive criticism, also known as deconstruction or constructionism, was developed based on the theory of the French philosopher and theorist Jacques Derrida (1930-2004). This term was first used in philosophy and then in literary criticism. The basis of deconstructive criticism is to find hidden binary and contradictions within the text, as by uncovering these binaries, one can discover the hidden layers within the text. According to Derrida, the internal binaries are hierarchical and stair-like, and one part is given superiority over the other, but upon close examination of the text, it becomes clear that none of the binaries have superiority over the other and are in fact complementary to each other. Deconstructive criticism is based on examining accepted assumptions, deconstructing, and revealing textual contradictions and the readers must search within the text for everything they need to know. The conflict in “Zan-e Ziadi” is superficially based on the contradiction between human and human, man/woman, and internally between human and false cultural and social beliefs and traditions. After examining the binaries within the text and identifying the conflicting forces within it, it becomes clear that contrary to what appears from the surface of the text and in the initial reading, the dominant pole in the text and the transcendental signified on which the internal challenge of the text is based is not an oppressive man against an oppressed woman, but rather both the man and the woman are captives and subjugated by false and imposed beliefs of their time, and the two binaries advance the story alongside harmoniously with each other.
Mr. Mahdi Nourain, Hadi Nouri,
Volume 32, Issue 97 (1-2025)
Abstract
This article seeks to critique the elitism in the thoughts of Iranian intellectuals of the 1950s and 1960s. To do so, it carries out a deconstructionist reading of Jalal Al-e-Ahmad’s story titled Farewell from the collection Sitar (literally: Three String Musical Instrument). The book contains 13 stories of Al-e-Ahmad published in 1948. The current study was conducted from the perspective of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida and employed the eight-step strategy of David Boje as a postmodern critical analysis in dealing with the narrative. Boje’s method includes searching for duality, reinterpreting hierarchies, discovering rebel voices, revealing the other side of the narrative, negating the plot, finding exceptions, tracing between the lines, and resituating. The article follows each of these steps to bring about the deconstructionist reading of the story. After using the 8-step strategy of Boje, eight dualities were found: beauty vs. ugliness, core vs. periphery, naked vs. clothed, enlightenment vs. gluttony, rational vs. superstitious, quiet vs. garrulous, boy vs. girl, and activity vs. passivity. Each of these dualities has a hierarchical dominant/subordinate structure, and the narrator narrates the story in a way he is in the dominant position. Then the hierarchy in each duality was reinterpreted so the rebels found their voice and the other side of the story appeared. The romantic plot of the story was replaced with a tragic one, exceptions were found, and between the lines were read. Based on Boje’s strategy and adopting Jacques Derrida’s deconstructionist approach to read Farewell, a new narrative emerged that made possible the critique of the elitist views of Iranian intellectuals during the 1950s and 1960s. It is necessary to go beyond the person of Al-e-Ahmad and get closer to the subject of Al-e-Ahmad as an Iranian intellectual; a subject that has been made possible in a particular context and has produced works. According to the narrative that emerged from the deconstructionist reading of the story, it is concluded that the intellectual subject reproduces the hierarchical relationships, puts himself in a superior position, relies on modern reason, and without considering and understanding the existential relations of the subaltern, seeks to represent them and aims to accomplish what he calls an intellectual mission.
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