Iran Maria Maleki, Iran Behzad Pourgharib,
Volume 30, Issue 4 (10-2023)
Abstract
In Postcolonialism the issue of the influential power of dominant hegemony over the resultants of cultural confrontation between colonized and colonizer is preponderantly under scrutiny. Frantz Fanon is an influential figure in building upon this conceptual framework; whose oeuvre is bestrewed with postulations regarding the consequences of colonization and racism on the identity, experience, and the psyche of colored people. By utilizing Fanon’s thought, this paper intends to analyze different aspects of the black experience, such as alienation, inferiority, and assimilation in Edward P. Jones’s Pulitzer-winning novel, The Known World (2003). Throughout the novel, the conduct of free or bonded black characters within the institution of slavery reflects that of the white culture, and Fanon’s ideas are called upon to investigate the origin and possible consequence and implications of such behaviors.
Masoud Farahmandfar,
Volume 31, Issue 2 (5-2024)
Abstract
The present paper examines Nadine Gordimer's The Conservationist (1974) in order to present a postcolonial reading of it in light of Homi K. Bhabha's ideas. It firstly discusses the significance of this novel and its narrative style, along with its context (Apartheid and the Zulu culture). Then it examines the central characters (Mehring and Jacobus) with the help of Bhabha's key concepts of hybridity and mimicry. The paper analyzes the relationship between the foreign white master, Mehring, and his native black servants, and underlines that the displaced colonial subjects (such as Jacobus) can, through mimicry, defy the oppression of imperial hegemony from within. In the text of Gordimer’s novel we can witness the formation of new cultural hybrids. It is characteristic of Gordimer’s fiction to reflect upon interactions between European and indigenous cultures. It is also argued that the funeral at the very end of the novel is in fact a transformation; for one, it brings about a change of focus and the readers shall end the novel bearing the memory of the black man in their minds.
Mohammad Ghaffary, Mahsa Hashemi,
Volume 31, Issue 3 (8-2024)
Abstract
Modernist literature decidedly experiments with such modes of discourse representation as free indirect discourse (FID) to highlight the subjective nature of reality and reflect the estrangement of the modern subject. Accordingly, an analysis of discourse representation has proved to be integral in exploring Modernist narratives. The discourse representation in movies, however, has received little attention from film narratologists. After an overview of discourse representation in literature and film, the present paper examines Virginia Woolf’s modernist masterpiece Mrs Dalloway (1925) and its cinematic adaptation of the same title by Marleen Gorris (1997) and its interconnectedness to present characters’ subjectivities. The basic claim of this study is that the (free) indirect discourses of the novel are turned into free direct discourse in the movie using the technique of internal sound or flashback. Although there are instances of internal focalisation in this movie, they are so disjointed or short that the dominant discourse remains that of the narrator. Therefore, the findings of the present essay demonstrate that Gorris’ film is not creative enough to bring about effects equal to or beyond those produced by Woolf’s or reproduce the underlying forces of “difference” at play in Woolf’s text.
Shahrzad Mohammad Hosein, Hoda Shabrang, Razieh Eslamieh,
Volume 31, Issue 4 (11-2024)
Abstract
The precedence of poetry can be traced to ancient times when man first realized that he could combine speech with rhythmicity and musicality to convey and express his inner-most thoughts and passions. The strengths and advantages attributed to poetry are galore; however, few think of employing it as a source for retrieving cultural facts. In the current study, the endeavor of the researcher is to display how poetry can be utilized to extract cultural concepts which are embedded in the mass cultural consciousness of a people by scrutinizing their poetry. The complexity of notions, expressed through poetry, can be revealed one’s verses are deconstructed and the poem is perused scholarly to single out hypograms which are the units carrying the essence of meaning. The inevitable result would be the revelation of different layers of meaning which are convoluted into leitmotifs and only a thorough analysis and meticulous reading can exhibit the relationship between signs, signifier and the signified. As both poetry and cultural studies share the characteristic of being implicit, it is necessary to employ methods which aid clarity and lucidity. A sophisticated analysis requires the use of thick description, a method which cleaves the kernels of thought to display intended meaning and acts as a viable catalyst expediting the process of comprehension through interpretation.
