دانشگاه تربیت مدرس فصلنامۀ نقد ادبی 2008-0360 19 75 2026 08 23 Psychoanalytic Semiotics of the Novel “Control of Destiny” through a Deconstructive Approach نشانه‌شناسی روان‌کاوانۀ رمان کنترل سرنوشت با رویکرد وانوسازی 215 247 29190 10.48311/lcq.2026.108600.0 FA رضا نکوئی سایر Journal Article 2025 06 05 Binary oppositions are the most essential concepts is structuralist semiotics which try to stabilize the meaning of the text and prevent the process of the production of other meanings. This article, using an analytical-descriptive method from a poststructuralist semiotic approach, aims at challenging the binary opposition. Binary oppositions are the most essential concepts in structuralist semiotics which try to stabilize the meaning of the text and prevent the process of the production of other meanings. This article, using an analytical-descriptive method from a poststructuralist semiotics in Bahareh Salman’s novel, “Control of Destiny”, in order to present a psychoanalytic reading and discover new implications about its actants, places, actions and dreams and propose a different reading from the preliminary reading of the text based on Derrida’s deconstructive techniques. The findings of the study show that the most significant binary opposition in the novel is the opposition of man / woman which describes and organizes other conceptual oppositions in the novel. By deconstructing this opposition, other binary oppositions in the novel are also dismantled. Extended Abstract Introduction One of the fundamental principles of structuralist semiotics is the analysis of literary texts based on the concept of binary opposition (see Payandeh, 2018: 164). Binary opposition is the most fundamental form of opposition in structuralism, since, according to structuralists, human thought operates through pairs such as good/evil, beautiful/ugly, day/night, and white/black (see Shamisa, 2000: 182). This principle, also referred to as the law of non-contradiction, has been one of the defining conditions of human knowledge since at least the time of Plato, and acting contrary to it has proved difficult. Moreover, given the nature of the human mind and the human condition, there appears to be little hope of escaping binary thinking, since it seems to constitute the path of least resistance for perceptual systems, thought, and linguistic structures. Nevertheless, many poststructuralist semioticians employ alternative strategies to address this problem, or, more precisely, to challenge the assumption of a final meaning. Jacques Derrida, through the method of deconstruction, seeks to target and disrupt the seemingly inevitable structure of binary oppositions (see Gunkel, 2014: 59–69). This article employs a descriptive-analytical methodology and draws on poststructuralist semiotics to examine the binary oppositions in Bahareh Salman’s novel Control of Destiny. The study approaches these oppositions through Derrida’s concept of deconstruction, with the aim of psychoanalytically interpreting the text, uncovering new significations of its characters, settings, actions, and dreams, and offering an alternative reading that differs from the text’s initial or conventional interpretation. Literature Review One of Derrida’s most fundamental and widely discussed concepts is deconstruction. To date, numerous studies have been conducted around this concept. Nojoumian (2015) regards Barthes’s concept of the “punctum” as a deconstructive strategy that, in the absence of the image, continually refers to the impossible and the represented. Golestani (2015) maintains that although deconstruction cannot lead to the discovery of an authentic Al-e Ahmad, it can liberate his texts and even his persona from the fixed, monologic, and univocal narratives constructed by both his supporters and opponents. Rahimi Zanjanbar et al. (2019) argue that, from a psychoanalytic perspective, most works of children’s and young adult’s literature emphasize strengthening the ego as a deconstructive intermediary between the two levels of the id and the superego; through strengthening the ego, the child achieves a deconstruction of the opposition between these two psychic agencies. The novel Control of Destiny, owing to its focus on the protagonist’s actions, the presence of dreams within its plot, and its plural and multilayered structure, constitutes a suitable text for psychoanalytic semiotic analysis from a deconstructive perspective. Furthermore, Salman is a member of a new and promising generation of writers, and critical examination of her work may contribute to the development of writers belonging to this generation. Research Objectives and Questions In this article, drawing on poststructuralist semiotics and Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the binary oppositions in Bahareh Salman’s novel Control of Destiny are examined through Derrida’s approach of deconstruction. The study aims to psychoanalytically interpret the novel, uncover new significations of its characters, settings, actions, and dreams, and offer a reading that differs from the text’s dominant reading. The research questions are as follows: - What binary oppositions are present in the novel Control of Destiny? - How does deconstruction affect the binary oppositions in the novel? - From the perspective of deconstruction, what new significations can be identified in the novel’s characters, settings, actions, and dreams? Methodology The present study employs a descriptive-analytical methodology, drawing on the technique of deconstruction, poststructuralist semiotics, and Freud’s psychoanalytic theories. By reversing the binary oppositions underlying the narrative and uncovering their new significations, we examine the structuralist semiotic claim concerning the existence of a final meaning. Accordingly, using deconstruction, we first identify the major binary oppositions in the novel. At this stage, through the displacement and reorganization of the deconstructed elements beyond their previously established binaries, new forms of equilibrium are created, thereby allowing new meanings to emerge. Furthermore, the study examines the role of the unconscious actions and dreams of the novel’s characters as manifestations of psychic signs in the process of deconstruction and the re-reading of the text. Our main hypothesis is that the novel’s internal focalizer resorts to various defense mechanisms in order to conceal her unconscious fears and anxieties. These mechanisms are manifested in her dreams, unconscious actions, and the dynamics of her relationships with other characters. Conclusion Through the psychoanalytic semiotic analysis of the novel Control of Destiny from the perspective of deconstruction, it was found that that we are confronted with a plural and multilayered text owing to the conflict between the narrative of the unconscious and that of the conscious mind of the internal focalizer. Thus, beneath the novel’s initial and seemingly straightforward narrative lies another concealed narrative. The binary opposition of man/woman constitutes the most important binary opposition in the novel’s primary narrative, and it also describes and structures the other conceptual oppositions within the novel. Through the deconstruction of this opposition, Maliheh becomes the internal focalizer and principal character of the novel. For various reasons, including fear, she has displaced many of her desires onto Erfan through the defense mechanism of displacement. Accordingly, other binary oppositions in the novel, such as the Oedipus complex/Electra complex, ordinary adolescent/orphanage adolescent, and biological parents/foster parents, are also reversed, thereby further challenging the binary oppositions underlying the novel. Another means of challenging the novel’s binary oppositions is the use of the defense mechanism of identification. Alongside resentment and hatred toward the same-sex parent, the child simultaneously imitates that figure’s power. Thus, the child identifies and merges with this figure in order to participate in and appropriate that power. We also found that many of the novel’s characters function as manifestations of the id and superego of the internal focalizer, since her unconscious may have introduced them into the narrative in order to exonerate herself and obscure the traces of the agent responsible for the harm inflicted upon the same-sex parent. Likewise, many of the places in which the internal focalizer lives function as representations of different parts of her psyche and of the conflicts among them; and the movement of Erfan among these spaces evokes their activity for the reader. On the basis of this discussion, in the novel’s second narrative, the internal focalizer, in order to reduce or temporarily alleviate her fears and anxieties, employs psychoanalytic strategies to substitute many of the novel’s characters, settings, and events with imaginary characters, settings, and events. References Golestani, M. (2015). Vāzāzi-e Motun-e Jalāl-e Āl-e Ahmad: Soujeh, Nihilism va Amr-e Siāsi. Tehran: Niloofar. [in Persian] Gunkel, D. J. (2023). Vānoqsāzi. Trans. Hadi Nouri. Tehran: Pileh. [in Persian] Nojoumian, A. A. (2003). “Darāmadi bar Shāludeh-shekani (Derrida, Burges, Don Quixote)”. Ketāb-e Māh-e Adabiāt va Falsafeh. No. 67, pp. 50-59. [in Persian] Payandeh, H. (2018). Nazariye va Naqd-e Adabi: Dars-nāmeh-i Miān-Reshtei (Vol. 1). Tehran: SAMT. [in Persian] Rahimi Zanjanbar, A. H; Bostani, F. & Zare, H. (2019). “Tahlil-e Neshāneh-Ravān-kāvi-e Romān-e Nowjavān-e Mosābeqeh Dāt Kām bā Ruykard-e Vāsāzi.” Pazhouhesh-hā-ye Zabāni. Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 59-82. [in Persian] Salman, B. (2022). Kontorol-e Sarnevesht. Tehran: Rouzegar. [in Persian] Shamisa, S. (1999). Naqd-e Adabi. Tehran: Ferdows. [in Persian] تقابل‌های دو‌جزئی اساسی‌ترین مفهوم در نشانه‌شناسی ساختارگراست که معنای متن را ثابت و فرایند تولید معناهای دیگر را متوقف می‌کنند. در این مقاله، با روش تحلیلی ـ توصیفی و با توجه به نشانه‌شناسی پساساختارگرا، تقابل‌های دوجزئی در رمان کنترل سرنوشت نوشتۀ بهاره سلمان به‌منظور روان‌کاوی و کشف دلالت‌های جدید کنشگر‌ها، مکان‌ها، کنش‌ها، و رؤیاهای رمان و ارائۀ خوانشی متفاوت با خوانش اولیۀ متن با رویکرد وانوسازی دریدا بررسی می‌شود. نتایج پژوهش نشان می‌دهد دو‌گانۀ مرد/ زن مهم‌ترین تقابل دو‌جزئی رمان است که تقابل‌های مفهومی دیگر رمان را توصیف و تنظیم می‌کند. با وانوسازی این تقابل، تقابل‌های دو‌جزئی دیگر رمان نیز واژگون می‌شوند. سازکارهای دفاعی جابه‌جایی و ادغام ازجمله شگرد‌های روان‌کاوانۀ کانونی‌ساز درونی برای به چالش کشیدن تقابل‌های دو‌جزئی رمان است. کانونی‌ساز درونی به دلایلی ازجمله ترس و تقلید از ولی هم‌جنس خود، از این سازکا‌‌رها‌ی دفاعی استفاده می‌کند. همچنین، بسیاری از کنشگر‌ها و مکان‌های رمان شمایل بخش‌های مختلف روان و تعارض بین آن‌ها هستند که ارتباط و رفت‌و‌آمد کانونی‌ساز درونی بین آن‌ها، فعالیت آن‌ها را برای خواننده تداعی می‌کند. بر پایۀ این بحث، به‌دلیل تعارض بین روایت ضمیر ‌آگاه و ناخودآگاه کانونی‌ساز درونی، با متنی متکثر و چند‌لایه مواجه هستیم که کانونی‌ساز درونی برای کاهش ترس و اضطراب خود، با استفاده از شگرد‌های روان‌کاوانه، بسیاری از کنشگر‌ها، مکان‌ها و رویداد‌های رمان را با کنشگر‌ها، مکان‌ها و رویدادهای تخیلی جا‌به‌جا کرده است.

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