Showing 15 results for Irony
Volume 1, Issue 2 (12-2003)
Abstract
The most current meaning of Irony in Persian literature is to reproach, fault-finding, guy and criticize.
Irony is one of the expressions which has been common in the life of the ancient Iranian people with lampoon, syllable, and satire, humour and … and upon which some parts of the literature works have been concentrated.
The nature of irony in Persian literature lies in most cases on the contradiction between term and meaning in discourse. Hence, it can be classified almost as figurative sense. In most cases the irony written works have been associated with lampoon, humour, witticism and epigram.
So it can be mentioned that irony is a kind of profound thought and providence and refers to a type of revolution and internal transmutation change. The word “epigram” has also been associated with a type of irony and wit in the history of our literature. The only difference is that jest, enjoyment and entertainment are regarded as the dominant essence of epigram but, while the speaking trend is apparently jests and quizzical and non-serious in irony, finally it is resulted in conception, discipline and policy. So, irony can be termed as the preaching literature in Persian literature.
Volume 1, Issue 2 (12-2003)
Abstract
Abu-Said Abu al Xair is one of the famous Iranian mystics. Besides Patch and having good taste, he has sensitive irony in behavior, speech and euphemism. These specifications are arising from ihis expansion path. The pleasant tales of Asral al Tawhid are showing that abu- said not only has been creating ironical themes, but also he has been rejoiced by other’s witty speech. According to his mystical mind, he has presented mystical interpretation from elements of the world such as popularly speech, the name of places, cities and villages, verses of the Koran, traditions and the terms of religious jurisprudence. These interpretations are explaining mystic’s pointes of view and they have not been considrerd by researchers. This article trying to explanin Ab-Sayid’s mystical interpretations and ironical language games in Asral al Tawhid.
Volume 5, Issue 17 (10-2017)
Abstract
Of the most famous proverbs of Iranian people one is this: the end of Shahname is happy. This is used when something evil happenes for someone to give him a ray of hope. As it is obvious the Shahname ends with the attack of Arabs, the question is how the end of it is regarded happy? Some critics take the word "happy"as verbal irony, some other critics take "happy"'s original meaning: a critic relates the proverb to the triumph of Kaykhosro over Afrasiab. Some critics relates the meaning of this proverb to the fact of sharing candies by shahname singers (Naqaal) after their ceremony of citing the poem. A critic believes that the fact that Ferdowsi ends this great book was a kind of happiness. The article in hand believes this proverb refers to the reveng of Yazdgerd the third's murderer. Avenging the king's murder was sacred in Iranian thought, and this is seen in different parts of the Shahnameh. Therefore, since Bizhan by killing Soory takes revenge of Yazdgerd, they call it happy ending.
Volume 6, Issue 22 (10-2018)
Abstract
Abstract New linguistic theories, considering language as virtual and its rhetorical features as intrinsic, and denying the belonging of these matters to literary language opened up a new chapter in rhetorical research. This research attempts to study a kind of simile in Persian language which has never been examined before. The research method is descriptive-analytic. The data is selected from Proverbs and Wisdoms by Dehkhoda based on desk study using perfect induction and is analyzed on the basis of common rhetorical methods. The reason for choosing this source is the frequency of similes in the work compared with similar works in this field. The results demonstrate that the rhetorical indications in this simile, suspending the min meaning, induce another meaning, because this kind of profound metaphorical superstructural simile has an ironic structure; in other words, unlike all known similes, in this simile, the similarity is a necessary in the service of necessity and expression of its ironic meaning.
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Volume 8, Issue 32 (12-2015)
Abstract
Figurative language by omitting direct reference and employing metaphor, allusion, symbol and etc. always conceals its referent and as a result causes tension between different elements of the text. One of the efficient means to escape from transparency is irony. Following a descriptive method, this article analyzes nine existing articles in Persian language on this issue in order to clarify some of the semantic ambiguities around this term. These studies often suffer from conceptual errors that stem from the fact that irony is a Western figure of speech. The authors of these articles often do not define a specific meaning for this term and mix the opinions of Western and Iranian critics. The main weakness of these articles is in identifying examples of irony in Persian literature.
Ishagh Toghiani, Mohammad Zaher Faiez, Hosain Agha Hosaini,
Volume 9, Issue 36 (12-2016)
Abstract
Irony after the Socrates and Plato onward has created too many subjects but still there is not a general consent about the definition of it which could specify it. But all the scholars agree that irony presents kind of concealment which is something against the real idea of the poet. Irony is an overview of the world which from one hand consists of literary words such as: allegory, satire, sarcasm, scorn, paradox and criticism and from other hand it can tie two opposite sentiment of laughing and crying in a way that no other literary devices can do such a thing. In this way Bakhtari who is considered as one of the successful poets had used irony in his poetry as a skillful poet in a way that it both reflects the above mentioned literary devices and laughing and crying sentiments too. This paper tries to analysis the “announcement of earth’s Inheritance” which is the only collection of Bakhtari and shows the real life pain and problems of Afghanistan people who lost their lives and were under the presure of Taliban government. Bakhtari by reconciliation of the opposits and by an ironic look at the social, cultural, and religious issues shows how much the poet can be successful in using irony as a device to criticize social and political status of Afghanistan.
Volume 10, Issue 19 (9-2023)
Abstract
Metaphor is considered one of the important and effective literary devices in creating beauty and eloquence in speech. The presence of numerous metaphors in Nahj al-Balāgha, in addition to its aesthetic aspect, is important for a correct understanding of the words of the impeccable leader of Muslims. This importance is doubled when metaphors enter the realm of translation. The present study aims to analyze the translation of metaphors of curses and reproaches in the English translations of Nahj al-Balāgha (Sayyid Alireza, Askari Jafari, Foroutan/Marashi) using a descriptive and analytical method. The findings indicated that: None of the metaphors have been rendered using a metaphorical translation method; Foroutan/Marashi and Askari-Jafari have mostly used semantic translation, and Sayyid Alireza has mostly used literal translation; integrated translation has also been used less than the previous two methods but has been more or less considered by all three translators; some metaphors have not been translated at all in Askari-Jafari's translation. Finding equivalents for the metaphors of Nahj al-Balāgha for the target language is both difficult and not possible in a single way. The best practical method of translation is semantic or integrated, but in difficult cases, instead of refraining from translation, the literal method should be used.
Volume 10, Issue 40 (9-2013)
Abstract
Despite the large-scale reflection on the anecdotes of wise madmen in Farsi literature, especially in the works of renowned poet, Attar Neyshapouri; the analysis of their mindsets has not taken center stage. This research intends to scientifically elaborate on the mindsets and languages of wise madmen, and to discover their logic, through analysis of the anecdotes of wise madmen in the works of Islamic authors, especially in the elegies of Attar Neyshapouri.
On this basis, with the analysis of contents of four examples of anecdotes of wise madmen, an assumption was presented for study of the mindset and its relation with the language of these wise madmen, including the usage of irony and paradox by them. This study refers to this assumption as the assumption on encounters of mindsets
Volume 10, Issue 43 (9-2022)
Abstract
Mahmoud Dowlatabadi employs different literary devices, and proverbs and ironies from the folk culture to improve the quality of his works, particularly in novels of Kelidar, Missing Salouch, The Passed days of old people. This study employs a descriptive-analytical approach to classify the themes and content of proverbs and ironies used in the above-mentioned novels, and then extract the role of such literary devices in representing Dowlatabadi's ideas. The findings showed that the proverbs and ironies in these novels have sociocultural, political, and aesthetic-didactic themes within the texts. Also, these literary types carry religious and ideological themes which represent the lifestyle of people.
Volume 10, Issue 43 (9-2022)
Abstract
Rhetorical scholars have, from the beginning to the present, turned their full attention to formal literature. A review of the rhetorical books confirms this as well. This is especially true in the teaching of rhetorical topics in educational institutions such as universities, unaware that folk literature has its own structure and aesthetics, the neglect of which ignores a large part of the rhetorical capacity of the language. The present study borrows a descriptive-analytical method and uses the rhetorical criteria on the aesthetics enigma as one type of irony in folklore.
The results show that in the studies, only the rhetoric of the first part (description) has been considered and the other part has been neglected, while concealing and suspending the meaning according to the existing descriptions indicates that enigma is in fact an allusion to the subject. A point that has not been properly addressed so far has caused rhetorical books to be mistaken for a novel topic. The article discusses the difference between this kind of irony and the usual allusions of rhetorical, the explanatory books and the description of its beauties, in comparison with the examples of formal literature.
Volume 10, Issue 46 (9-2022)
Abstract
Background
The background of the discussion regarding the common allusions of Bakhtiari language goes back to the books in which Bakhtiari vocabulary and terms are recorded and some common allusions are also mentioned. Of these books, first of all, we should mention The Dictionary of Bakhtiari Language by Zahrab Madadi, which includes some of their ironic uses under many words. Of course, Madadi sometimes recorded compound metaphors or similes as irony; for example, in the entry "aw" [aw] (water), he included the phrase "he does not make a sound in the house" [aw-soδâ-xon-e-niyašne] (water does not hear its own voice) among allusions (Madadi, 2012, p. 29 ), or in the entry "heart" [del], present phrases "to blind the heart" [taš-e-del-kur-kerden] (to put out the fire of the heart) and "to beat his heart" [del-aw-vâbiδen]: (melting heart) as an irony, while these expressions, satire and simile could not be classified as ironies. After him, we can mention Ghanbari Udaivi in Bakhtiari's Book of General Literature, examples such as "Zahle-gap", "Bi-botte", "Zir-ard-bizi", "Tave-bardi", "Rashtan" are presented. He recorded "reštan-e-ve-som-gâ-gerehδen" and some similar examples as an irony, while "Hiin Khoda", "Bibete", "Zirardibizi" and "Toh Bardi" are metaphors, not irony (Ghanbari Udaivi, 2011, pp. 67-68). Ghanbari Udaivi recorded 24 samples under the title of Kanai Zbanzad in his book Z Shir Bengesht [riš-esun-ve- yak-bafte-ye] (their beards are braided together), in which "bor-o-duz-kerden" (cut and sew) and "ri-gur-rahδen" (to death approaching) can be considered irony. (Ghanbari Adaiwi, 2014, pp. 64-65) After him, no detailed and special research was done in this regard; of course, some works sometimes refer to one or more examples with the title of irony, however, since they did not have scientific and precise criteria for this work, we refrained from referring to them.
Goals
Common allusions are part of common language materials and content (Zolfaghari, 2018, pp. 399-403). The elements that can be examined in the common language are mainly: words, idioms, idioms and allusions, sometimes proverbs and sayings, and Chistans and objectifications. Zolfaghari has placed proverbs, judgments, Chistans and object descriptions in the section of public non-narrative literature (Ibid., pp. 233-285)
In recent years, research in the field of language and public literature has become one of the research fields of professors, students and enthusiasts. Of course, the contribution of public literature in this research is more than the common language, while the common language is the main subject of public literature, just as the official Persian language is the main material of Persian literature.
In any case, just as the category of public etiquette is a wide category, especially in Iran, in many provinces and regions, in addition to the Persian language, one or more local languages (dialects) are also prevalent, and these languages have a rich general literature. They are also treasures in terms of words, idioms, allusions, and idioms.
In this regard, in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, in addition to Persian, Lori and Turkish languages are also popular. Of course, the area covered by the Lori language is much wider than the Turkish language. Studies show that there has been good research about the general literature of Lori language, but not much research has been conducted about Lori language, especially its linguistic elements, except for a few researches on vocabulary, and this study is more visible on the common allusions of the Bakhtiari-speaking people.
Questions
This article is written to answer the following questions:
a) What is the difference between irony and compound metaphor, allegorical metaphor, and parable?
b) What is the frequency of irony in Bakhtiari common language?
c) How are Bakhtiari's public allusions in terms of content?
d) How are the Bakhtiari's general allusions in terms of usage and structure?
Findings
In this article, the common allusions of Lori language and Bakhtiari variety in Kohrang city of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province are investigated. The data (allusions) in this article have been extracted from the author's personal archive and Bakhtiari language glossary (the work of Zohrab Madadi), and then they have been arranged alphabetically. Finally, they have been reviewed based on the content analysis method, and descriptive-analytical approach.
In this review of Bakhtiari's common allusions in terms of having or not having an equivalent in Persian language, topic and content, frequent allusions, type of use (reproach, honor, contempt, etc.), among others, there have been some examinations on the structure of the object, the relationship between the object and the object, the speed of transition from object in terms of allusion, the clarity and subtlety and the grammatical type of allusion. In short, it has been determined that irony has a good place in Bakhtiari's general language. In the analyzed sample of Bakhtiari's allusions (1000 allusions), it was found that 400 allusions have an equivalent in Persian, but some of them, such as "terd-ve-riš-e-kasi-nâhâδen": Putting fire on someone's beard (allusion to seduction), is a characteristic of Bakhtiari language. From the analyzed sample size (1000 allusions), 600 allusions can be considered as belonging to this area.
The content analysis of Bakhtiari's public allusions shows that most allusions are sensual and concrete. They are related to nature and life of these people. Most of them are the interpretation of the pronoun and the way these people look at the world, life, and the hereafter, among others. The issue of abundance and frequency is important in them, and good results can be obtained from it. The life of Bakhtiari people is associated with water, fire, pit, mountain, stone, wood and mace, and for this reason, the frequency of allusions made with these elements and components is high. In the volume of the sample (allusions investigated), sensory and tangibility are the dominant aspects of allusions. Most of Bakhtiari's public allusions are tangible. They are taken from their living environment. It is true that we are facing a lack of specification in irony, but the lack of specification in Bakhtiari general ironies is not such that Bakhtiari people do not understand the irony of their language. From this point of view, it can be said that the frequency of improbable allusions, implication, and code is not high in Bakhtiari language.
In the thematic analysis of Bakhtiari's allusions, it has been determined that lineage is praised along with supply and art, and indifference, laziness and untidiness are condemned. From the point of view of usage, Bakhtiari's general allusions are mainly used in positions such as exaggeration, contempt, admiration, pity, and disgust. For example, in the use of disgust, they say the name of someone or something that they hate in the form of irony. There are cases like this in the analyzed general allusions. The Bakhtiaris also call the demons, "z khumuv bhadruv" (better than ourselves). Azrael is called "Malekmit" (Malek almut). When they want to say that I was in the mourning hall, they say: "Don't go to the wrong place." Bakhtiari call it "des bah o" (hand to water). Instead of naming "dog", they use the metaphors of "corporeal" (impure) and herd-footed (herd guard). Bakhtiaris also do not like to call women and girls by their own names, that is why they use the epithets "weak" and "female" when calling women. Another use of sarcasm is to use it to humiliate or express the inferiority of someone or something. In common language, this type of irony is often used. Bakhtiari's sarcasms him and Shular [aw-ve-šawlâr] (hands-on), bač-derde (cracked clay), bi-verre (discipline), man-hole-riz [aw-men-čâle-riz] (water in the hole Riz) are used in this situation.
Bakhtiari's general allusions can be divided into three types: singular, compound verb, and present tense. In the analyzed group (1000 allusions), it was found that 260 allusions are singular; that is, irony is a word (simple/derivative/compound/derivative-compound). Such cases are: Nayedah [nayδe]: not seen; irony has just arrived; barfaw-xar: eater of snow water. Allusion to the resident of Sardsir; Sardiyar [sar-diyâr]: renowned; allusion to the famous.
In the examination of the structure of Bakhtiari's general allusions, it is also found that most of Bakhtiari's allusions are present expressions. The relationship between the predicate and the referent is diverse, but in most allusions, the relationship is of a necessary and obligatory type; that is, it can be said that Makani is one of Makani's accessories. In the investigation of common allusions in Bakhtiari language (sample size), it is found that in more than 700 allusions, makni-ba is one of the accessories and related parts of makni-ana. In the discussion of the speed of transfer from the meaning to the issue of the clarity and hiddenness of the allusions, it is also clear that most of Bakhtiari's general allusions are clear and transparent and a small percentage are in the form of code and implication. In terms of grammatical type, most of Bakhtiari's general allusions are present verbs and phrases.
References
Ghanbari Udaivi, A. (2011). Bakhtiari's general literature. New.
Ghanbari Udaivi, A. (2014). A study in Bakhtiari public culture and literature. New.
Madadi, D. (2012). Dictionary of Bakhtiari language. Author.
Zolfaghari, H. (2008). The difference between irony and proverb. Persian Language and Literature Research Journal, 10, 109-133.
Zolfaghari, H. (2017). Language and common literature of Iran. Side.
Volume 11, Issue 1 (3-2020)
Abstract
The present study investigates the Graded Salient Hypothesis and its effect on irony in order to investigate what is an important factor in accessing to the meaning of irony. The purpose of this study was to measure RT (reading time) and to identify and explain the relationship between the three variables, context (literal, figurative), familiarity (familiar, less familiar and unfamiliar) and reading speed (slow, simultaneous, and Fast). The questions that this research sought to answer were:
1. Do unfamiliar ironies and two next expressions in the figurative and literal context are read with equal speed?
2. Do less familiar ironies and two next expressions in the figurative and literal context are read with equal speed?
3. Do familiar ironies and two next expressions in the figurative and literal context are read with equal speed?
The research material consisted of 46 ironies in the Persian language. Ironies were the result of a conversation between a 30-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man. These samples were the result of an 8-hour recording of non-consecutive conversations that were given to two experts to confirm the validity of ironies, and the examples in this study are the confirmed ironies. Then, for every irony, there was an affective context in the figurative meaning and an affective context in the literal meaning of that irony. A pre-test (pre-test 1) was conducted to determine the extent to which individuals were familiar with these ironies. The level of familiarity was determined on a seven-level axis, ranging from 1 (lowest familiarity) to 7 (highest familiarity). The subjects in this pre-test were 20 undergraduate students, this test was considered as their classroom work and for which they were given a score. In pre-test 2, to ensure that the literal and figurative contexts made for less familiar, familiar and unfamiliar ironies were equally strong, seven axial axes were drawn for each of the contexts. On one side, there was the literal meaning of the irony and on the other side, the figurative meaning of the same irony was mentioned. The axis was divided into seven sections and participants were asked to indicate which meaning of every irony was closest to it and how close it was. Two booklets were produced so that each booklet represented only one type of context. One booklet contained various examples of less familiar, unfamiliar and familiar ironies in the literal context, and another booklet contained various examples of less familiar, unfamiliar and familiar ironies in the figurative context. The participants in this pre-test were two groups of 23 people (each consisting of 11 men and 12 women, aged 18 to 27 years) and this pre-test was as a classroom task for them to perform and to obtain score. Each booklet was assigned to one group and each group did not have access to the other group's booklet, and every participant only had access to one context type for every irony. Also, those who were selected for the pre-tests were not included in the main test. A software was used to perform a self-paced moving window test that was able to measure the reading time of expressions. Participants were confronted with high-speed Windows 7 computers (with three-core CPUs and 2 GB of main memory), and the software was run in front of them. The main test was conducted in two stages, with a time interval of two months. In the first stage, the participants were presented with irony in the figurative context and their reading speed was measured. In the second stage, the same subjects were presented with the same ironies in the literal context and their reading speed was measured. The two-month interval between the two tests was because reading one phrase in a particular context not to provide the key for that phrase in the other context. On the other hand, the same participant had to participate again in the second stage. Because his reading speed in the figurative context was to be compared with the reading speed of the same person in the literal context so that individual differences in reading speed did not interfere with the results. The results showed that the ironies did not fully support the Graded Salience Hypothesis, and the results were in contrast to this hypothesis, in that the context often outweighed the salient meaning and influenced perception. Therefore, context and salience effects were not parallel to each other. Also, based on the results of the research, it seems that the salient meaning in both the less familiar and familiar ironies was the figurative meaning and the salient meaning in the unfamiliar ironies was both literal and figurative meaning.
Volume 11, Issue 2 (5-2020)
Abstract
The linguistic variety spoken by the prisoners and the words and expressions used by them in their conversations has attracted a lot of attention. This variety is sometimes so different from the one used outside the prison walls that it is almost unfathomable for those who have never been exposed to it. This variety is idiosyncratic in terms of phonology, morphology, and semantics. The study of prison language and its relevant words and expressions is of great significance from sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, cognitive linguistic, and criminology points of views. Due to significance and the paucity of domestic linguistic studies on the prison language, this study, within the framework of sociolinguistics, made an attempt to bring the semantic features into considerations and delve into the semantic changes of related words and expressions in the prison language with respects to the four variables of gender, age, education, and social status and respond to the following two research questions: First, What are the main semantic changes of words and expressions in the language of prison? Second, what are the relationships between semantic changes and the four variables of gender, age, education, and social status? In order to collect the data, observation and interviews were utilized. The data included 615 and 496 idioms and expressions used by male and female prisoners respectively (total expressions amounted to 1111). The number of all interviewees was 70, consisting of 20 females from Rey Prison and 50 males from four prisons of Raja’ee Shahr, Ghezelhesar, Fashafooye, and Tehran. The results showed that four semantic processes of metaphor, Irony, metonymy, and semantic degradation accounted for the main sources of semantic changes of words and expressions in the language of prison. Regarding the effects of the four variables of gender, age, education, and social status on these semantic processes, it was concluded that gender did not bring about any significant change in the speech of male and female prisoners, though it was effective on the frequency of use of those semantic processes. Some expressions were specific only to men and some were female specific. Out of the other three variables (age, education, and social status), the two variables of education and social status had the most effects on the use of semantic changes among the prisoners. The effect of age is more than that of social status and education and is less than that of gender. In sum, it can be concluded that as education and social status increase, the use of words and expressions in the language of prison decreases. In contrast, as education and social status decrease, the prisoners are more influenced by the language of prison and they use more semantic processes in their speech.
Volume 11, Issue 6 (3-2020)
Abstract
This paper attampts to analyze the functions of the capacities of language from the perspective of verbal irony in the representation of historical events in the two plays "Jangnameh Golaman" and "Fathnameh Kallat" based on the idea of Meta historiography. Accordingly, we first attempt to provide a definition of Meta historiography and the importance of irony as an important component in Meta historiography, and then elaborate on the types of verbal irony and its function in the dramatic text and analyze the components in the study samples. Therefore, the framework of the discussion is a combination of the linguistic and stylistic studies of Deirdre Wilson and Hayden White. The method of this research is descriptive and analytical and it is possible to analyze the components with sample mining. The findings of this study show that in two plays by Bahram Beizaie, a verbal irony is a linguistic device for employ the potential capacities of language and a tool for historical implications. This linguistic capacity manifests itself sometimes in parodic and significant statements and sometimes in the interpretive and analytical context of the text, given that the mechanism of creating irony and sence in the play's text cannot be extrapolated without considering the meta text of history
1. Introduction
Dramatic literature is one of the most critical fields in dealing with historical and social themes. It has undergone extensive developments in line with new theories in other areas of science. One of the latest theories that have a linguistic approach is the idea of metahistory. This theory, described by the American philosopher and historian Hayden White, has received much attention from scholars and researchers in recent years. It has become the basis of literary studies from a linguistic perspective. This research, to explain the idea of metahistory from the standpoint of linguistic practices, tries to answer how verbal irony, as one of the main components in meta-history, leads to the representation and not the re-narration of history in Bahram Beyzai's plays. To this end, we first explain the idea of meta-history, verbal irony, and its types as basic features in meta-historiography. Within Wilson and Sperber's verbal ironic theory framework, we study the two plays Jangnameh Golaman and Fathnameh Kallat.
Hayden White's idea of metahistoriography was a literary strategy for recreating history. Based on Nietzsche, White believed that there was a gap between facts and perceptions of truth, which was the source of human bitterness and frustration. This gap is an ironic and painful situation from which humanity is to find a way out, and he needs to find that way in himself. Meta-history is a way of extending and talking about this unbearable situation. In general, it has an expressive and rhetorical meaning, which is characterized by relying on the configuration of deep imaginative structures and the function of verbal terms.
As a rhetorical figure, the irony is a conscious turn in this type of narrative history in such a way that no certainty can impose itself on history in the form of a definite interpretation. Hence, there are various reports and reflections about a weak narrative of an event. In this sense, the irony is a trick or rhetorical figure that can produce concepts and meanings in the deep layers of speech, and verbal irony, as the most common type of irony while using its imitative capacities and interpretive and analytical similarities, provides a basis for presenting various reports of past events; therefore history is freed from the shackles of imposing a particular narrative.
Wilson and Sperber consider the main feature of verbal irony to be its propositions, which are deliberately uttered by ironists, or they create semantic prominences as a linguistic technique. The first type is "parody," which is a paradox and is related to repetition in the form of language. In a way that there is often an element that has been exaggerated, and the second type is the echo of a word or action that the ironist interprets. Thus, there is always an intermediary between what is said or done and its representation.
In the metahistorical play, we are confronted with ironic expression, so the irony is expressed through two levels of verbal speech and linguistic style. In this sense, language has a vast capacity to deal with historical events. This research method is descriptive and analytical, and it has made it possible to analyze the components by sampling. In this research, based on two plays by Bahram Beyzai, a verbal irony has been studied from the two perspectives of speech and linguistic style. Findings in this study show that the meaning of the word is never limited to parts of speech, but along with body language, tone, and sounds, it forms a kind of expression that is related to the experiences of the audience and therefore, each audience will have their perception and interpretation of it.
In the Jangnameh Golaman, although the excerpts are uttered for the purpose of laughter, they are placed in a verbal structure and in relation to the meta-text of history, reflecting a hidden meaning that is deeply connected to the historical and cultural mechanisms of a nation. From an interpretive point of view, we are faced with a kind of linguistic style in which the text is open to interpretation. Thus, understanding this type of irony is in the light of the understanding of the text in the context in which the text is read (or watched). From a metahistorical point of view, this type of irony creates constant references between the present and the past and considers history as the hypertext in which the original text is formed. In this sense, in Fathnameh Kallat, concepts are constructed concerning the presuppositions and context of the text, but it is not conveyed only through verbal propositions, but it ironically depicts and expresses an agonizing situation.
It seems necessary to mention two points. First, the study of metahistory, as well as verbal irony theories, shows that whether we encounter irony as a verbal proposition or as a linguistic prominence, we are, inevitably, beyond transcendence of grammar and syntax, and practical analysis of ironic discourses; because the ironic sense is not only constructed through the form of language but also in the intermediate relationship between the experiences of the audience and the text. Hence, there is no entirely rational applied model for ironic analysis. The second point is related to the development of this debate in dramatic literature, which can open new perspectives on the study of playwriting, especially the study of dramatic literature in Iran, which is very limited.
Reza Nekoei, Asiyeh Goodarzi Nezhad, Vida Shirkavand,
Volume 17, Issue 66 (8-2024)
Abstract
In verbal and televised narratives, the scope of story information has an important role in holding the readers’ or viewers’ attention. The writers of this article use a comparative method to compare and contrast the scope of story information and the way the attention of the readers and viewers is held in Hooshang Moradi Kermani’s short story, “Woolen Jacket”, and its adaptation for television, “Jacket”, directed by Kioumars Pour-Ahmad, based on the narratological theory of Robert McKee. The findings of the research reveal that the type of focalization in the short story “Woolen Jacket” is internal or inside view, which results in the dominance of the element of suspense in the story. In order to create a diversity in the scope of story information and make the narrative more attractive, this type of focalization employs the element of mystery, too. This is accomplished with the help of techniques such as flashforward, internal narrative, ellipsis, etc. In this process, surprise also helps the mystery, since every time the internal focalizer and the reader are surprised, the mystery of the story develops. The TV adaptation of the story is also narrated from the perspective of a dominant internal focalizer. The only difference is that a large part of the film is dedicated to the focalization of other actants, which results in the increase of the number of the actants in the film and, consequently, highlights the significance of giving attention to the presence of others and the different discourses in the narrative. These discourses usually enter the film by the use of the technique of internal narration which leads to the development of the element of mystery. The element of suspense is only combined with the element of mystery in a verbal narrative; however, in the film, given the affordances of the camera and the creativity of the director for enriching the narrative, the element of suspense is combined with both the element of mystery and dramatic irony. Also, powerful instances of suspense and surprise are created as a result of the accompaniment of the events with music and their representation in a multidimensional way from different angles. In this form of narrative, we experience more sympathy and affinity with the internal focalizer. As a result, we can conclude that the TV adaptation of the story has made use of various and more complex multimedia possibilities and techniques for distributing story information and holding the viewers’ attention.
Introduction
The scope of story information in the plot creates a narrative information hierarchy which might be different in any particular story or movie. At any given moment, we may ask whether the reader or the viewer has more, less or the same amount of information than the story’s focalizers. The manipulation of the scope of information in the story may have significant influences on the way the reader’s or the viewer’s attention is attracted (see Bordwell & Thompson 1997: 85). McKee believes that a writer or a director can make use of three ways to distribute the narrative information in the story or the film and create a relationship between the reader or the viewer with the work: mystery, suspense and dramatic irony. These techniques determine the relationship between the reader or the viewer with the story. This relationship changes, of course, concomitant with the process of revelations for attracting attention.
In mystery, the reader or the viewer knows less than the focalizers. Mystery is divided into closed and open mystery. Open mystery is the Columbo format in which the reader or the viewer witnesses the crime and knows who the murderer is. In suspense, the reader or the viewer and the focalizers have the same amount of narrative information. In dramatic irony, the reader or the viewer knows more than the focalizers.
Literature Review
The story collection Qesse-hay-e Majid (Majid’s Tales) by Houshang Moradi Kermani has always attracted the attention of researchers of children’s literature for different reasons. For example, Sam-Khaniani and Mousavinia (2014), Hashemian and Rajabi Hamedani (2016), Binazir (2018), Alavi and Qanbari (2018) and Sadrzadeh and his colleagues (2022) have conducted researches about the stories in this collection.
However, Kiumars Pourahmad’s television adaptation of one of the stories, “The Woolen Jacket”, has not yet enjoyed as much attention as the book. Rasouli (2015) is arguably the only researcher who has explained its type of adaptation. The present article, then, is of great significance since there has not been any independent research on the scope of story information in the short story “Jakat-e Pashmi” (“The Woolen Jacket”), its television adaptation or any other story or film for that matter.
Research Objectives and Questions
The main focus of the present article is the scope of story information and the comparison of the way the reader’s or the viewer’s attention is attracted and kept in the short story “The Woolen Jacket” from the story collection Majid’s Tales by Houshang Moradi Kermani (1979) and its adaptation into a television film, Jacket, directed by Kiumars Pourahmad (1990) based on Rober McKee’s narratological theory.
The research tries to find answers to the following questions: 1) What methods are used in the plot of the short story “The Woolen Jacket” and its television adaptation for attracting the attention of the reader and the viewer? 2) What are the similarities and differences in the techniques of attracting the reader’s or the viewer’s attention in the short story “The Woolen Jacket” and its television adaptation?
Methodology
This research uses a comparative study method based on Robert McKee’s narratological theory. First, the short story “The Woolen Jacket” and its television adaptation were divided into their various constituent plot elements and simultaneously, their scope of story information was analyzed and the ways for attracting the reader’s or the viewer’s attention were studied. Then, by comparing the similarities and differences between the two, the reasons behind the differences in the ways of attracting the reader’s or the viewer’s attention are identified. It is the contention of the authors of the present article that the television adaptation makes use of more diverse and complex techniques for distributing the story information and attracting the attention of the viewers, thanks to the multimedia possibilities such as artificial light and shadows, identifiable sounds and images and dramatic acts in comparison with textual possibilities.
Conclusion
The researchers found out that there are a number of techniques in the distribution of narrative information which determine the relationship between the reader or the viewer and the story. These techniques change concomitant with the writer’s or the director’s method of attracting the attention. There are significant similarities and differences in these techniques based on the dominant focalizer in the story and its narrative affordances. First, we observed that the focalizer in the short story “The Woolen Jacket” is internal which, because of the similarity of the amount of narrative information of the readers and himself, makes the element of suspense dominant in the story. For creating diversity in the scope of story information and the attractiveness of the narrative, this focalizer makes use of the element of mystery along with such techniques as flashforward, internal narrative, ellipsis, etc. Another dominant technique used by this focalizer is surprise which adds to the mysteries of the story. Also, due to the spatial limitation of this focalizer, there is no dramatic irony in the story. On the other hand, we observed that in the television adaptation, a major section of the time of the film is dedicated to the focalization of other actants. Although in the verbal narrative the element of suspense is only combined with the element of mystery, in the film, the element of suspense is combined with both elements of mystery and dramatic irony, thanks to the affordances of the camera and the creativity of the director. In other words, the camera provides the opportunity to go to places in which the internal focalizer cannot be present. Also, we can see the events with sounds and music and from various angles in a multidimensional way, which create more powerful suspense and surprises. Therefore, it can be said that the television adaptation makes use of more diverse and complex affordances and multimedia techniques for distributing the story information and keeping the viewers’ attention.