Examining Time and Characterization in the Collection of Stories ‘Somewhere Else’, by Goli Taraghi Based on Rimmon-Kenan's Theoretical Model of Narratives

• Published in: Funūn-i adabī Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 43 - 62
• Main Authors: Fatemeh Sadri, Lida Namdar, Javad Taheri
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Persian
• Published: University of Isfahan 01-09-2023
• Subjects: characterization; goli taraghi; narratology; rimmon kenan; somewhere else; time
• ISSN: 2008-8027; 2322-3448
• DOI: 10.22108/liar.2023.138287.2288

Rimmon Kenan, in her book ‘The Art of Narrative Expression’ has introduced a theoretical-applied framework for analyzing different types of narratives from the point of view of structural narratologists. The present research has analyzed this framework, taking into account the two elements of time and characterization, in the collection of stories of ‘Somewhere Else’ by Goli Taraghi. The purpose is to use the descriptive-analytic method to analyze the capabilities of the structural-applied model of narratology in time components, including temporal elements, spatial components, and characterization from the book ‘The Art of Narrative Expression’ in rereading the two stories ‘Unfinished Game’ and ‘Somewhere Else’. The findings demonstrated that in the two components of time and characterization, in ‘Unfinished Game’, the occurrence of travel with retrospective anachronism, at the level of the story, caused the main character's reopening of the mental complexes, which had influenced his actions for years. In the characterization of the story ‘Somewhere Else’, the main character of the story has reached a spiritual transformation in terms of self-knowledge and connection with his spiritual interests. As a result, the reader is convinced and goes along with the story which is currently sought by the application of cognitive narratology in the field of postclassical narratology. Keywords: Narratology, Time, Characterization, Rimmon Kenan, Somewhere Else, Goli Taraghi.IntroductionNarration has a history as long as human life. The human mind continuously achieves novel perceptions of the world based on narratives. Rimmon Kenan is among the experts who have been able to compile the theories of narratologists in a practical model for analyzing stories and texts in a new format and framework by studying the structure of narratives and analyzing the technique of narrative expression. In the book ‘The Art of Narrative Expression’, she shows the distinction between story narration and other narrative tools.The present research analyzed this framework, taking into account the two elements of time and characterization, in the collection of stories of ‘Somewhere Else’ by Goli Taraghi. Some Research works have been done in the field of narratology and analysis of Taraghi’s works (e.g. Aram & Sokhtezari, 2014; Hassanzadeh &Nuri, 2015; Zokaei, 2007).However, to the best of the present authors’ knowledge, a detailed investigation has not been done about the collection of stories of ‘Somewhere Else’ from the perspective of Kenan's narratology. Materials and MethodsThe present research has investigated the topic using a descriptive-analytical method in an inductive way based on a specific theoretical framework using Rimmon Kenan's narratology model. Moreover, in this research, an attempt has been made to use the most important components of this theorist. First, the components of narratology are introduced. Then, the desired data are extracted from the selected stories using the analytical method. In fact, narratology has been introduced as a practical model in the narrative analysis of stories and texts, and the components of the narratological approach are examined in ‘Somewhere Else’ by Goli Taraghi. Research FindingsIn narrative timing, the theme and foundation of the story ‘Unfinished Game’ is the movement and travel from one moment to another. This movement in time has had a great impact on the issue of narrative timing. Regarding the organization and order of the narrative, the story moves to the past through a chain of cause and effect, and anachronism occurs when something happens in the present that is tied to a memory in the past. In the discussion of continuity in the story ‘Unfinished Game’, the speed of expressing the events, at the level of the story, increases at the level of the text with the intention of speeding through unimportant events so that the narrator can represent her past memories with Azadeh Derakhshan. Regarding the descriptive delay, there are times in the story ‘Unfinished Game’ when the speaking time is spent describing or interpreting the events in the waiting room of the airport and inside the plane. In the discussion of frequency, in ‘Unfinished Game’, the frequency of "winning" is repeated continuously in the story. As for characterization, the narrator of the story ‘Unfinished Game’ has used two types of direct characterization and indirect characterization to describe herself and Azadeh Derakhshan, respectively.In ‘Somewhere Else’, regarding narrative timing in the component of organization and order, retrospective timing is very useful for understanding the characters and developing the cause-effect circle of the story. It undergoes anachronism where it expresses a time among the present, past, and the future in a parallel narrative manner. Descriptive pause in the story ‘Somewhere Else’ is used a lot to describe the characters, their dreams, and their behavior in certain events in such a way that much of the time of speech in this section is prolonged. Discussion of Results and ConclusionThis research was conducted with the aim of applying the theoretical model of narratology by focusing on the analysis of two stories ‘Somewhere Else’ and ‘Unfinished Game’ from the collection of stories ‘Somewhere Else’ by Goli Taraghi. The findings of the present research demonstrate that the author of the story, in the component of story level has been able to indirectly highlight the event of the trip in the reader's mind.In the story ‘Unfinished Game’ the author unseals the mental complexes of the main character of the story through strategies such as traveling and seeing an important character in her childhood on the same trip, traveling to the past and anachronism in the narrative order of the story, and so on.In the story ‘Somewhere Else’, the travel event is replaced by a mysterious illness that is contracted by the main character of the story, Amir Ali, for no real reason. In addition, the author shows the elements of fiction using the components of time from Genette's point of view, especially in the use of repeated frequency.Using the repeated frequency of the theme of always winning in life and traveling in time, Taraghi has been able to create an effective model for the mental health of the main characters in ‘Unfinished Game’ and ‘Somewhere Else’. From the point of view of narrative characterization, Taraghi connects the reader with the main characters of the story with indirect characterization and dynamic actions so that the reader can evaluate the characters in their actions, speech, appearance, environment, and strength of the character through analogy. Moreover, the reader achieves spiritual transformation along with the characters, goes along with the story, and enjoys it, which is, in effect, sought by cognitive narratology.