LITERARY CRITICISM
Year:2015 | Volume:8 | Issue:30|Papers Count:11

Although Bakhtin did not formulate any theory of subjectivity per se, the problem of subject or, as he called it, “self” formed one of his main critical interests. This study focuses on his definition of “dialogic self” and the different notions of subjectivity discussed in his books in the course of his twenty-five year career. For convenience, five stages are introduced through which Bakhtin has constituted his definition of subjectivity by taking a piecemeal approach to the issue. These stages are labeled as: ethical, aesthetic, novelistic, carnivalesque, and dialogic subject. Except for the carnivalesque stage, each of these stages is built on the modification of the previous stages about subjectivity. It was only in the carnivalesque subject that he discusses a new characteristic for the subject-a characteristic that was eventually omitted in his final paradigm. Two of the contemporary theories of “dialogic self” predicated on Bakhtin’s ideas are also briefly discussed in this study. One is Hermans’ theory of subject-space/subject-position, and the embodied dialogic subject, and the second is the later developments on Hermans’ theory of the dialogic self.

Regarding exegesis as a fundamental specificity of the mystical language, this paper introduces one narrative pattern in the mystical anecdotes. As in most of the didactic forms, this structure is constituted by a mistake and a punishment; but in this case, the mistake takes the form of a norm. A new mistake and its punishment are then introduced and the first overt mistake is not followed by the expected punishment. The emphasis on the second mistake is the result of a hermeneutical process. This pattern, as a result, proposes a narrative description of the act of exegesis in the mystical texts. From this point of view, highlighting some mistakes and overlooking the others can show the function of mystical conventions in the mystical narration. Although this interpretation is based on the structural and narrative aspects of mystical texts, it pays attention to the linguistic and conceptual aspects of these texts as well.

The application of self-valuation system within the framework of fictional/factual positioning can be remarkably useful in providing a new approach to the analysis of the relation between the novelist and his/her fictional hero. In this paper we are examining the valuation system of the protagonist of the novel Man in the Dark (2008) by Paul Auster. Based on Hubert Hermans’ Valuation Theory, we examine the meaning units and their affective connotations in the narratives of the protagonist/author during his factual storytelling and his fictional confrontation with his hero. Moreover, basic motives of self-enhancement and the contact and the union with others and finally their affective profiles are discussed based on the model presented in the paper, i.e. Virtual Fictional/Factual Positioning (VFP). The findings of this research truly indicate that the art of storytelling helps the protagonist to rebuild his own identity and fix the ruins of his past. The dynamics of fictional and factual positioning motivate the I-as-storyteller position, which could effectively overcome the challenges created by I-as-husband and I-as-creator-of war position and eventually develop new positive perspectives for the future.

Karnameh, Shahrashub, Senfi (guild) poetry, and Shahrangiz are the names that are used often interchangeably in the sources due to some similarities and the fact that they share the same root. However, these genres have enough nuances that can distinguish them into four separate genres. Of course, it is more difficult to consider karnameh as a genre since there are few and sometimes incomplete examples of it and that, practically, karnameh is transformed into shahrashub at last. The same is true about senfi poetry in which the professions are described poetically and the craftsman is portrayed as the beloved but, later, they were entered into shahrangiz genre and sometimes became extended and coherent works instead of scattered poems. Identifying the delicate features of these genres requires a lot of precision and, indeed, the inaccuracies have caused some of the experts and scholars to confuse these genres. However, it should be noted that, even at the time of their currency, poets and literary figures considered them as not following any norm and convention. Drawing on original sources and taxonomical studies, this research aims to identify and represent the nuances of each of these genres.

The scholars who study mystical experience are often divided into two main groups. The first group is advocates of “essentialism.” The advocates of essentialism believe that mystical experience is selfdetermining and mind-independent; therefore they think all mystical experiences share the same essence and features that are universal and trans-cultural. The second group has a constructivist approach. For them, there is a fundamental relationship between mind of the mystic and his\her mystical experiences. They believe that former experiences and backgrounds form the mystical experience and therefore the mystical experience is an individual phenomenon affected by the mind, language, and traditions of the mystic. This article defends the constructivist approach by providing various evidences from the mystical experiences of Ruzbihan that is reported in his spiritual autobiography, Kashf al-Asrar. To do this, as one of the most important component of Rouzbahan’s cognitive world, we analyze his tendency toward concrete, tangible, and embodied phenomena. The result of this research demonstrates that, as constructivists scholars have said, Ruzbihan’s belief that “the human body is the manifestation of God” led him to attribute anthropomorphic features to God and angels in his mystical experiences and visionary dreams.

The use of various metaphors in mystical texts has opened up a new horizon for the readers and has expanded their understanding of the meaning of the universe. Because of its associative function in mystical texts, metaphor creates new experiences for the reader- experiences that are foreign to the reader’s personal experiences. This research draws on George Lakoff’s and Mark Johnson’s studies on “Conceptual Metaphor” (Cognitive Linguistics). These two theorists believe that reasoning and conceptualization inseparably depend on physical and environmental features. In Mawlānā’s poetry, the act of conceptualizations and reasoning is tied to biological capabilities and physical and social experiences of the individuals. There is a chainlike network of metaphorical relations in Mawlānā's cognitive world that starts from conception of an embryo in womb and continues to weaning the child. The conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb and Jesus’s birth are one of the most common metaphors to explain Mawlānā’s understanding of the Master’s unity. Furthermore, inside this network, Mawlānā uses the mother-child relationship to account for God-Human relation. This paper studies the metaphor of mother and all the images related to the growth of a child, for example the breastmilk, through which Mawlānā explains the steps of seyr-o solook (spiritual quest for the truth).