Investigating the Structure of the plot in Ermia's Novel Based on New Patterns in Structuralism and Narrative

ShahinGhasemi, Assistant Professor,  Department of Persian Literature, College of Persian, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran.

Sh.ghasemi158@yahoo.com

Abstract

The main focus of this research is to analyze the narrative structure of narrative in the sacred defense novel Ermia, relying on modern models of structuralism and narrative, so since most of the research in the field of sacred defense fiction works in a general way, Or, at the very least, introducing the elements of the story, in this study we will examine, for the first time, relying on modern models of structuralism and narrative, which are emerging literary criticisms, in the novel of Ermiaby Reza Amirkhani. So first, while introducing the structuralism theories Greimas and the narrative paradigm of Jappe Lint Veldt and GeererGennet, a brief history of the two sciences of structuralism and narrative in the fictional literature will be mentioned, followed by the two communication patterns (linkage and rupture) in the plot structure will be analyzed. Based on the research theory, while examining the structure of the plot, we will try to analyze the type of narration and its functions in this work, relying on the mentioned model.

The stream of sacred defense literature is never-ending and it is a continuous stream of sacred defense-themed works in various formats. One of these works is a novel and a story. Although much fiction has been written and still is written on the sacred defense, research that examines the structure of these novels through modern structuralism and narrative theories.

Therefore, the present study is based on modern models of structuralism and narratology to investigate the narrative structure of narrative in Jeremiah's novel. In this study we pursue two major goals. First, we seek to gain a comprehensive understanding of the novel by relying on the Grimas model of action, and the next step is to identify the narrative pattern of the work and specify its narrative tools (language, similar themes and narrator-audience relationship).

   We believe that the literature of every nation is a manifestation of the cultural and religious beliefs of that nation and is the mirror of the whole culture of that nation. The literary works of the post-revolutionary writers, especially during the sacred defense, reflect the unique manifestations of the bravery, courage, self-sacrifice and dedication of the young people of these frontierwhose literary and educational teachings will be recorded in Iranian history books and civilizations.

In the meantime, the contribution of fiction literature is the awakeningin the history of the Iranian nation which reflects the undeniable facts, events and epics that have attracted the attention of scholars and literary writers of the present day. This literature is an undeniable document in which its history and philosophy are clearly evident.In the present study, the author seeks to analyze the complex structure of the sacred defense novel Ermia with new approaches to narratology and structuralism.

Narrative as a structuralism term was first used by TzotanTodorovin 1999. Narrative is the scientific research in narration, in other words, scientific grammar of narration.

Each story involves the disruption of a situation and must have at least two beginning and end stages, namely a story with a sequence of events occurring in the time axis and with two beginning and end situations (before and after) with emphasis on Change of the main character. For example, in the story of Ermia by Reza Amir Khani, we see the sequence of events in the story in the axis of time, at the beginning of the story we find a young Ermia who has not yet entered the battlefield and front and is studying with his friends at the university and living like them. At the end of the story, her personality completely changes and due to the influence of the frontal space and the testimony of her best friend, Mustafa, she acts as a loner, avoids the material world, and lives in simplicity so that she is not the same as the character that we have in the first part of the novel.

According to Greimas's model, a similar pattern can be drawn for these stories, since in all these stories there is a value object (the ultimate goal) in the name of acting as a human being and defending Islam and the homeland. It is not always a personality, but sometimes a sense of inner strength as well.

Based on the Greimas model of actors, an important principle in the sacred defense stories is always repeated, and the impersonal force in these stories is impersonal. Unlike other types of fiction that always lead a character to the object of value, in sacred defense stories an inward force driven by religious beliefs drives the actor to the object of value and no worldly reward Or the external character is not involved.

We believe that in the grammar of each story there is a stage of contracting between the actors or within the actor himself. In the sacred defense stories, the type of contract is internal and only within the actor, and the actor acts on his human and religious duty based on his homeland, Islam and revolution, and contrary to the obvious and tangible type. In sacred defense stories, contractual actors are not closed. Each story has a structured narrative that, according to structuralism narratives, can be explained by its structure and its mechanisms, though with a non-scientific perspective and a formalist view. It seems that the narrative structure and grammar of the narrative in the stories of the sacred defense (of the kind of literature of sustainability) with the other truth formats. They are no different, but the analysis of these stories and their extensive examination of the structuralism narrative approach reveal the following differences in their structural grammar.

In the narrative of sacred defense stories, there is not always a literal contract between the actors, and only one of the actors, vows to actwhile this stage is generally rhetorical in other fictional genres.

Keywords: plot, Structuralism, Narrative, Sacred Defense, Story, Ermia