Critiques on Theoretical Discussions on “Minimalistic” Stories

"Minimalistic" stories, in their modern sense, were born in the 1960s in the west, and they have been considered and welcomed in Iran for more than two decades. The use of essential elements of the story, very low volume and extreme brevity in language use, compactness and silence, the unexpected and surprising ending, charm, simplicity, chastity of language and appeals are, of the most important components of this new genre.
Definitions for minimalist / Anecdotes include different ideas terms of the size and number of elements. The current paper aims at reviewing and analyzing the confusions and mistakes in this regard.  The main purpose of this article is to state the differences and contradictions, and to clarify the boundaries, as well as to correct components of this genre to show that specifying limits is not allowed in the creation of creative works.  The most important finding of this research is that a Minimalist / Anecdotes have two outstanding features which are counted as; small size, compactness and silence. This means that many Minimals are Anecdotes due to their small size and a number of short stories are minimal due to silent features.
Introduction:
"Minimalism" is a trend in literature that is characterized by content’s brevity and vocabulary, simplicity of structure and language, and the sparing use of minimal story elements.
The minimalist writers who write in accordance with the structural and technical principles of the short story, also use simple language apart from any literary modifications and by using techniques such as: avoiding introduction, attractive theme, simple, concise and clear language, using dialogue and narration, they create sudden and instant, but durable works.
The following conditions have formed and spread the minimalism movement:

The increasing prevalence of cinema and television among people, which resulted a decrease in people’s frequency of reading.
The spread of magazines, which published compact content.
Confronting the intellectual pretentious who were inclined towards the style of ornate.

Minimalism was actually the result of the formalists’ efforts who were trying to create new forms of story writing. In the given definitions, these two terms were sometimes used with the same meaning or with different meanings and a common opinion can be reached that is; short story is a more general term than minimal in a way that includes both minimal works, other short-short stories, and even the past anecdotes of Persian literature. Where only the volume is discussed, the title of short story can eliminate the need for any other term, but when it comes to the writing style and techniques, the title of minimal is more accurate. On the other hand, avoiding arrays and aesthetic tricks is the specified element of minimal stories, but the elegance of language and aesthetic expression is an inherent part of the stories and past anecdotes of Persian literature.
 
Prominent features in the "Short Story":
- It is shorter than a short story.
- It has a shocking and surprising ending.
- It skillfully uses some elements of the story.
- It seeks to induce a single effect.
 
Prominent features in the "Minimal Story":
- Compactness in the content.
- It has minimum essential elements.
- Single effect induction.
- Lacks an eventful narrative.
- Has an organized plan.
- Explicitness of words.
- Expressing deep and complex concepts.
- Consciousness of the flow and literary style.
Therefore, short or minimal story is a way of writing stories in which compression and brevity, simplicity and less eventful, delicate use of narrative elements, the design of various human and social concepts, and an impressive ending with the intention of inducing a single and decisive effect on work is utilized.
Methodology:
The research method is a document with the purpose of description and analysis. During 2006 to 2020, the author has found, studied, and criticized research articles that were published in journals that publishes indexed university articles. In addition to these articles, Dr. N. Hosseini Sarvari's article was excluded because it is not in the aim of this research. In this research, the author has criticized the articles’ structure, stated the goals of the authors in writing their articles, the level of observance or non-observance of the ethical principles of research, etc. The purpose of his work is different, nevertheless. It reviews and expresses the weaknesses and shortcomings of topics such as definitions of short story, its elements and volume, and aims to provide comprehensive, well-argued, and documented definitions in these fields.
Results and Discussion:
The authors of articles address the two terms of "short story" and "minimal" in the same category and often use them interchangeably. However, there are subtle differences between the two. The term "short story" only refers to the meaning of volume, which, of course, emerges a disagreement and the term "minimal", apart from its meaning in other concepts, has its own meaning in the world of fiction. It is a literary flow and a way of writing that can be quantitatively, short or long at the same time; but the more precise meaning of minimal in today's modern story implies compactness and silence.
It is correct that short story and many of minimals are compact; however, the emphasis on the work’s volume in the creation of literary works is in conflict with the essence of art and creativity, and we should not consider numerical demarcations to identify a format. The important point in proving this opinion is the opinions of those who call stories of one to one hundred words as minimal or short-short stories.
The wide gap between the number of story elements (lowest: 8 and highest: 20) and the number of features (lowest: 1 and highest: 7) shows that the given definitions are not very precise and comprehensive. It should be accepted that limiting the short stories/minimal to a certain number of elements are not accurate because creative art does not reflect limitations.
During the study, it was found that some story elements are considered synonymous and identical. The first reason for this combination and confusion was related to the wrong theoretical sources that the authors have used. The second reason is the result of the inferences of researchers who have reached such conclusions. The third reason is that there are very few specialized sources in the field of minimal story; As a result, the authors have limited themselves to one or two available definitions and have not analyzed its validity.
In short stories/minimal, since all elements are shown compactly, it is not necessary for all elements to be presented together. The reviewed works do not have some story elements and this point with the opinion that "Too much tendency to brevity causes all story elements to be used in the least possible form." is in contradiction. Another point is that the tendency to brevity and abbreviation leads to the change of story components and makes one or more elements stand out; but which story element is more prominent, is a different and variable point, and it is necessary to see on which element the author emphasizes?
At the same time, short story/minimal can talk about ordinary people’s life or the society’s characteristics; it is allowed to present it in the desired art form (surrealism, romanticism, etc.). The last word is that in literature and art, we cannot and we are not allowed to define limits and force the creator to follow only one literary and artistic flow. Moreover, has the creation of masterpieces been anything but following the norms?
Conclusion:

A) Minimalism and compact writing have a long history in Persian literature, but the discovery of a new format and genre, naming of this literary type, defining and structuring it, etc., belong to westerners, and our research is largely indebted to their study and innovations.
B) From our perspective, story and minimal are two general and special terms. Short stories in their general sense also include minimal, which small size is their most important feature; but in its own sense, minimal refers to works that can be small and on the other hand have a special and distinguishing feature of compactness and silence. So every minimal is a story, but not every story is a minimal.