Studying concept “Otherness” and “Presence and Absence” in the collection of stories " Dog's Eye" by Alia Ataee (according to Jacques Derrida's the metaphysics of presence theory )

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Persian Language and Literature, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant professor of Persian language and literature, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

10.22126/rp.2023.8602.1712

Abstract

One of the concepts criticized by Derrida in Western thought is the great attention and appeal to the metaphysics of presence in order to suppress and oblivion the part of absence (otherness and difference) that has always existed in human life and thinking, and Derrida by this criticism, has established a base of reading texts from a forgotten and hidden dimension. Some of the texts that are worthy of discussion from this point of view are the stories that the present research has tried to study with the descriptive-analytical method and with the aim of understanding the factors and bases of creating the feeling of "otherness" in the characters of Alia Ataee's collection of stories "Dog’s Eyes " by using Jacques Derrida's metaphysical theory of presence and in this way examines confrontational relationships as well as attention to absence from the perspective of the author and the reader. The importance of this research can be observed through showing another way of reading and discovering the gaps and missing aspects of the text that provide the possibility of new insight for the readers. The results of the research show that in these seven stories, there are various factors that create the concept of "otherness", among them are migration and cultural differences that also create confrontations. Considering being bicultural and benefiting from both present and absent (Iranian-Afghan) sides, the author has tried his best to narrate the stories from both sides.

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