The Longing to be Heard in the Book The Nation of Love The Transition of Personalities from Monophonic Horizon to Polyphonic World

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor in Persian Language and Literature, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Lecturer of Payam Noor University, Rasht, Iran.

10.22126/rp.2022.6907.1419

Abstract

Characters, by their function in narration, form monophonic or polyphonic situations in the world of novels and narratives. The formation of all kinds of sounds in the text is trapped in the situation and contexts of the lived world. The concerns, intellectual become the basis for the emergence of polyphony. This essay is a study of the functional characyteristics of the novel The Nation of Love, by Elif Shafak and explores the factors and contexts that provide the permanence or transition of characters in the two worlds of monophonic and polyphonic. Approaches such as feminism and ideological views are a good benchmark for revealing the tone of polyphony and. Accordingly, the fundamental characters of the novel The Nation of Love find function and activism in two categories: monophonic and polyphonic. These personalities include characters who are either confused by ideological thought in monopolies, or characters who allow different thoughts to be revealed. This novel with its intertwining tactics and the opportunity to give a variety of sounds, has been able to present different horizons of human existence. In presenting these different horizons, the author of the novel is clearly influenced by the polyphonic horizon and existence of the world and Rumi's thought.
Introduction:
Narratives have fundamental components. Events and characters are two basic elements of narrative. The characters appear in the scene and time of the story. They determine the time and place of events about the context. These events do not occur in a vacuum. Rather, they originate from the characters' world of thought and psyche.Characters, by their function in narration, form monophonic or polyphonic situations in the world of novels and narratives. The formation of all kinds of sounds in the text is trapped in the situation and contexts of the lived world. The concerns, intellectual become the basis for the emergence of polyphony.This essay is a study of the functional functions of the novel The Nation of Love, by Elif Shafak and explores the factors and contexts that provide the permanence or transition of characters in the two worlds of monophonic and polyphonic.
Methodology:
The current study is devised so as to consider the functional functions of the novel The Nation of Love, by Elif Shafak and explores the factors and contexts that provide the permanence or transition of characters in the two worlds of monophonic and polyphonic. Approaches such as feminism and ideological views are a good benchmark for revealing the tone of polyphony. Writers and critics, especially in recent centuries, have created different methods and approaches for reading texts. These methods and approaches reveal the meanings or in other words, the different lived worlds in the texts. Literary approaches and appropriate methods are effective in understanding and reading fictional texts. The tools are used by critics to open different horizons of the text. In openness, the audience and readers can reach the underlying layers of the text and thus, the text remains alive and dynamic. Mikhail Bakhtin is one of the thinkers who has presented different theories to analyze and analyze stories and novels. With these approaches, he has reached an understanding of texts that are not evident in the first reading. Mikhail Bakhtin's conversational logic is one of the approaches that can show the world of the novel and the characters. In addition to this approach, the use of ideas such as feminism and ideologies is a strategy that demarcates the thinking world of the characters.
Results and Discussion:
Some works of art, including novels written in recent centuries, can borrow the main themes of their narrative from past events and experiences, whether it is related to others or related to the author. In the second case, novels are narratives that are taken from the world in which we live now, or in other words, they are structured from actions and characters that are not alien to our present world, or have experienced them in some way. The third category is novels in which the author moves the characters and their actions to a time and place in the future. No character in the present world has experienced this time and place. Novels that take place in the future are a response to human dissatisfaction or boredom with the current world. By taking the characters and their thoughts and psyche to the future time and place, the author cultivates certain actions and thoughts from them. This world is a criticism of the present world or at least a prediction of the future world. The fourth category of narratives is stories and narratives that look to the past on the one hand and the present on the other hand. The authors of these novels see deposits in the past that can be the main material for building a fictional world. Next to this main topic, there are new topics related to the present world. The purpose of the author in such narratives is to change the color and smell of his time with the value or events of the past. Probably, these events and values ​​are the components that have been forgotten in the new world. This forgetfulness has prompted the author to criticize some values ​​of the present world and for this criticism; he turns to the past world as if it were the Garden of Eden. This coming together of two worlds and the emergence of different characters and actions in the narrative, of course, also takes on the aspect of defamiliarization and art, which makes the reader want to read the novel. With this technique, the reader's mind does not remain static in one world, and by going back and forth between two worlds, it provides the audience with the pleasure of dynamic knowledge awareness and travel. Molavi is an Iranian mystic and poet whose poems and thoughts have spread all over the world. In the frenzy of consumerism and relativity, today's world finds itself in need of searching in other valleys of the past. One of these ancient sources is Maulvi Balkhi's works and even his life. Molvi's thoughts and life have a lot of components of good living, which are very suitable for removing the harms of today's world. In presenting these different horizons, the author of the novel is clearly influenced by the polyphonic horizon and existence of the world and Rumi's thought.
Conclusion:
The characters of the novel can act divergently. Actions create an alive situation, which is the world of characters. The meaning of the world of characters is the thoughts and actions that have a two-way interaction with their psyche and mind. Although the characters of a narrative, including a novel, can be very diverse from the point of view of different patterns and components; based on Bakhtin's logic, they can be divided into two main categories. The first category are characters whose various psychological, mental, and external events do not make them aware of their inner and outer world. These characters are monophonic characters. It means that they cannot accept other thoughts and actions. Actions and thoughts are fossilized in the form of their personality and are guided by a pattern that cannot be reconstructed or changed. Therefore, their world is one-dimensional and in this one-dimensional world, various experiences do not occur in the personality. These characters do not pass from one world to another. On the other hand, other characters in the The Nation of Love have several voices. These characters put their thoughts, actions, and experiences in the path of transition and allow themselves to experience different worlds of action, behavior, and thought. The characters who experience multiple voices in The Nation of Love do not step into the realm of patriarchy or ideology. They remove their action patterns from the fossilized state and give themselves the courage to experience other worlds and allow others to have different worlds and respect those worlds. The change and transformation of the previously lived world and entering the new world and school of thought are the characteristics of such characters. The fundamental characters of the novel The Nation of Love find function and activism in two categories: monophonic and polyphonic.These personalities include characters who are either confused by ideological thought in monopolies, or characters who allow different thoughts to be revealed. This novel with its intertwining tactics and the opportunity to give a variety of sounds, has been able to present different horizons of human existence.

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