Investigating the Time of the Story “The Donkey being Tricked by the Fox” in Masnavi based on Genette's Theory of Time

We can analyze Masnavi stories using contemporary literary theories. Narratology, a modern approach derived from linguistics, offers valuable insights. One significant topic in narratology is the concept of narrative time. Gérard Genette, a prominent theorist, extensively explored this subject. Genette emphasizes three key aspects—order, duration, and frequency—to analyze narrative time. In the present study, the story "Donkey being tricked by a fox" from the fifth book of the Masnavi was analyzed using a descriptive-analytical method, with an emphasis on Gérard Genette's theory of time in narrative. The results indicate that the story's timeline follows a linear progression, and except for a few instances, the events are narrated in chronological order. From the narration, it is evident that the dominant temporal framework in this story is chronological time. According to the overall tone of the story, Molvi employs retrospective time to narrate the events. He skillfully uses descriptive pauses, which effectively create negative momentum. By utilizing an omniscient point of view and incorporating internal narratives, he demonstrates his mastery in generating this negative momentum for the audience. In this story, Molvi predominantly uses singular frequency, with frequent and repetitive frequencies ranking second and third, respectively.
Introduction
The treasure trove of Persian literature is full of diverse and fruitful narrative poetic systems such as Shahnameh, Leyli and Majnun, Khosrow and Shirin, Manteq al-Tair, Masnavi Manawi, and among them, Masnavi Manawi is mentioned as one of the mystical literary masterpieces. Rumi presented this work, mixed with various stories, in a narrative form in a surprising way in the seventh century AH to those thirsty for mystical knowledge.
The study of the narratology of stories and tales using literary theories is a new approach that originated from linguistics. One of the important issues raised in narratology is the time-history of the narrative. One of the great theorists who has addressed this issue is Jean-Jacques Genette. Based on Genette's theory, the issue of the order of continuity and repetition in stories should be criticized and examined.
In the present study, using a descriptive-analytical method and relying on the theory of the Frenchman Gerard Genette, the narrative time in the strange story of "The Donkey being tricked the Fox" has been examined.
This story deals with the story of a donkey being deceived by a fox and ordered by a lion to kill and eat it. The story is similar in narrative to Zent's theory and the principle of Zent's narrative time, that is, the order of continuity and frequency, is observed in it. It is also necessary to examine the different forms of acceleration and resistance and their effect on the attractiveness of the story. It can be said that Rumi has chosen a deliberate structure to convey this content.
Research objectives
The purpose of this article is to critique and examine the narrative structure of one of the stories in the spiritual Masnavi by applying modern principles and rules in analyzing a classical work and examining the results obtained from it.
Methodology
The story of the donkey being deceived by the fox is one of the stories in the fifth book of the spiritual Masnavi by Jalal al-Din Mohammad Balkhi, known as Rumi. Its narrative time has been analyzed using library resources and a descriptive-analytical method based on the theory of Gerard Rahmat. For this purpose, an attempt has been made to first briefly explain the theory of the passage, and then the components of time in the story are analyzed based on this theory, and the results of this analysis are expressed in the story.
Results and discussion
Regarding the concept of order, the findings indicate that a high percentage of the text follows a linear narrative flow, with no temporal lag observed. In this story, Mowlana employs internal narratives to create a sense of negative acceleration. The characters and the narrator disrupt the timeline through objective correlation. Mowlana builds suspense and engages the audience by using the characters' internal dialogues.
These elements of suspense at the story's core create negative acceleration, which is entirely proportional and natural. The highest frequency corresponds to negative accelerations.
By doing this, Rumi impresses his intended concepts upon the audience and aligns them with his goals in the story. In this narrative, not only is there no inconsistency among the components of Zent's theory, but these elements also interact effectively and cohesively. The techniques employed in the storytelling are deliberate and well-suited, and a structural analysis of the story enhances the understanding of its complexities.
In addition to the negative acceleration that is of high frequency, in this story, Rumi has created positive acceleration in his story by using two methods: deleting and summarizing parts of the story.
In terms of frequency, Rumi uses the singular frequency of repeated and the repeated frequency of repeated in several places in this story, which are mentioned in the text of the article.
This article has attempted to make good use of primary sources, books, and articles related to the topic of the article. This article is taken from the doctoral dissertation of Mr. Maghsoud Pashaei Paydar, one of the authors of the article.