A Study of the Functions of Non-Verbal Communications in Prince Ehtejab (A Thought on a Story-Telling Technique in the Fiction of Golshiri)

Abstract
Houshang Golshiri is one of the greatest and most influential Iranian story writers in the contemporary times. And Prince Ehtejab is not only among the most important works of Golshiri, but is also a significant work in the modern fiction which takes use of the techniques of interior monologue and stream of consciousness. For a substantial use of these techniques in the development of his plot, Golshiri has taken wide use of a number of non-verbal elements of communication, and that in a highlighted and determining way. In this way, the purpose of the present research is to study the function of non-verbal behaviors and communications in his novel. Taking use of the advantages of the interdisciplinary method (that is, the techniques of narrative fiction, semiotics, and psychology), the present article tries to analyze a variety of examples in Golshiri’s novel of non-verbal communication along with the reasons behind the use of each of them. It also tries to investigate the extent and quality of Golshiri’s attention to the role of these elements in the progress of his fiction. Non-verbal behaviors are in different relations with the elements of the story. For example, sound relations take role in the created tone of the story, space paraphernalia take role in the manufacture of the situation, and hints and gestures take role in the creation of suspense and characterization. In Prince Ehtejab, the elements of space are more frequent than any other element while facial conducts, bodily gestures, and paralanguages take the next positions. These narrative conducts take particular roles in characterization, in the montage of space, and in the production of the fictional scenes.