A study of the methods of beginning and ending the narrative and the degree of significance of its elements in Houshang Golshiri's collection of short stories before the Islamic Revolution (based on the collection

Banitalebi-Dehkordi, Amin

doi:10.22054/ltr.2025.83122.3935

A study of the methods of beginning and ending the narrative and the degree of significance of its elements in Houshang Golshiri's collection of short stories before the Islamic Revolution (based on the collection "Jobeh Khaneh")

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Amin Banitalebi-Dehkordi

Department of Persian Language and Literature, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

10.22054/ltr.2025.83122.3935

Abstract

Houshang Golshiri is one of the novelists who seeks a close and meaningful connection between the structure and the content of the story. In the present study, after analyzing and criticizing the theories presented in the field of the story's plot, relying on Robert Funk's theory and adding a constraint to it, the author seeks to determine, using a descriptive-analytical method, the beginning and ending of the plots of Houshang Golshiri's three short story collections, "As Always," "My Little Prayer House," and "Jebeh-Khaneh," and their starting mechanisms; then, in order to comply with the brevity and size of the article, he simply examined the level of implication and artifice of the plot sentences of the "Jebeh-Khaneh" collection and, where necessary, pointed out their strengths and weaknesses. The results indicate that in the combined beginnings (45%), elements that raise doubts and destabilize the plot space of the story, such as ambiguity, mystery, and symbolism, have been prominently used. As this theme intensifies, the character's self-destruction becomes apparent, and hence, beginning with characterization (30%) is in second place. Such characters compensate for their lost peace by taking refuge in pleasant memories, and for this reason, the frequency of the "return to the past" technique is prominent in this author's stories. In addition, the opening sentences of the stories have a strong implication with the middle and ending sentences of the story, and provide the reader with important clues about the secondary meanings and components of the story.

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