Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Feb 1, 2013
Structuralism provides innovative grounds for the analysis of prose literature. The role of the f... more Structuralism provides innovative grounds for the analysis of prose literature. The role of the fiction reader, story in the service of language, and story no longer for representing the concrete reality but for manufacturing new, relational, and pluralistic realities in language spaces are some of the outcomes of literary structuralism. The present article intends to discuss the application of Henry James's theories of the novel for providing a grammar of narrative. For doing this, it also attempts to show that James's theories of novel testify to the literary structuralisms of Claude Levi_Struass, Roland Barthes, Tzvetan Todorov, and Jonathan Culler. The role of language in James, his innovative narrative modes like the use of "scenic method" and "unreliable narrator," and the highlighted role of the reader in his last style which renders it a space of critical interpretation by the professional elite make his fiction structurally analyzable. In addition, these structuremaking features bear witness to what Barthes suggests "structural activity" of fiction should be based on. Some of these Barthesian formulas are: regarding the "text" as an open-ended site of signification which should consequently be handled differently from the "work," transferring the task of producing meaning from the author to the reader, and considering characters not as psychological entities but as "participants" in the formation of textual discourse. James's theories also testify to Todorov's theory of "absolute and absent cause" which he finds in the fiction of James and the outcome of which is the production of new frames of intelligibility. In addition, they give evidence to Culler's formula as to the production of meaning in novels, because reading James structurally is strategic for creating new realities in the space of language.
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Apr 8, 2015
The later Henry James's fiction is a productive field of cultural experience. The present paper t... more The later Henry James's fiction is a productive field of cultural experience. The present paper takes to analyze the creation of symbolic cultural realities in The Ambassadors through the exposition of James's main character to the manifestations of Parisian life. To achieve this purpose, it is argued that his character searches for the salvation of his consciousness mainly in language. But in search still of more new experiences, his consciousness often gets extended even beyond language. Cultural reflection in narrative language, negotiation with the other for interpretive analysis, experience as discursive, meaning as culturally represented in narrative, the quest to the beyond of language in search of experience, and cultural reflection for "civilized behavior" are among the issues which the present paper will analyze for the elaboration of its subject. The application of these techniques in James's novel enables his character to infiltrate history through his consciousness for standing in direction connection with the nature of things.
... by Ali Taghizadeh Berlin, October 10, 2011 Page 2. Page 3. ... In reply to irate Mrs. Newsome... more ... by Ali Taghizadeh Berlin, October 10, 2011 Page 2. Page 3. ... In reply to irate Mrs. Newsome's cable, he writes a letter and tears it up, cabling the next day his intention to stay another month. Now more ambassadors come: Mrs. Newsome's daughter Sarah, her common husband ...
Henry James (April 15, 1843 – February 28, 1916) was a very prolific writer, and his narrative fi... more Henry James (April 15, 1843 – February 28, 1916) was a very prolific writer, and his narrative fiction is a voluminous case of reading. The work in his major phase, on which the present project mainly focuses, is formally and thematically quite complicated and eccentric, and seems almost bizarre. On the other hand, modern literary theory and criticism, in the context of which I have attempted to read James, is a huge network of complicated ideas of which every nodal point, every theory or style of reading and thinking, has a link to every other nodal point. Therefore, reading James in the context of modern literary theory is beyond the scope of a doctoral research project, and needs perhaps the whole lifetime of a scholar. However, I have taken to write a doctoral research project on his fiction, because I think it has opened new ways to the institution of literature and its affiliations. The work of James has changed the ways of English literature, and has added much to its potenti...
The present paper moves in the line of cognitive literary studies. Its project is to interpret Ma... more The present paper moves in the line of cognitive literary studies. Its project is to interpret Mathew Quick’s The Silver Linings Playbook in the light of the theories of Gestalt psychology. Quick portrays a pair of mentally unbalanced protagonists suffering from the loss of their partners. Analyzing the psychological aftermaths which befall these figures afterwards, this paper attempts to highlight some facts through Gestalt therapy. As such, this paper tries to show the role of ‘Closure’ in the psychological imbalance of Quick’s characters, arguing that in their search for ‘Equilibrium’ they pass through a phase of neurotic problems. Deciphering part of the novel’s message as such, this paper elaborates upon the life of some mentally damaged guys who come to help each other in order to pass normal and healthy lives.
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Feb 1, 2013
Structuralism provides innovative grounds for the analysis of prose literature. The role of the f... more Structuralism provides innovative grounds for the analysis of prose literature. The role of the fiction reader, story in the service of language, and story no longer for representing the concrete reality but for manufacturing new, relational, and pluralistic realities in language spaces are some of the outcomes of literary structuralism. The present article intends to discuss the application of Henry James's theories of the novel for providing a grammar of narrative. For doing this, it also attempts to show that James's theories of novel testify to the literary structuralisms of Claude Levi_Struass, Roland Barthes, Tzvetan Todorov, and Jonathan Culler. The role of language in James, his innovative narrative modes like the use of "scenic method" and "unreliable narrator," and the highlighted role of the reader in his last style which renders it a space of critical interpretation by the professional elite make his fiction structurally analyzable. In addition, these structuremaking features bear witness to what Barthes suggests "structural activity" of fiction should be based on. Some of these Barthesian formulas are: regarding the "text" as an open-ended site of signification which should consequently be handled differently from the "work," transferring the task of producing meaning from the author to the reader, and considering characters not as psychological entities but as "participants" in the formation of textual discourse. James's theories also testify to Todorov's theory of "absolute and absent cause" which he finds in the fiction of James and the outcome of which is the production of new frames of intelligibility. In addition, they give evidence to Culler's formula as to the production of meaning in novels, because reading James structurally is strategic for creating new realities in the space of language.
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Apr 8, 2015
The later Henry James's fiction is a productive field of cultural experience. The present paper t... more The later Henry James's fiction is a productive field of cultural experience. The present paper takes to analyze the creation of symbolic cultural realities in The Ambassadors through the exposition of James's main character to the manifestations of Parisian life. To achieve this purpose, it is argued that his character searches for the salvation of his consciousness mainly in language. But in search still of more new experiences, his consciousness often gets extended even beyond language. Cultural reflection in narrative language, negotiation with the other for interpretive analysis, experience as discursive, meaning as culturally represented in narrative, the quest to the beyond of language in search of experience, and cultural reflection for "civilized behavior" are among the issues which the present paper will analyze for the elaboration of its subject. The application of these techniques in James's novel enables his character to infiltrate history through his consciousness for standing in direction connection with the nature of things.
... by Ali Taghizadeh Berlin, October 10, 2011 Page 2. Page 3. ... In reply to irate Mrs. Newsome... more ... by Ali Taghizadeh Berlin, October 10, 2011 Page 2. Page 3. ... In reply to irate Mrs. Newsome's cable, he writes a letter and tears it up, cabling the next day his intention to stay another month. Now more ambassadors come: Mrs. Newsome's daughter Sarah, her common husband ...
Henry James (April 15, 1843 – February 28, 1916) was a very prolific writer, and his narrative fi... more Henry James (April 15, 1843 – February 28, 1916) was a very prolific writer, and his narrative fiction is a voluminous case of reading. The work in his major phase, on which the present project mainly focuses, is formally and thematically quite complicated and eccentric, and seems almost bizarre. On the other hand, modern literary theory and criticism, in the context of which I have attempted to read James, is a huge network of complicated ideas of which every nodal point, every theory or style of reading and thinking, has a link to every other nodal point. Therefore, reading James in the context of modern literary theory is beyond the scope of a doctoral research project, and needs perhaps the whole lifetime of a scholar. However, I have taken to write a doctoral research project on his fiction, because I think it has opened new ways to the institution of literature and its affiliations. The work of James has changed the ways of English literature, and has added much to its potenti...
The present paper moves in the line of cognitive literary studies. Its project is to interpret Ma... more The present paper moves in the line of cognitive literary studies. Its project is to interpret Mathew Quick’s The Silver Linings Playbook in the light of the theories of Gestalt psychology. Quick portrays a pair of mentally unbalanced protagonists suffering from the loss of their partners. Analyzing the psychological aftermaths which befall these figures afterwards, this paper attempts to highlight some facts through Gestalt therapy. As such, this paper tries to show the role of ‘Closure’ in the psychological imbalance of Quick’s characters, arguing that in their search for ‘Equilibrium’ they pass through a phase of neurotic problems. Deciphering part of the novel’s message as such, this paper elaborates upon the life of some mentally damaged guys who come to help each other in order to pass normal and healthy lives.
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