A Comparative Study on the Structure and Content of Victor Hugo’s Novel and Shapur Gharib Story

مطالعات زبان و ترجمه

Article 6, Volume 49, Issue 1, April 2016, Pages 101-114   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/lts.v49i1.59791

Authors

Mohammad Reza Farsian^* ; Sara Javanmardi

Department of French, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

1. Introduction
Comparative literature is an essentially French science that has formed in the early nineteenth century. This science is a branch of literary criticism that compares and peruses the cultural and literary relations between the nations. This field of literature reviews and analyses the correlation and similarities between different nation’s literature and culture. Comparative literature explains the comparative studying and perusing on works which resulted from the different cultural backgrounds. In fact, this science is a means of scrutinizing the worlds’ literature, and it is a hatch to see and hear the people thoughts from every color, race, language and nationality. Consequently, perusing contently and structural similarities between writer’s literary works driving from different cultures and nations is a branch of comparative researches that has been constantly at the center of researchers ‘attention. In this article, we intend to study on a research in this field by having a glance on Victor Hugo and Shapur Gharib’s works. The reason for this choice is that they are too much similar in narrative structure. Actually, we will find out there are similar events in two stories in two western and eastern societies.
2. Discussion
Victor Hugo, the greatest poet and novelist of France in the nineteenth century. Hugo tries to narrate the story and the black fate of an ugly boy who always have a hideous laughter on his face in the novel “The Man Who Laughs”. This novel is narrating the painful and distressful life of a child that is handicapped by the kids trader and seems always laughing by a wound on his face. Shapur Gharib, contemporary Iranian writer and director, recounting the story of an ugly girl's misery in the novel Ozra Landuke”. Both stories are narrating the story of humans who are not good looking, those who has been humiliated and teased by others due to their flaws in the appearance while they are repleted with honesty, purity, humanity and love . They are unattractive in appearance but beautiful inside. It should be noted that, in addition to substantive similarity between the two stories, there can be seen relationship and similarities in the narrative structure. Narrative structure of the two stories has also been perused in this article. Character and characterization, subject and theme, plot, narrative angle, the type of conversations, time, space and colors are of the items that have been scrutinized in two stories structures. There are resemblance among the characters in the novels “The Man Who Laughs” and Azra Landuke. Goinplein, Dia and Ozra. Sometimes Ozra takes the role of Goinplein and sometimes resembles to Dia during the story. It should be mentioned that “The Man Who Laughs” is written in novel structure while “Azra Landuke” is in short story structure and characterization in short stories is easier and more limited. In addition to the common theme, there can also be seen similar purporst in both stories. Face inelegance, the beauty of soul, humanity, eternal love, kindness, poverty, misery disadvantaged class, disappointment, regret, pain, suffering and death are the common themes of the story. But the narrative and attitude of the two stories are different. In “The Man Who Laughs” the story is based on the intellect or omniscient point of view, while in Gharib’s story, it is quoted by an extraneous and unimportant character. In the novel “The Man Who Laughs”, short conversation and authors’ language is the predominant language, Language and expression that belong to the France nineteenth-century literature. There are short talks in” Ozra landuke” as well but they reflect the opinions and thoughts of characters who has slangy language. Time and space are obvious in “The Man Who Laughs”. The story occurs in the early eighteenth century during the aristocracy dominion in England. While the place and time is not specified in “Ozra landuke”. It is the same patrician mansion that Ozra is its maid.
3. Conclusion
The novel “The Man Who Laughs” and Ozra Landuke are similar in different aspects such as characterization and structure, theme, subject and plot. However, attitude, narrative and dialogue type are differences in the two stories. In this paper, we have observed several structural and substantive similarities between the two works. In fact, the two authors utilized the same means to reflect the bitter reality in human life. People from two different territories have equal fears, concerns and issues, and are facing similar crises and turmoil. Though there is no exact information about Gharibs’ relation with French language, literature and writers, the similarity between two stories is insofar as that the thought that Gharib was effected by the western writers and literary events just like his contemporary Iranian authors is not too far-fetched.

Keywords

Comparative Literature; Victor Hugo; The Man Who Laughs; Shapur Gharib; Ozra Landuke

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