Psychological Analysis of “The Negro” A Short Story from the Book: The Neighing of the White Steed by Zakariyya Tamer

زبان و ادبیات عربی

Article 8, Volume 4, Issue 7, February 2013   

Document Type: research article

DOI: 10.22067/jall.v4i7.19807

Authors

Shahriar Niazi^* ; Ovais Mohammadi

Abstract

“The Negro” is a short story written by Zakariyya Tamer the Syrian writer based on surrealistic principles and is affected by Freud’s theories of the psychoanalysis. The narrative type in this story is stream of consciousness and the style of writing is based on unconsciousness ground. Thus, the characters and the events of the story have been aroused of the unconsciousness of the writer. Accordingly, all elements of the story can be analyzed, based on the theories of psychoanalysis.
This article aims at analysis of the characters and the events of this story on the basis of psychoanalytic theories and ascription every single character or event to a special part of unconsciousness which -according to Freud- has three distinct parts . The paper assumes the character of the Negro (Blackamoor) “Siah zangi” as “Id” and the narrator as “Ego” and the girl (in the third episode) and the “foreman” (in the fifth episode) as representatives of “Superego” in above-mentioned theories. The paper displays the events of the story as they happen in two different phases, the first is the period in which the “Life instinct” is dominant and the second (episode 6) is the stage of the “Death instinct” ‘s superiority over the “Life instinct”.

Keywords

psychological analysis; Zakariyya Tamer; life instinct; death instinct