Volume 16, Issue 2 (2025)
LRR 2025, 16(2): 141-175 |
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Jokari M, Hessampour S. Metaphorical analysis of family discourse, A case study of ideological stories of teenagers. LRR 2025; 16 (2) :141-175
URL: http://lrr.modares.ac.ir/article-14-65404-en.html
URL: http://lrr.modares.ac.ir/article-14-65404-en.html
1- Postdoc researcher , mah.jokari@gmail.com
2- Professor at Shiraz University
2- Professor at Shiraz University
Abstract: (2502 Views)
Family is known as one of the most important and powerful institutions, especially in relation to children and adolescents. Meanwhile, artistic and literary works can reflect some of these changes, especially children’s and adolescent fiction works, in most of which there are family relationships as a definite theme, and they were influenced by the dominant ideologies of the era. This case study is the result of a larger research on teenage fiction from the 1970s until now, but exclusively, it is limited to two novels from the two periods before and after the revolution: “Olduz and Crows” by Samad Behrangi and “Children and Storm” from Hossein Fatahi, both of them belong to a certain ideology. This research has been formed with the aim of investigating the semantic change of family in ideological works in two historical periods; in fact, regardless of the type of ideology, the discourse of the family in these works, has undergone a semantic transformation and has been drawn in ideological goals. The main approach of this research, according to the metaphorical structure of the family discourse in these periods, is to use a critical approach to metaphor, and for this purpose, we have used the metaphor discourse analysis method. Investigations show that the main structure of these novels is based on the macro metaphor “family is society” and the family is the representative of society and an objective manifestation of abstract ideologies in society at the heart of the ideological structure.
1. Introduction
Family, as the center of tradition and determining the base, status, dignity, power, etc. of its constituents, are exposed to disease attacks. Marxists considered it a center of inequality, liberals considered it the preserver of tradition and authority, and feminists considered it the cause of weakening women. To the extent that the function of the family, the structure of power in the family, family patterns, the form of the family and what was in it were either changed or borrowed. The institution of modern education took away the right to education from it, and the institution of market and capitalism took away its economic function and self-sufficiency, and social and labor institutions even deprived it of the right of guardianship and custody in certain cases.
Among the discourses of the contemporary period, the two main discourses, Marxist (before the revolution) and the discourse of the Islamic revolution, have had the most cultural activity for Children's and adolescent literature, and they have had a special and different view on the relationship between the adolescent and the family, in order to advance their goals. For this reason, in this research, among the works before and after the Islamic revolution that specifically belong to these two ideologies, they have been selected to investigate and analyze the type of representation of the relationship between the family and the teenager; The story of “Oldoz and the Crows” by Samad Behrangi and “The Child and the Storm” by Hossein Fatahi.
This research, seeking to discover and reconstruct the main discourses governing the representation of the family, has been formed based on the main hypothesis that the representation of the family discourse in children's and adolescent fiction works has changed under the influence of the ideologies of each time period, and in particular, the family is a metaphorical structure in the fictions has been represented. This research seeks to answer the main question that the discourse of the family in the ideological fiction works of teenagers is based on what metaphorical pattern is formed and if this pattern is repeated in different fictions.
Research questions
1. Based on what metaphorical pattern is the discourse of the family in the ideological fiction works of teenagers formed and is this pattern repeated in different works?
2. What effect has the metaphorical arrangement in these ideological works had on the representation of the family discourse in these works?
2. Literature Review
The review of sources in the field of family in the literature of children and adolescents shows the following studies.
Chitsazi (2018), in his research, has examined the structure of power and its representation in folk tales and contemporary short stories of Fars from the 1960s to the 2010s. The findings of this research show that in both types of literature, mostly the nuclear family is depicted. The power structure in the family in folk literature is domineering and in the contemporary short story, it is semi-symmetrical (dominant and sincere).
Shabani Sabzeh Maidani (2016) has investigated the role and position of father in children's poems. He considered the family to be the smallest and the first social institution related to the child, in which the mother is considered to be the embodiment of affection and the child's upbringing, and he believes that the depiction of the father's image in the works is generally placed on the sidelines and limited to the economic role and provider of the family's livelihood.
Qorshinejad (2012), in his research, has discussed the representation of the family in stories after the Islamic revolution. In his research, based on Stuart Hall's theory of representation and using the method of text analysis, he has analyzed and investigated the way the family is represented in a selection of realistic stories for children and teenagers three decades after the Islamic Revolution. The findings of this research show that in the stories of the 1980s and 1990s, traditional and nuclear families were depicted, and in the works of the 2000s, the modern nuclear family was depicted. In most of the stories, there is a pattern of dividing male and female roles, and the family authority structure in the 80s and 90s was man-oriented.
Nizamabadi (2008) has examined women and power in the family in six novels of the last decade. The findings of this research show that women are looking for a new definition of power and identity in the family. Also, in these novels, men and women are important together and women feel happy with men.
The overview of these studies shows that none of them have focused on the period of adolescence. Most of the researched fields have also focused on family structure and types. In fact, as the surveys show, extensive research about the family in different time periods and according to the ideologies of each period has not been done.
3. Methodology
Discussing discourses is not the field of power relations that openly seeks repression, but implicitly plays a role in determining the type of behavior of people and turns people into subjects in discourses. In Fairclough's opinion, what is important in this is the discourse-ideological formulations and it is the social institutions that make such formulations. According to these ideological-discourse formations, institutional actors are made in ideological situations that they may be unaware of. One of the characteristics of this type of formulation is to create a kind of "naturalization" of ideologies. In such a way that they are dealt with as a definite and certain matter.
What discourse analysis seeks is to show the influence of social structures on the shaping of discourses and the link between micro and macro structures of society, as well as the denaturalization of what has been made natural through discourse formulation.
Language is one of the ways through which the discourse of each work can be shaped in depth, because our access to the realities around us is through language. Whether in everyday conversations or in works created in literature, it is language that defines the boundaries of our knowledge of ourselves and the world around us. Now, this language represents reality. Undoubtedly, the language uses many methods and tools for naturalization, which are in the service of a specific discourse entity. One of the tools that discourse can use to create coherence and naturalization is metaphor.
Such a view of metaphor as a meaningful and even central cognitive mechanism was largely in line with CDA's research interests. As a result, CDA analyzes based on metaphor recognition have been published in a steady stream over the past decades. Identifying metaphors in the text can help reveal the implicit meaning of the text and its discourse. Since metaphors become natural little by little and their use in language is considered normal, we should seek to find similarities between the signifier and the signified in a symbolic way.
Researchers who have worked on metaphor in discourse believe that the main role of metaphors in discourse is to create coherence in it. Discourses have used many strategies to maintain or gain power and control the audience's mind, and metaphor is undoubtedly one of them. Metaphors play a role in our valuations by creating conceptual coherence. Since metaphors are becoming natural little by little and their use in language is considered normal, we should seek to find similarities between the signifier and the signified in a figurative way or in indirect metaphors, in a symbolic way. For this purpose, we must see which specific concepts and discourses are fueled by metaphors in a work.
This coherence can be intratextual or extratextual. In the sense that conceptual metaphor can lead to the use and benefit of a specific conceptual metaphor in different historical periods or structure the text in the text itself by using targeted metaphors (Kuchesh, 2018, pp. 442 and 443). In fact, metaphors are used to achieve a specific goal.
So, it can be said that metaphor can either strengthen existing norms or lead to a new understanding. This problem shows the important role of metaphor in influencing human belief, attitude and understanding. For this reason, the critical analysis of metaphor seeks to show the important ideological and discursive dimensions of metaphor. For this reason, it can be said that the context in which the metaphor is formed plays an effective role in its discourse analysis.
4. Results
Examining the works of children and adolescents, more than any other work, can show these changes in family discourse, because the relationship between family and children has always been an issue, and also, children's and adolescent literature works were not formed in a non-discursive and non-ideological atmosphere. In the meantime, the works before and after the revolution, more than any other time, are affected by a discourse space, and without a doubt, ideological works cannot be examined outside of their discourse space. One of the methods used by the works of these two decades to show and naturalize their ideology is metaphor.
A metaphorical space that sometimes acts openly and sometimes more covertly. What is clear is that the family in these metaphorical formats is an institution that has undergone more semantic transformation. This research is based on the main hypothesis that this metaphorization and transformation of meaning has drawn a certain ideology in the form of family and based on the findings of the research, it is the macro metaphor of family and society, which was the main basis for the formation of these ideological works.
Investigations show that in the story of Oldoz and Crows, which was written before the revolution, the characters are metaphorical, and the family is an accomplice of the capitalist system, and rebellion against it is inevitable and doomed to be eliminated. The function of metaphor in this work and similar works, thought and discourse are expressed in a simpler and more objective way.
But the point worthy of reflection in these works is that this method of objectifying and forming metaphorical characters in a discourse structure is an effort and emphasis on struggle and action. Because metaphorical actions are characterized by more obvious actions by the characters.
But in the child and the storm, which is formed in a revolutionary discourse. The family (especially the father) becomes a counter-revolutionary discourse with semantic transformation, and the emotionalization function of the metaphor, by using religious metaphors, helps to shape this discourse and normalize its understanding. In this novel, the type of use of metaphors has progressed towards mentalization, and this shows that the post-revolution discourse seeks more naturalization, creating absolute acceptance and non-struggle. To the extent that the son's revolutionary action (loading and removing the father) is considered sympathetic and emotional and justifiable in the metaphorical form of the work.
In general, it can be said that in ideological works and generally in the works of the 1970s and 1980s, the relationship between the teenager or the child and the family has not yet become an issue. It can even be said that in these works, teenager is not used in its true meaning. Whatever it is, the use of the works of this age group is to show ideologies and discourses, and in the meantime, the family has been attacked more than any other institution.
1. Introduction
Family, as the center of tradition and determining the base, status, dignity, power, etc. of its constituents, are exposed to disease attacks. Marxists considered it a center of inequality, liberals considered it the preserver of tradition and authority, and feminists considered it the cause of weakening women. To the extent that the function of the family, the structure of power in the family, family patterns, the form of the family and what was in it were either changed or borrowed. The institution of modern education took away the right to education from it, and the institution of market and capitalism took away its economic function and self-sufficiency, and social and labor institutions even deprived it of the right of guardianship and custody in certain cases.
Among the discourses of the contemporary period, the two main discourses, Marxist (before the revolution) and the discourse of the Islamic revolution, have had the most cultural activity for Children's and adolescent literature, and they have had a special and different view on the relationship between the adolescent and the family, in order to advance their goals. For this reason, in this research, among the works before and after the Islamic revolution that specifically belong to these two ideologies, they have been selected to investigate and analyze the type of representation of the relationship between the family and the teenager; The story of “Oldoz and the Crows” by Samad Behrangi and “The Child and the Storm” by Hossein Fatahi.
This research, seeking to discover and reconstruct the main discourses governing the representation of the family, has been formed based on the main hypothesis that the representation of the family discourse in children's and adolescent fiction works has changed under the influence of the ideologies of each time period, and in particular, the family is a metaphorical structure in the fictions has been represented. This research seeks to answer the main question that the discourse of the family in the ideological fiction works of teenagers is based on what metaphorical pattern is formed and if this pattern is repeated in different fictions.
Research questions
1. Based on what metaphorical pattern is the discourse of the family in the ideological fiction works of teenagers formed and is this pattern repeated in different works?
2. What effect has the metaphorical arrangement in these ideological works had on the representation of the family discourse in these works?
2. Literature Review
The review of sources in the field of family in the literature of children and adolescents shows the following studies.
Chitsazi (2018), in his research, has examined the structure of power and its representation in folk tales and contemporary short stories of Fars from the 1960s to the 2010s. The findings of this research show that in both types of literature, mostly the nuclear family is depicted. The power structure in the family in folk literature is domineering and in the contemporary short story, it is semi-symmetrical (dominant and sincere).
Shabani Sabzeh Maidani (2016) has investigated the role and position of father in children's poems. He considered the family to be the smallest and the first social institution related to the child, in which the mother is considered to be the embodiment of affection and the child's upbringing, and he believes that the depiction of the father's image in the works is generally placed on the sidelines and limited to the economic role and provider of the family's livelihood.
Qorshinejad (2012), in his research, has discussed the representation of the family in stories after the Islamic revolution. In his research, based on Stuart Hall's theory of representation and using the method of text analysis, he has analyzed and investigated the way the family is represented in a selection of realistic stories for children and teenagers three decades after the Islamic Revolution. The findings of this research show that in the stories of the 1980s and 1990s, traditional and nuclear families were depicted, and in the works of the 2000s, the modern nuclear family was depicted. In most of the stories, there is a pattern of dividing male and female roles, and the family authority structure in the 80s and 90s was man-oriented.
Nizamabadi (2008) has examined women and power in the family in six novels of the last decade. The findings of this research show that women are looking for a new definition of power and identity in the family. Also, in these novels, men and women are important together and women feel happy with men.
The overview of these studies shows that none of them have focused on the period of adolescence. Most of the researched fields have also focused on family structure and types. In fact, as the surveys show, extensive research about the family in different time periods and according to the ideologies of each period has not been done.
3. Methodology
Discussing discourses is not the field of power relations that openly seeks repression, but implicitly plays a role in determining the type of behavior of people and turns people into subjects in discourses. In Fairclough's opinion, what is important in this is the discourse-ideological formulations and it is the social institutions that make such formulations. According to these ideological-discourse formations, institutional actors are made in ideological situations that they may be unaware of. One of the characteristics of this type of formulation is to create a kind of "naturalization" of ideologies. In such a way that they are dealt with as a definite and certain matter.
What discourse analysis seeks is to show the influence of social structures on the shaping of discourses and the link between micro and macro structures of society, as well as the denaturalization of what has been made natural through discourse formulation.
Language is one of the ways through which the discourse of each work can be shaped in depth, because our access to the realities around us is through language. Whether in everyday conversations or in works created in literature, it is language that defines the boundaries of our knowledge of ourselves and the world around us. Now, this language represents reality. Undoubtedly, the language uses many methods and tools for naturalization, which are in the service of a specific discourse entity. One of the tools that discourse can use to create coherence and naturalization is metaphor.
Such a view of metaphor as a meaningful and even central cognitive mechanism was largely in line with CDA's research interests. As a result, CDA analyzes based on metaphor recognition have been published in a steady stream over the past decades. Identifying metaphors in the text can help reveal the implicit meaning of the text and its discourse. Since metaphors become natural little by little and their use in language is considered normal, we should seek to find similarities between the signifier and the signified in a symbolic way.
Researchers who have worked on metaphor in discourse believe that the main role of metaphors in discourse is to create coherence in it. Discourses have used many strategies to maintain or gain power and control the audience's mind, and metaphor is undoubtedly one of them. Metaphors play a role in our valuations by creating conceptual coherence. Since metaphors are becoming natural little by little and their use in language is considered normal, we should seek to find similarities between the signifier and the signified in a figurative way or in indirect metaphors, in a symbolic way. For this purpose, we must see which specific concepts and discourses are fueled by metaphors in a work.
This coherence can be intratextual or extratextual. In the sense that conceptual metaphor can lead to the use and benefit of a specific conceptual metaphor in different historical periods or structure the text in the text itself by using targeted metaphors (Kuchesh, 2018, pp. 442 and 443). In fact, metaphors are used to achieve a specific goal.
So, it can be said that metaphor can either strengthen existing norms or lead to a new understanding. This problem shows the important role of metaphor in influencing human belief, attitude and understanding. For this reason, the critical analysis of metaphor seeks to show the important ideological and discursive dimensions of metaphor. For this reason, it can be said that the context in which the metaphor is formed plays an effective role in its discourse analysis.
4. Results
Examining the works of children and adolescents, more than any other work, can show these changes in family discourse, because the relationship between family and children has always been an issue, and also, children's and adolescent literature works were not formed in a non-discursive and non-ideological atmosphere. In the meantime, the works before and after the revolution, more than any other time, are affected by a discourse space, and without a doubt, ideological works cannot be examined outside of their discourse space. One of the methods used by the works of these two decades to show and naturalize their ideology is metaphor.
A metaphorical space that sometimes acts openly and sometimes more covertly. What is clear is that the family in these metaphorical formats is an institution that has undergone more semantic transformation. This research is based on the main hypothesis that this metaphorization and transformation of meaning has drawn a certain ideology in the form of family and based on the findings of the research, it is the macro metaphor of family and society, which was the main basis for the formation of these ideological works.
Investigations show that in the story of Oldoz and Crows, which was written before the revolution, the characters are metaphorical, and the family is an accomplice of the capitalist system, and rebellion against it is inevitable and doomed to be eliminated. The function of metaphor in this work and similar works, thought and discourse are expressed in a simpler and more objective way.
But the point worthy of reflection in these works is that this method of objectifying and forming metaphorical characters in a discourse structure is an effort and emphasis on struggle and action. Because metaphorical actions are characterized by more obvious actions by the characters.
But in the child and the storm, which is formed in a revolutionary discourse. The family (especially the father) becomes a counter-revolutionary discourse with semantic transformation, and the emotionalization function of the metaphor, by using religious metaphors, helps to shape this discourse and normalize its understanding. In this novel, the type of use of metaphors has progressed towards mentalization, and this shows that the post-revolution discourse seeks more naturalization, creating absolute acceptance and non-struggle. To the extent that the son's revolutionary action (loading and removing the father) is considered sympathetic and emotional and justifiable in the metaphorical form of the work.
In general, it can be said that in ideological works and generally in the works of the 1970s and 1980s, the relationship between the teenager or the child and the family has not yet become an issue. It can even be said that in these works, teenager is not used in its true meaning. Whatever it is, the use of the works of this age group is to show ideologies and discourses, and in the meantime, the family has been attacked more than any other institution.
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