Bakhtinian Study

Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930 A Polyphonic Reading of Asghar Farhadi's A Separation : Bakhtinian Study Abdol Hossein Joodaki 1, Maryam Eskandarzadeh 2 1. Associate Professor , Department of English Language and Literature, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran [email protected] / [email protected] 2.M.A. Student, Department of English Language and Literature, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Iran [email protected] Abstract A Separation film, written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, is a modern and provoking film worth consideration. Asghar Farhadi has always tried to depict conflict ideas and discourses throughout the society, and that's the reason why his movies always penetrate through different social classes and become epidemic; his recent film: A Separation is not an exception. In this article we have carefully examined the term “polyphony” and its application in a descriptive-analytical manner throughout the film, while explaining this term according to Bakhtin. We have tried first to answer the question “what are the components or factors of a polyphonic work and how is it embodied or manifested in the film”. Accordingly, in this article, the emphasis is on the components of polyphony, including the structure of conflict components, polyphony among social strata, change in viewpoint, heteroglossia, Intertextuality, etc. These factors are then examined and analyzed in the film. The result of this article is that the polyphonic film, with the tools it provides to the audience, leads them to a new perception of the text. Keywords : Mikhail Bakhtin, Polyphony, A separation, social classes, heteroglossia, intertextuality Volume XIII, Issue 4, 2021 Page No: 100 Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930 Introduction In the present article, we will first explain the term Polyphony. In this section we will discuss polyphony from Bakhtin’s point of view in comparison to monophony, then with a brief introduction of author and his film we will analyze and exemplify polyphony in his film. While analyzing the components, we will refer to the statements of postmodern researchers who have tried to clarify Bakhtin’s theories and ideas. Polyphony in the fields of criticism and artistic and literary studies began with Bakhtin in the first half of the twentieth century. The term polyphony existed before Bakhtin, especially in music, however this Russian philosopher and critic offered a new definition of this term. It is a type of musical texture; the texture is the way that melodic, rhythmic and harmonic aspects of a musical composition are combined to shape the overall sound and quality of the work. In particular, polyphony consists of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody which together form a unique melody structure. It should not be forgotten that for Bakhtin, voice is a term used to refer to a network of ideological beliefs and power relations in society, that by addressing the audience, implicitly implies a certain ideological position for them. In other words, voice is a language that expresses specific purposes. Bakhtin believes that: “language is full of the intentions of others; imposing one’s own intentions and emphases on it is a difficult and complex process” (Bakhtin, 1981, 249). According to Bakhtin, discourse is defined in three categories: 1. Direct, unmediated discourse which is the narrator’s speech addressed to the reader or protagonist, "Recognizes only itself and its object, to which it strives to be maximally adequate” (Bakhtin, 1984, 186). 2. ”Represented" or "objectified" discourse that is a direct quote from a character of the story; it actually emanates from an author/narrator but is presented in the form of a character, ostensibly one that is typical of a particular type of individual or social group. To the character herself the discourse is direct and unmediated, but the reader is aware that there is an objectification going on by virtue of the fact that there is a narrator presenting it to an audience. 3. Double-voiced discourse: In double-voiced discourse, an other semantic intention, coincident with the speaker's own intention, is felt in the utterance. This second discourse (the "word of the other") can be either passive or active . When it is passive, the speaker is in control: the other's word is deliberately invoked for the speaker's own purposes. When it is active, the other's word does not submit to the speaker's will, and the speaker's discourse becomes fraught with the resistance, challenge and implied hostility of the second voice. Bakhtin claims: “Discourse never evokes a voice. The life of a discourse is the transition from one language to another, from one concept to another, from one social group to another and from one generation to another” (Bakhtin, 1970, 52). Volume XIII, Issue 4, 2021 Page No: 101 Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930 According to Bakhtin, the raw material of any text is speech. Whatever the subject of the speech, it has always been expressed in such a way that it is impossible to avoid the aforementioned remarks on the subject. It is the dialogical aspect of the speech which is the foundation of Intertextuality. If in this dialogue the sounds of speech and texts are intertwined, so that the variety and plurality of sounds is preserved, then we will reach polyphony. In fact, polyphony is achieved after the provision of a relationship based on logic of dialogue (Ramin-nia, 2011, 90). Dialogue is an essential element in polyphonic works which in the first step is between the author and the characters, then among characters; in a dialogue the relationship among the narrator’s and characters’ words is considered the main point of the narration (Moghadassi, 2007, 53). In polyphony, various voices within the text are not limited to a specific ideology. A voice may belong to a controversial philosophy, group and a line of thought, but it does not need to integrate with them; thus, the multiplicity of voices in a polyphonic narration is preserved simultaneously (Belova, 2010, 71). In contrast to the polyphonic novel, there is the homophonic novel that dominates the different voices of characters under the author’s unique and powerful voice; however, the author’s voice is also a representative of the dominant discourse at the time it was written. Hence, the monologue novel always confirms the cultural values of its time. A kind of novel which Bakhtin consents (Dostoevsky’s works are a perfect paragon of it) is the one which avoids giving authoritative and decisive position to the author’s voice by allowing different and even conflicting voices to be heard. Bakhtin in describing such a novel writes: “ “… A plurality of independent and unmerged voices and consciousnesses, a genuine polyphony of fully valid voices is in fact the chief characteristic of Dostoevsky’s novels….” (Bakhtin, 1984, 6). Review of Literature There are a variety of books and articles written or translated on polyphony in Iran; Bakhtin: The Dialogical Principles by Tzvetan Todorov, Trans. by Darioush Karimi; The Dialogic Imagination by M.M. Bakhtin and Trans. Roya Poorazar; A Reader’s Guid to Contemporary Literary Theory by Raman Selden and Peter Widdowson Trans. Abbas Mokhber. Various articles have also tried to examine polyphony in a specific work; <BAKHTINE, DIALOGISM AND POLYPHONY: THE STUDY OF BAKHTINE’S INTERTEXUALITY> written by Bahman Namvar Motlagh; <A Comparative Reading of Bakhtinian Polyphonic Effects in Drama of “Sfar-e Dour…(Mohammad Charmshir) and Novel of Asfar-e-Kateban”(Aboutorab Khosravi)> written by Akram Bahramian, Mostafa Mokhtabad Ameree, Mohammad Jafar Yousefian Kenari; <Reflection of continuous evolution: novel from Bakhtin’s view> written by Hossein Payandeh attachment of ‘Etemad’ newspaper. Articles have been published on Asghar Farhadi’s “A Separation” such as: <Multi-model representation of social discourses in Asghar Frahdi’s A Separation: a social semiotic study> written by Kamran Ahmadgoli and Morteza Yazdanjoo which focuses on delineating the Volume XIII, Issue 4, 2021 Page No: 102 Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930 registers through which social and cultural values are presented, enacted and subverted throughout the film; a discursive and polysemic semiotic domain that points to a broad canvas of social and cultural predicament. The film is microcosm of the developing society of Iran where “religious” beliefs and values come to clash with newly emerging cross-cultural “secular” perspectives. <Class Representation and Class Relations; case study of “A Separation”> written by Mohammad Rezaeei, Arash Hassanpour and Shirin Daneshgar that considers two classes of The Middles and The Workers in Iran’s society to realize a gap in lifestyle, religious beliefs and many other factors between these two. Author and the Content of his Films Asghar Farhadi was born in Isfahan, Iran in 1971. He is a graduate in the major of theatre from College of Fine Arts and the master graduate of Tarbiat Modarres University. He started his cinema career at the Isfahan Young Cinema Association in 2007. In 2005 and 2008 he has been awarded the Crystal Simorgh Award for Best Director at Fajr Festival. He also won the Silver Bear as the best director for his film “About Elly”. The same film won the prize for the Best International Storytelling Film in the 8 th period of Tropical. His recent and the greatest honor for Iranian cinema in international arena dedicated to his A Separation film from Berlin Film Festival in 2011. It also received the Golden Bear for the best film from the same festival. Farhadi’s films present a microcosm of modern Iran and explore the inevitable complications that arise from class, gender and religious differences. In Farhadi’s films, Iran is depicted as having a rigid class system that endures across the history of pre- and post- revolutionary Iran.

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