- Count View : 28
- آدرس کوتاه شده مقاله: https://bahareadab.com/article_id/1931
- کد IranDOI مقاله: IranDOI:10.irandoi.2002/bahareadab.2025 .18 .7994
volume Number : 18
number In Volume : 10
issue Number : 116
Journal of the stylistic of Persian poem and prose
volume Number 18،
number In Volume 10،
،
issue Number 116
An in-depth exploration of cognitive stylistics: The relationship between literary style and the reader's mental processes (Case study: Selected works of Jalal Al-Ahmad)
Zahra Iranmanesh (Author in Charge), Mozhdeh Shafiei
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Cognitive stylistics, an interdisciplinary approach rooted in cognitive linguistics and literary psychology, focuses on the interaction between textual stylistic elements and the reader’s mental processes. This study explores the relationship between Jalal Al-e Ahmad’s literary style in selected works (Five Stories and Weststruckness) and the Reader’s cognitive processes.
METHODOLOGY: Employing a descriptive-analytical approach, this qualitative textual analysis examines stylistic elements such as personal narrative, social satire, and metaphors in three stories from Five Stories (“Minarets and the Firmament,” “The Auspicious Celebration,” and “My Sister and the Spider”) and the full text of Weststruckness. The analysis is grounded in Gibbs’ (2002) and Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) theories, using open and axial coding.
FINDINGS: Al-e Ahmad’s concise, aggressive, and realistic style activates cultural schemas such as tradition versus modernity, leading to mental tension, cognitive simulation, and emotional empathy. Eight key intellectual aspects, including critique of traditional education, representation of political events, women’s issues, and poverty, were identified as reshaping the reader’s mind.
CONCLUSION: Al-e Ahmad’s style, through metaphors and defamiliarization, prompts readers to rethink national identity and fosters social awakening. This study fills a cognitive gap in analyzing committed Persian literature and suggests expanding the analysis to other works.
Keyword
Cognitive stylistics
, Jalal Al-Ahmad
, reader's mental processes
, five stories
, Westernization
, cultural schemas
, mental tension
, alienation.
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- Al-e Ahmad, J. (1977). Panj Dastan [Five Stories]. Tehran: Ravagh. (Original work published 1356).
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