The Application of Greimas’s Narrative Semiotics Theory in the Analysis of Surface and Deep Structures of “Rostam and Ashkobus Story” in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh

Document Type : Persian Research Article

Author

Ph.D. in Persian Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Torbat Heydarieh Branch, Khorasan Razavi, Iran.

Abstract

The narrative of “Rostam and Ashkobus” in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh is a surrealistic and unique narrative. This valuable narrative is noticeable and worthy of attention because of its intra-structural and extra-structural components as well as the process of creating its perfect sketch. With a skillful arrangement of actors, the narrator has depicted the narrative with unparalleled elegance in its context of events, and then brought each of them into the field by creating contextually controversial complications according to their nature and personality. Consequently, its events can be analyzed through literary theories, including the actantial model of semiotics and narrative semantics, and achieve useful results by relying on its flexible grammar. Drawing on library research, document analysis, and a descriptive/analytic approach, the present study is an attempt to examine the story of “Rostam and Ashkobus” based on the model of the above-mentioned actantial method in order to penetrate the infrastructure of this narrative by paying attention to the meaningful discourse of its actors and also reveal novel meanings of the generative deep-layers within the rich discourse of this surreal and confrontational story from the structures of its surface and deep narrative plot.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Abbasi, Ali (2016). Narrative Semio-Semantics of the Paris School (Replacing the Theory of Modalities with the Theory of Actants: Theory and Practice), Tehran: Shahid Beheshti University. [In Persian]
Baraheni, Reza (2014). Fiction Writing, Tehran: Negah. [In Persian]
Barmaki, Azam; Falah, Gholamali (2014). "Reconstruction of Emotional Meanings in the Evaluative Process of Discourse in the Story of Rostam and Sohrab: A Semio-Semantic Approach", Journal of Linguistic Essays, 4, pp. 45–66. [In Persian]
Barthes, Roland; Prince, Gerald; Todorov, Tzvetan (2015). An Introduction to Narratology, trans. Houshang Rahnama, Tehran: Hermes. [In Persian]
Bertens, Hans (2012). Fundamentals of Literary Theory, trans. Mohammad Reza Abolghasemi, Tehran: Mahi. [In Persian]
Brandt, L. (2004). “Spaces domains and meaning: essays”. Cognitive semiorics, European semiorics series. Peter langvol. 4.
 Bressler, Charles. (2007). E: “Litrary Criticism (an introduction to theory and Practice”, Fourth edition, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Culler, Jonathan (2009). Structuralist Poetics: Structuralism, Linguistics, and the Study of Literature, trans. Kourosh Safavi, Tehran: Minavi-ye Kherad. [In Persian]
Ferdowsi, Abolghasem (1990). The Shahnameh, ed. Jules Mohl, Tehran: Sepehr. [In Persian]
Karimi, Parastoo; Fathi, Amir (2012). "A Structural Analysis of the Plot of the Story of Keyumars Based on the Models of Todorov, Bremond, and Greimas", Journal of Narrative Studies, 1, pp. 83–95. [In Persian]
Lechte, John (2017). Fifty Key Contemporary Thinkers, trans. Mohsen Hakimi, Tehran: Khojasteh. [In Persian]
Makaryk, Irena R. (2014). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theories, trans. Mehran Mohajer and Mohammad Nabavi, Tehran: Agah. [In Persian]
Mirsadeghi, Jamal (2015). Elements of Fiction, Tehran: Sokhan. [In Persian]
Nasiri Panbeh Chouleh, Najmeh; Tajbakhsh, Esmaeil (2025). "Narrative Interaction in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh with an Emphasis on Mythological and Epic Sections (A Discourse Analysis)", Journal of Literary Discourse Analysis, 2(2), pp. 27–44. [In Persian]
Nikoubakht, Naser; Zivarelalam, Ehsan (2013). "An Examination of the Dramatic Aspects of the Character of Sudabeh Based on Greimas's Theory of Actantiality", Journal of Woman in Culture and Art, 5(4), pp. 529–549. [In Persian]
Peck, John (2018). How to Study a Novel, trans. Ahmad Sadarati, Tehran: Markaz. [In Persian]
Sadeghi, Leila (2013). Semiotics and Criticism of Contemporary Fiction, Tehran: Sokhan. [In Persian]
Shafiei, Samira; Shairi, Hamidreza; Ghabadi, Hosseinali (2016). "A Semio-Semantic Analysis of the Narrative Discourse of Zahhak and Fereydun Based on Greimas's Theory", Journal of Epic Literature, 5, pp. 99–129. [In Persian]
Shairi, Hamidreza (2009). "From Structural Semiotics to Discursive Semio-Semantics", Literary Criticism, 8, pp. 33–51. [In Persian]
Shairi, Hamidreza (2018). Visual Semio-Semantics: Theories and Applications, Tehran: Sokhan. [In Persian]
Taslimi, Ali (2014). Propositions in Contemporary Iranian Literature, Tehran: Akhtaran. [In Persian]
Webster, Roger (2003). An Introduction to the Study of Literary Theory, trans. Elaheh Dehnavi, Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. [In Persian]
Zare, Marziyeh; Sarmadi, Majid; Sadeghi, Soheila (2017). "A Reading of the Poetic Narrative of Iraj Composed by Ferdowsi with a Semio-Semantic Approach", Journal of Comparative Literature, 1(1), pp. 53–78. [In Persian]
Literary Discourse Analysis
Volume 3, Issue 3 - Serial Number 10
September 2025
Pages 21-42

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 25 August 2025
  • Revise Date: 12 October 2025
  • Accept Date: 13 October 2025
  • Publish Date: 13 October 2025

Share

How to cite

Statistics