The Rhetoric of Parody in Hafez Nashenideh Pand Based on Linda Hutcheon’s Theory: The Subversion of Power, the Reversal of History, and Displacement

Arab Yousefabadi, Faezeh

doi:10.30465/copl.2025.52312.4299

The Rhetoric of Parody in Hafez Nashenideh Pand Based on Linda Hutcheon’s Theory: The Subversion of Power, the Reversal of History, and Displacement

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Faezeh Arab Yousefabadi

University of Zabol

https://doi.org/10.30465/copl.2025.52312.4299

Abstract

Pezeksezzad’s novel Hafez Nashnidepand is a multilayered text that challenges the established structures of history, power, and narrative through the use of paradoxical techniques. This study, based on Linda Hutchen’s theory of paradox, attempts to examine the three main components of paradoxicality in this novel: the destruction of power displays, the inversion of history, and the displacement of narrative elements. The results of the study show that Pezeksezzad, by using ironic language, caricatures of characters, and creating semantic contradictions, has removed history from its linear and definitive narrative and transformed it into an arena of rewritten contradictions. Furthermore, the display of power in this novel is formed both on the basis of real actions and through symbolic displays and performances, which in turn leads to the collapse of the legitimacy of the rulers. Also, disproportionalization of narrative elements, such as the presence of disparate characters in a parliament or changing the function of social places, breaks the narrative coherence and highlights the contradiction in the text. The research method is based on the qualitative analysis of the novel based on Hutchen's theory of contradiction, and the research findings indicate that Pezekzzad, with his complex humor, has removed history and power from their absolute position and exposes them to a critical reading

Keywords

Historical Rewriting

Humor Literature

Linda Hutcheon

Parody

Pezeshkzad

Subjects

literature

Bibliography

Burke, K. (1969). A Rhetoric of Motives. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Cicero. (2001). On the Orator (J. M. May & J. Wisse, Trans). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Dawlat Shah Samarqandi. (2003). Tazkirat al-Shu'ara [Memorial of poets] (E. Browne & M. Abbasi, Eds.). Asatir Publications. (Original work published 15th century) [In Persian]

Hutcheon, L. (1980). Narcissistic Narrative: The Metafictional Paradox. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

Hutcheon, L. (1985). A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms. New York: Methuen.

Hutcheon, L. (1988). A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction. London: Routledge.

Hutcheon, L. (1989). The Politics of Postmodernism. London: Routledge.

Hutcheon, L. (1994). Irony’s Edge: The Theory and Politics of Irony. London: Routledge.

Ibn Sinan Al-Khafaji, A. (1989). Sirr al-Fasahah [The secret of eloquence]. Dar Al-Gharb Al-Islami. (Original work published 1410 AH) [In Arabic]

Jurjani, A. (1980). Dalā'il al-I'jāz [The proofs of inimitability]. Maktabat Al-Khanji. [In Arabic]

Khandemir, G. (2001). Habib al-Siyar fi Akhbar Afrad al-Bashar [The beloved of biographies in the accounts of individuals] (J. Homa'i, Ed.; 4th ed.). Khayyam Publications. (Original work published 16th century) [In Persian]

Pakbaz, R. (2006). Dāyerat al-Ma'āref-e Honar [Encyclopedia of art] (5th ed.). Farhang-e Mo'aser Publications. [In Persian]

Perelman, C. & Olbrechts-Tyteca, L. (1969). The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

Pezeshkzad, I. (2020). Hafez-e Nashedandeh-Pand: Bargi chand az daftar-e khaterat-e Mohammad Golandam [Hafez, the unheeded advisor: A few pages from the memoirs of Mohammad Golandam]. Qatreh Publishing. [In Persian]

Quintilian. (2006). Institutio Oratoria (D. A. Russell, Trans). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Sakkaki, Y. (2000). Miftah al-'Ulum [The key to the sciences]. Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah. [In Arabic]

Taftazani, S. (2000). Al-Mutawwal [The extensive]. Dar Sadir. [In Arabic]

Articles and Essays

Nematollahi, T. (2011). Tahlil va barrasi-ye tanz dar asar-e Iraj Pezeshkzad [Analysis and investigation of satire in the works of Iraj Pezeshkzad] [Master's thesis, T. Athar, supervisor]. Yasuj University, Yasuj, Iran. [In Persian]

Rajabi, V., Nazari, A., & Naqashzadeh, M. (2023). Analyzing the modes of allusion and parody in the relationship between painting texts and Pedro Almodóvar's films based on the theories of Gérard Genette and Linda Hutcheon. Journal of Fine Arts - Performing Arts and Music, *28*(3), 46–56. [In Persian]

Rashidi, F., & Sadeghi Shahpar, R. (2020). Methods of naming titles and characters in contemporary stories (A case study of the stories by Iraj Pezeshkzad, Abolghasem Payandeh, Khosrow Shahani, and Fereydoun Tonkaboni). Stylistics of Persian Poetry and Prose (Bahar-e Adab), *53*, 181–204. [In Persian]

Sehhati Gorjan, A & Ahmad Soltani, M. (2022). The narrative of realism in Pezeshkzad's stories. Literary Criticism Studies, *53*, 205–226. [In Persian] [Note: This is a duplicate entry under a different author order; one should be retained in a final list.]

Sehhati Gorjan, A, Ahmad Soltani, M & Sheibani Aghdam, A. (2022). A study of the story Da'i Jan Napoleon by Iraj Pezeshkzad and the story Azita by Hosseingholi Mosta'an based on Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan's narrative theory. Stylistics of Persian Poetry and Prose (Bahar-e Adab), *15*(74), 65–80. [In Persian]