Document Type : Original Article
Author
PhD in Philosophy of Art, Department of Philosophy of Art, Faculty of Law, Theology and Political Science, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Introduction
The subject of this article is the study of the short story "The Stray Dog" written by Sadegh Hedayat, using the perspective of ecosemiotics from Charles Sanders Peirce's point of view. The problem of this article is how the relationship between the organism and its environment is narrated in this story.
The questions of this research are as follows: First, what is the relationship between the organism and its environment in the story of the stray dog? And secondly: How can the relationship between organism and environment be analyzed in the story of the stray dog based on Peirce's evolutionary theory and synechism between mind and environment?
One of the most important articles in the background section of our research is the article "Literary Sign-Ecology: Theory and Method" (Shoairi, Seyedebrahimi, 2018). In this article, the authors have described ecology as the flow of life in a place, which is related to the existence and experience of living and to birth and dynamics. According to the writings of Shayiri and Seyedabrahimi, the sign-ecoslogy emphasizes on the one hand the relationship between creatures and the place they live in, and on the other hand, the relationship between the elements of the place with each other. This is a rotational relationship in which the environment affects humans and humans affect the environment and then the elements of the environment affect each other. Therefore, we can talk about a transchain cycle that has both human and ecological characteristics. Also, the article "Semiotics of Decentralization and Isolation of the Subject in the story of the Stray Dog" (Fathi, 2013) has examined how the codes governing Pat's fate all imply his inevitable isolation.
Methodology
The purpose of this research is to provide an understanding of the semiotic relationship between the organism and its environment by using Peirce's method of ecological semiotics, which has been considered in an important Iranian literary work. The present article is a qualitative article that has investigated its topic in a descriptive and analytical way and based on library data.
3.Findings
Dog/human/organism in the story of the stray dog, in addition to being outside the organism, it seems that is also inside him. That is, there is no distinction between the dog's mind and its external environment, and what is depicted in the story is not only the story of the organism's relationship with its external world, but also its relationship with its internal world, and basically these two are inseparable. The first person point of view of the story confirms that the mind of the organism and its habitat are in a continuous relationship, not an opposite relationship. It can be concluded that this isolation and separation of the organism from its external and internal habitat is not only related to this dog/human, but it is related to all similar organisms and in a holistic view, it is the problem of all human beings.
Discussion and conclusion
In the story of The Stray Dog, the dog has both its animal role and a human role, thus presenting a broad view of the organism that is not exclusive to the animal. This dog/human organism is in two situations when faced with its habitat. In the first situation, when he is in his childhood, with his mother and brother, in his owner's house and with his owner's family, he establishes a triadic relationship with his environment. A relationship that is semiotic from Peirce's point of view and in which there is a third thing like a meaning. This third thing, ofcourse, is caused by a kind of security, vitality and dynamism that basically reminds the organism of its ancestral land of Scotland. Where the meaning originally resided. In the second situation, Pot in Varamin is separated from the desirable triadic relationship of the past and enters into a direct, rough and accidental dyadic relationship with its environment. In this state, which is the state of maturity and adulthood, the organism constantly tries to project meaning onto an object to establish a triadic relationship with its environment, but none of these objects can return the lost third meaning to her relationship with its environment. So, this third meaning is removed from the reach of the dog/human/organism in different ways.
Keywords
Main Subjects
)