Review and Analysis of Skaz in Mehdi Akhavan-Salas’ Narrative Poetry

Mirnaseri, Masomeh; Zabihi, Rahman; Jahani, Mohamad Taghi

doi:10.30465/lir.2025.46906.1770

Review and Analysis of Skaz in Mehdi Akhavan-Salas’ Narrative Poetry

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

masomeh mirnaseri ¹

Rahman Zabihi ²

Mohamad Taghi Jahani ³

¹ PhD student, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Ilam University. Ilam. Iran.

² Associate professor department of Persian Language and Lterature, Faculty of Humanities, Ilam University, Ilam Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Ilam University. Ilam. Iran.

https://doi.org/10.30465/lir.2025.46906.1770

Abstract

Introduction
Skaz is an important concept in Russian formalist theories which does not let itself to precise definition. This term, as contrasted to plot, underscores the colloquial tone. Skaz is considered as a sort of heteroglossia which was referred to, by Bakhtin, as “hybrid discourse” and “indirect free discourse”. According to the concept of skaz, which was first proposed by Boris Eikhenbaum in 1924, in some narrative works a narrator sets a relationship between the author and the reader such that the illusion of a colloquial narrative is created by grammatical, syntactic and lexical designs of the language. The skaz happens when the author is not able to find a specific form for direct expression of her thoughts and attitude thus her work takes in a multitude of plots and voices or is forced to express herself through a narrator. By bringing in a narrator, skaz tries to set up a balance among the form and content and reduce the effect of the dichotomy between these two. Skaz, sometimes referred to as “Lahn” in Persian, is an instance of voice multiplicity and combination of narratives and is linked to the element of narration. Therefore, it is feasible that multi-voiced narrative works be analyzable from this point of view.

Materials & Methods
The major elements of skaz in the narrative poems of Mehdi Akhavan-Sales are structural features such as narrative structure, dialogue orientation, colloquialism and content features such as limitation of thought horizon, absence of censorship and ambiguity in language. This research uses a descrptive and analytical method to examine some narrative poems of Mehdi Akhavan-Sales’ such as Katibeh (Inscription), Mard va Markab and Qese-ye Shahr-e Sangestan, Miras, Peyvand-ha Va Baaq, Chavoushi, Angah Pas az Tondar, Akhar-e Shahnameh, and others, which were published in the poetry collections as Zemestan, Akhar-e Shahnameh, Az in Avesta, and Dar Hayat-e Kouchak-e Payiz dar Zendan.

Discussion & Result
In a great deal of Mehdi Akhavan-Sales’ poems, narration is a pivotal element. Regarding the connection of the concept of skaz with the element of narration, it is a proper criterion for critique and analysis of these sorts of poetry. One of the major elements of skaz is the colloquial tone in the sense of showing the bodily gestures and internal changes of the characters or the narrator who, as the first person single, narrates the story in the skaz. This feature is present in some of Mehdi Akhavan-Sales’ poems which are influenced by the tradition of Naqqali (an old version of Persian storytelling).

Conclusion
In this study, Akhavan’s 18 narrative poems were examined and analyzed in order to probe their compatibility with the targeted Skaz features. In these poems, lingual characteristics of skaz exist, yet in only nine poems, they have created bilingualism and intellectual distance between the poet and the narrator. Also, oral and vernacular language in almost all the poems is present which in combination with the language of classic Persian literature creates a kind of bilingualism and difference between the language of the poet and the narrator. The vernacular is an expression of the narrator as an ordinary person and the old language is an expression of the poet as an intellectual. The dialogue orientation and question-answer structure in 14 poems have created meaning as well as the feeling and emotion of identification which render the poet’s words tangible for the audience. From among the content features of the skaz, the limitation of thought horizon is investigable in 10 poems. The absence of censorship and spontaneity exist in 5 poems in which the poet by exactly mentioning the characters’ words and thoughts, communicates their mentality that creates in the reader the illusion of being part of the story. Ambiguity in language which in skaz comes about as a result of various evocations and the stream of consciousness, is detectible in 5 poems and usually occurs due to the symbolic structure, opaque beginning and open ending. Only 3 poems namely Katibeh, Mard va Markab, and Qeseh-ye Shahr-re Sangestan from among16 poems are compatible with all of the targeted skaz features and thus investigable from this perspective.

Keywords

Akhavan-Sales

Formalism

Narrative Poetry

Skaz

Verbal Tone

Subjects

Literary interdisciplinary research

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