Naqd-i Zabān va Adabīyyāt-i Khārijī (Dec 2013)
بررسي تطبيقي تعامل زمان و خاطره در رمان هزار راز نهان نوشته اميتان و رمان فرزند زمان نوشته ايان مك ايوان
Abstract
The notion of time has changed to one of the most controversial subjects of the contemporary debates, after Einstein’s’ revolutionary ideas on relativity of time; it challenged the linear, conventional thinking about the nature of time. The shift of time toward a more relative time zone that deconstructed the established historical time is traced as an urge to rethink the existence of linear absolute time; thus, it leads to introducing various possible, parallel time zones, including internal and social times, which are in contradiction with the known and conventional time systems. However, as time is a transient entity, it is only accessible to the human mind through memories of particular moments. It means that to gain a true perception of the notion of time, its inevitable interaction with the discourse of memory must be considered. Experiencing the diverse internal time in opposition with the monotonous objective time system is the subject of many contemporary novels. The linear Newtonian time in novels is challenged by a more flexible Einstein’s Relativity theory that gives more space for experiencing diverse temporal zones. Not to forget that like many discursive discourses, the disciplines of time and memory are determined by socio- cultural paradigms of a society. In analyzing the interaction of time and memory, one must consider the impact of cultural conventions of society in representations of past images. This essay intends to study the contingent interaction of time and memory in The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan and The Child in Time by Ian McEwan to suggest that like every other discourse, these disciplines are influenced by the socio-cultural paradigms of society. Although, both of these writers employ deconstruction of time for a representation of the past, in their texts, the outcomes and patterns of such attempt is diversely depicted.
