فصلنامه نقد ادبی (Dec 2023)
The Archetype of the Anti-Hero, the Hero of Postmodern Poetry
Abstract
In the Archetypal critique of postmodern poetry, we can see clear signs of the Collective unconscious mind. Among these signs is the archetype of the anti-hero. The archetype of the anti-hero has appeared in postmodern poetry in different forms, especially "Anima", "Animus" and "Self" so boldly and diversely that sometimes it makes the reader feel doubtful and confused in distinguishing the hero from the anti-hero. The current research, using the descriptive-analytical method, has tried to determine the position and function of the archetype of the anti-hero in the course of postmodern poetic narration. The results of this study showed that postmodern poets are praised as long as the archetype of the anti-hero protests against the social conditions, and he is praised among the heroes, but when this role causes damage to one's own archetype or other positive archetypes, it is no longer supported. Keywords: Postmodern poetry, archetype, anti-hero, shadow Extended Abstract 1. Introduction One of the distinctive features of postmodern poetry in Iran are open images that reflect the society, individuals and social issues. Direct communication and images without individual and social considerations have caused postmodern poems to be closer to the inner layers of the collective unconscious mind of society (archetypes). One of the key features of the archetype is the inability to represent the real world directly. "Archetypes cannot be directly manifested by themselves, but when they are activated, they express themselves in different ways, mainly through dreams, fantasies and delusions" (Fiest, 2016: 126). "Among the range of archetypes, Jung believes that some archetypes have a stronger role on human behavior and personality, therefore he introduced them as "main archetypes". Besides these archetypes, there are many other manifestations of archetypes, which are called "sub-archetypes". The main archetypes include: persona (mask), anima, animus, shadow (shado), self (self)" (Hall & Nordbai, 2015: 57). "The archetype of the hero is a symbolic manifestation of the perfected psyche, which has powers that the self does not have. Therefore, the main function of the hero's myth is the self-conscious discovery of one's self, which means becoming aware of one's own weaknesses and abilities in a way that enables "I" to show resistance against external problems. (Jung, 1387: 164). Due to the two-dimensional nature of archetypes, the archetype of the hero has a negative aspect as well, which appears as the archetype of "anti-hero" in the narratives. He is, in fact, a hero who does not have the characteristics of a traditional hero and usually exhibits behaviors that are seen in the villain of the story. The motivations of the anti-hero are usually good, or the one who thinks they have good motives. He becomes a good character whenever he feels that the situation calls for him to do evil. Contemporary poets after the constitutional period, especially modern poets, due to the non-implementation of popular ideas and ideals, internal suffocation and tyranny, lack of individual and social freedoms, feelings of dissatisfaction and despair and other individual and social concerns, use the character of anti-heroes as an approach to portray these anti-normative themes. This method has been widely used despite the manifesto of postmodern poets to avoid any structure, meaning and tradition. In the face of such a volume of the anti-hero archetype in the course of postmodern poetic narration, the question arises: what are the grounds for the appearance of the anti-hero archetype in post-modern poetry? And what functions does this negative archetype have in postmodern poetry? 2. Materials and methods In postmodern poetry, due to the poets’ style, we see distinct manifestations of anti-heroes. Some of the manifestations of the anti-hero in the narrative are in the form of references to unpleasant feelings such as fear, disappointment, despair, frustration, inner weakness, complexes, and sometimes in the form of actions such as external violence, protest, being subjected to violence. In postmodern poetry, the anti-hero appears in the narrative in two ways: 1- the anti-hero who is the main role of the narrative (the focus of negative archetypes) 2- the anti-hero (negative archetype) against the hero (positive archetypes). Although there have been many studies, compilations and translations about the archetype as well as postmodern poetry, such as Jung's book and his analytical psychology by Farbad Fadai, which is mostly dedicated to retelling Jung's thoughts, as well as the article "Examination and Analysis of the Anima Archetype in Molana's Ghazals" by Maryam Ismailipour; In this article, the researcher introduced the anima archetype and its representation in Jung's unconscious in some contemporary mythologies and literature of Iran and the world, as well as the thesis "Review of archetypes (persona, anima and animus, exemplary mother, self and Shadow) in the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish", by Sosan Ghaibzadeh and the book What is Postmodernism?, translated by Farhad Mortezaei. In this book, the author tries to describe and define postmodernism. The article "Postmodernism and Contemporary Poetry of Iran" by Qadratullah Taheri also deals with the pursuit and the history of postmodernism. The thesis "Investigation of postmodernist elements in the classical forms of contemporary poetry" by Arman Mearaji also looks for postmodern signs in these poems, without looking at archetypes in postmodern poetry, alongside the classical forms of modern poetry. As can be seen, none of the above sources have made the archetype of the anti-hero in postmodern poetry the subject of their research. Therefore, this article, using a qualitative approach and a descriptive-analytical method, has tried to discuss and examine the issue of the anti-hero in postmodern poetry to answer the research questions. 3. Results and discussion In the criticism of archetypal postmodern poetry, one can see clear signs of collective unconscious mind. Among these signs is the archetype of the anti-hero. The archetype of anti-hero has appeared in postmodern poetry in various forms, especially "anima", "animus" and "self", that sometimes the reader cannot distinguish the position of the hero from the anti-hero. The current research, using the descriptive-analytical method, has tried to determine the position and function of the archetype of the anti-hero in the course of postmodern poetic narration. The results of this study showed that postmodern poets are praised as long as the archetype of the anti-hero protests against social conditions, and he is praised among the heroes, but when this role causes damage to one's own archetype or other positive archetypes, it is no longer supported. 4. Conclusion The result of the study of the anti-hero in postmodern poetry showed that the poets of this style support anti-heroic actions as long as positive archetypes are not harmed. Most of these anti-heroic actions, which are accompanied by external violence, are meant to express protests and rebellion towards society. This group of anti-heroes, in the eyes of poets, are essentially heroes who have performed anti-heroic actions and are also praised. On the other hand, if the anti-hero has abnormal actions or shows his violence towards positive archetypes, he will be criticized, but still the main characters of the archetype do not have the power to confront this anti-hero. In a way, the anti-hero becomes a real image of the shadow archetype in the poem. It was also found that some heroes have anti-heroic actions in postmodern poetry and instead of playing a powerful role in the narrative, they choose to escape. In the eyes of the poets of this style, if the anti-hero even has a heroic action, he is superior to the hero who chooses to run away and surrender. The extension of this process brings the hero into the stage of "transformation of the hero into the anti-hero" and the result is that the positive archetypes that appear at the beginning of the narrative eventually take on a negative role. Another manifestation of the anti-hero is its combination with the face of the hero. Some narrative characters of postmodern poetry are anti-heroes and are not approved by the poet in some ways, but aspects of their heroic face are also expressed in the poem and combination of the hero's face and Twin anti-heroes are also seen in these poems. The archetypes that appeared the most in the role of anti-hero in postmodern poetry are the archetypes of "Anima and Animus". The most common image used in anti-heroic narratives by postmodern poets is the contrast between "man and woman" in the narrative of the story. Although the anima is a powerful archetype, it is powerless against the power of the shadow in postmodern poetry. The ideal mother is also a powerful and active archetype in the unconscious mind, but in postmodern poetry, this archetype, like the anima, shows its credibility shaky. In general, it can be said that the border between the hero and the anti-hero in postmodern poetry is very close, and the anti-hero appears only in situations where the destructive element of the archetype of the shadow has more control over the individual's subconscious mind. The anti-hero harms both himself and the society, and this is caused by the darkness of this negative archetype in the poem.
