The Metafiction Techniques and Play in the Novel The Game of Forgetting

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Student of Arabic Language and Literature, Imam Khomeini International University

2 Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, Imam Khomeini International University

3 Assistant Professor of Arabic Language and Literature, Imam Khomeini International University

Abstract

Metafiction is the author's writing style and the style of consciously and deliberately playing on narrative structures and subjecting the skills of writing. By deviating or escaping from the established norms of traditional narrative and even adhering to it, metafiction tries to introduce the previous literariness and self-consciousness as a hollow  deviation, And expose the narrative tricks of claiming to be truthful - for the unrighteous purpose of absolute truthfulness - in order to prove that it is impossible to resolve the conflict between voices and ideologies by subjugating them under the voice of an omniscient and God-like author, And happily demonstrates the impossibility of the ultimate understanding of truth in the light of one-sided domination. Metafiction as a sub-genre, with its mentally processing and self-evaluative and dialectical annotations, seeks to clarify the truth with an enlightening reflection on the processes of creation of the story, and relying on Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, along with clarifying the nature of the story. Combined with the concept of relativism, game theory, as a way of properly understanding world routines, contributes to the realistic achievements of literature in the metafiction as a self-founded activity with definite value in the real world. By pretending to play roles and contracts of the game, the unstructured and arbitrary nature of the game, helps metafiction -while exploring the functions and seemingly known but practically unknown nature of the story- to shatter dysfunctional traditions and unpopular worldviews. In recognizing these Attitudes of recently known paradigm in metafiction, relying on descriptive-analytical research method and processing metafiction theory data, we intend especially from the point of view of "Patricia Waugh", to understand the efficiency of the components of metafiction and explain its qualities and the role of play in the promotion of making metafiction, in the novel The Game of Forgetting  by “Mohammad Baradeh”, to recognize the innovations of the first Arab step in the migration from the absolutist ideas of modernism in fictional factology. Researching these cases we found out that M.Barrada, in the application of tricky techniques like short-circuit, trick revelation, character rebellion, metafictonal collage, and arbitrary naming, he always acting gamefully, owes much to the principle of relativism and the multi-faceted nature of truth and and thus establishes a solid basis for Arabic metafiction.

Keywords

References

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Arabic Literature
Volume 14, Issue 1
May 2022
Pages 21-41

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History

  • Receive Date: 17 March 2021
  • Revise Date: 05 April 2020
  • Accept Date: 20 April 2021
  • First Publish Date: 27 April 2021

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