Critical Realism and the Problematic Character in Call Me Ziba

Critical Realism is the continuation of Marxist sociology. Critical Realism tries to convey the objective and accurate experience of reality. This is transmitted to the reader through the contradiction in group and individual behavior. Lukács and Goldmann believe that people in the capitalist world have become like objects. The novel is like bourgeois epic and shows the difference between society and the problematic personality. In this paper we have used Lukács and Goldmann’s theories. Lukács has divided the form and content of the novel into three parts. On the basis of this, we have examined the problematic characters of Farhad Hasanzadeh’s Call me Ziba. In this novel, Ziba and Khosrow represent the issues of a certain historical period. The purpose of this article is to critique social segregation of human identity in today's society. The results of the study show that the author has mixed ideas of abstract idealism and novels of psychological pessimism. The protagonists of this novel confront the values of the community to seek their true values. They show that social reality is lacking in Iran's pseudo-modern society.
 
Extended Abstract
 
1. Introduction
Critical realism, in the interaction between social classes, highlights the contradictory activities of different ideologies and the unfair relations in the modern world. As one of the most important approaches to human actions, critical realism was developed by Georg Lukacs as the implicit reflection of human activities. The critical aspect of realism deals with artistic production on the basis of the narration of the lives of the deprived in the natural course of events and explains contradictions in this regard. It deals with the interaction between the upper and the lower classes and criticizes the oppressive relations of the bourgeoisie and reveals the contradictory behavior of bourgeois ideology. At the initial stages of the realistic outlook, novels had an organic relationship with social experiences. Writers such as Balzac, as social investigators, focused on events, human behavior and the settings of the events. Later, Maxim Gorky, in Foma Gordeyev and The Mother, created characters who criticized society through their problematic behavior.
 
2. Theoretical Framework
Critical realism is rooted in social realism. The humanistic trend in the 19th century revolved around the importance of humans and their needs. Realistic novels served as a tool to develop a network of human actions and values between writers and the society. Thus, the essence of realism can be social criticism and analysis, the study of human life in society, the relationship between the individual and society, and the structure of the society.
 
3. Methodology
In this study the novel Call Me Ziba by Farhad Hasanzadeh is examined using the Marxist critical realism. Moreover, answers are provided for these questions: what values do the problematic characters of the novel follow in their confrontation with the individualistic semi-modern society produced by the market? What are their most important issues in modern society? How can they adapt their ideal desires to the reality?
 
4. Findings
In critical realism writers try to convey to their readers an objective depiction of reality with all the contradictions existing in the individual and collective behavior of people. Thus, they create a problematic hero.
 
5. Conclusion
This novel relies on critical realism in its dealing with two characters, who are problematic, have no future, and are critical of the status quo of the semi-modern society. As in the educational novels, in the structural categorization by Lukacs, they are a combination of heroes of abstract idealistic and psychological novels. The father, like Don Quixote, and other heroes of abstract idealistic novels, tries to change the reality and adjust it to his desires. Ziba criticizes the social realities and restrictions and retires to her solitude and imagination. The novelist, by highlighting the dynamism of Ziba and her father, combines abstract idealism and disillusionment to enable the characters to reveal the hegemonic constructs and search for the hidden totality of life.