The Form of the Novel and the Social Construction of Consciousness: A Lukácsian Reflection on Golshiri’s Christine and Kid

In this article, we try to examine the parallel between the form of Houshang Golshiri’s novel Christine and Kid and the social construction of consciousness in its time. At first glance, the novel seems to be a personal account that cannot be sociologically analyzed; however, this article seeks to show the inherently social nature of this novel’s form. The theoretical part is the historical formulation of Lukács’ thought based on his five major works on the sociology of literature. The article tries to show that the social construction of consciousness at the time of writing Christine and Kid was centered around the issue of “the encounter with the West”; In terms of this issue, we have distinguished three social groups in Iranian intellectual society: on the one hand, pro-Western and anti-Western groups, that have dealt with the issue through an “essentialist” approach, and, on the other, a third group that has tried to discard this dualism and consider the “contingent” nature of the issue. The purpose of this article is to explain how the form of this novel is connected with the construction of the consciousness of the third group. The findings show that the form in this novel is shaped by the combination and interplay of several components: the process of knowledge, contemporaneity, interruptions, compositional aspect, suspension and the dialectic of reception and rejection. Moreover, this form is in line with the main construction of consciousness in the third group, which considered the issue as “open,” “present,” “plural,” “subject of cognition,” and “in process.”
 
Extended Abstract
1.Introduction
The present article studies the relationship between form and the social construction of consciousness in Houshang Golshiri’s novel Christine and Kid. While the novel appears to be a personal, formalist work, defying any kind of sociological analysis, attempt has been made to examine the inherently social nature of the novel’s form. Throughout the article, both in the theoretical and practical sections, the focus of discussion is on the ‘form’ rather than the ‘literary content’ or the ‘social content’ of the novel.
 
2.Theoretical Framework
The historical formation of Lukács’ ideas in the present article shows that he focuses on form, which, according to him, is the composition that directs how a work of art is received. Mimesis is based on the selection, assessment and formation of elements of reality, represented in form. The present article draws on Lukács’ ideas in this regard to study Golshiri’s Christine and Kid.
 
3.Methodology
The present study adopts the qualitative methodology and is a case study of a literary work. It is based on Lukács’ methodology in the sociology of the novel and attempt has been made to analyze the relationship between this literary form and the social construction of consciousness.
 
4.Discussion and Analysis
In Christine and Kid, the East/West dichotomy, as one of the most fundamental issues in the structure of the contemporary Iranian society, has been dealt with. A Lukácsian study of the novel reveals that there is a consistency between the form of the novel and the social construction of consciousness.
 
5.Conclusion
The form of Golshiri’s Christine and Kid is made up of some major elements: the process of understanding ‘the other/the Western’ and consequently ‘the self/the Eastern’; the development of form in the present time based on the development of the present moment; the development of characters in the process of the development of ‘events’; the fragmentation of events, characters and ideas; and the endless suspension in ‘attracting/repelling’ the other and the self. The form of this novel is consistent with the construction of consciousness in the third group in dealing with the ‘issue of the West’.  In other words, the form of this novel, in its totality, reveals the construction of the third group and challenges the Western/anti-Western dichotomy.
 
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