Examining the Capacities of Modern Narrative Characteristics in Creating Criminal Narratives: A Reading of Mohammad Hosseini’s Abi-tar az Gonah

As a popular genre in fiction, crime literature has many types, such as mystery detective and crime thrillers. Mystery and suspense are the building blocks of crime literature. Older crime narratives used to portray suspense and mystery in their content; in other words, by creating complex content, the authors aimed to keep the reader’s attention and curiosity. Modern fiction provided new possibilities, especially in terms of form, for writers of crime literature. The change in modern man’s view of reality caused a change in plot and characterisation. Modern narratives turn away from the omniscient narrator and employ first-person narrations, make use of interior monologues and stream-of-consciousness, disrupt the logical and linear order of events, and make use of anti-hero characters. Echoing these premises, this article adopts a descriptive-analytical method to explore how much easier it is to write criminal narratives. The results of this study show that by deviating from the classic plot, making use of an anti-hero and unreliable narration, and disrupting the linear narration, the author has employed all the possibilities of modern narration.
 
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Although linear narration, classical plot, and an omniscient point of view are recurrent in crime literature, it seems that Modernism has equipped the modern author to move beyond such regulations and be the epicentre of change in crime literature. This study investigates Mohammad Hosseini’s Abi-tar az Gonah.
2. Methodology
Echoing Modernism, this study adopts a descriptive-analytical method to analyse the disruption of time and linear narrative, the move beyond the classical plot, and the anti-hero and anti-social characters in Mohammad Hosseini’s Abi-tar az Gonah.
3. Theoretical Framework
Crime literature encompasses adventurous genres such as thrillers, detective stories, gangster stories, and police stories. Since the most recurrent contractual characters in crime fiction are the criminal and the victim, and the main typological situation is the murder, one can argue that crime fiction is directly connected with such characteristics. The author’s ability to play with the reader’s knowledge and curiosity is among the most important characteristics of crime literature. Another important aspect is narratological modernism. Modernism directly affected the novel’s narration, POV, and characterisation. As the epicentre of change, Modernism redefined reality and focused more on the subjective unconscious of human beings.
4. Discussion and Analysis
Although crime literature has been around for a long time, its main strategy of suspense and mystery remains the same. Older crime narratives used to portray suspense and mystery in their content; in other words, by creating complex content, the authors aimed to keep the reader’s attention and curiosity. Modern fiction provided new possibilities, especially in terms of form, for writers of crime literature. Modernism enabled the writers to have more free will in providing a subjective narration of the events. The change in modern man’s view of reality caused a change in plot and characterisation. Modern narratives turn away from the omniscient narrator and employ first-person narrations, make use of interior monologues and stream-of-consciousness, disrupt the logical and linear order of events, and make use of anti-hero characters.
5. Conclusion
In his Abi-tar az Gonah, Mohammad Hosseini employs modern tools to create crime fiction. By deviating from the classic plot, making use of an anti-hero and unreliable narration, and disrupting the linear narration, the author has employed all the possibilities of modern narration. The central character of the novel is a deceitful, unscrupulous, and unmerciful man, who tries to deceive the reader throughout the novel. This character is a proper anti-hero. All these characteristics show that Modernism directly correlates with crime literature.
Bibliography
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Litch, T. 2002. Crime Film. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [In English].
Scaggs, J. 1401 [2022]. Kelid-vāzheh-hā-e Adabiyāt-e Jenāei. Hossein, Sh (trans.). Tehran: Neshaneh. [In Persian].   [Crime Fiction]
Shahsavari, M. H. 1399 [2020]. Bi Tāboot. Tehran: Qoqnoos. [In Persian].
Zeymaran, M. 1393 [2014]. Andisheh-hā-e Falsafi dar Pāyān-e Hezāreh-e Dovom. Tehran: Hermes. [In Persian].