A psychoanalytic study of the novel 'Golnar and the Mirror'

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Department of Persian Language &Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Persian Gulf University, Busheher, Iran

10.29252/kavosh.2025.22107.3618

Abstract

Golnar and the mirror is a novel by Mohammad Azam Rahnavard Zaryab with a focus on the mental transformation of "Robabeh", a dancer girl from Kabul, one of whose ancester is Golnar, a ritual dancer in the court of a Maharaja. Golnar once competed with her own image in the mirror and gained amazing strength by winning over it. Robabeh also hopes for overcoming her image. So, the main theme of the novel is considering the mirror’s image as "other" and defeating it. Jacques Lacan considers the role of "other" in forming the "subject". ‘Mirror Stage’ is an important part of Lacanian psychoanalysis. He considers it as an illusion that shows the boundaries of the human existence and the presence of "another". This research has analyzed the novel Golnar and the Mirror with a descriptive-analytical method by applying a psychoanalytic criticism approch. It has studied the meaning of Golnar's competition with the "other" in the mirror, as well as the mental evolution of Robabeh and her attempt to transform into Golnar. The result shows that both Golnar and Robabeh fought against the "other" in two different ways and succeeded in finding the true identity of "themselves".
 

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References

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Journal of Kavoshnameh in Persian Language and Literature
Volume 26, Issue 65 - Serial Number 65
September 2025
Pages 127-155

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