Journal of Literary Criticism

Journal of Literary Criticism

Who is the narrator? Investigating the theory of Pan-narrator and Optional-narrator with a look at the novel "My Name is Red"

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
marjan mohemmi
Marzieh Piravi Vanak
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10.22034/jlc.2024.392980.1556
Abstract
Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY -NC) license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).





 



One of the most important topics of classical narratology theory is the concept of the narrator. The "pan-narrator" theory, which arose from this era, believes that every narration necessarily has a narrator who, if he is not distinguished from a character in the world of the story or has a clear presence in the text or not, is definitely separate from the author of the work like a first-person narrator. But against this view, there is the "optional-narrator" theory, which the researchers of this field have tried to call the existence of the narrator optional by reviving the author in the text analysis process; Their opinion was that in texts that do not have a clear reference to this concept, its existence can be ignored and the responsibility should be shifted to the historical author. These two theories each rely on the narrator, but they differ only in the choice of that speaker. Therefore, the problem is that if the author is the creator of the whole text, why should not both himself and his technique, which is the creation of narrators, be considered together in the analysis of the work? whether it displays these narrators openly or deliberately hides them. Now, the present research is trying to investigate the novel "My Name is Red" as a study sample by using library sources in the historical-analytical and also the "intentional" approaches to show that the narrator does not have a predetermined identity. Rather, it is the only tool in the field of author's technique and creativity that exists uniquely in every text by the historical author with a conscious intention. As a result, a way can be opened between the two theories of Pan-narrator and Optional-narrator, so that the interpretation of the text can be divided between these two theories in a peaceful way, and the author's intention is not only outside the work but can also be followed inside the text and his storytelling method.
 
Keywords
Pan_Narrator Theory
Optional_Narrator Theory
Narrator
Historical Author
Intentional Approach

Subjects

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Journal of Literary Criticism
Volume 9, Issue 18
November 2025
Pages 472-439

  • Receive Date 13 April 2023
  • Revise Date 07 June 2024
  • Accept Date 15 June 2024