Journal of Literary Criticism

Journal of Literary Criticism

Silence and the Unsaid in Narrative Organization: A Narratological Analysis of Taste of Cherry

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Persian Language and Literature and Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch. Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabatabaei University - Tehran, Iran
3 Department of English, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Tehran South Branch, Islamic Azad University - Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jlc.2026.574524.1820
Abstract
The central concern of this study is to examine how narrative organization in Taste of Cherry is constructed through the mechanisms of silence, information omission, and the unsaid. The article aims to demonstrate the role of these elements as active structural mechanisms in shaping the narrative and in activating the viewer’s interpretive participation. Adopting a qualitative and interpretive approach, the study draws on a theoretical framework that combines cinematic narratology with visual semantic semiotics, inspired by Hamid Reza Shairi’s model of visual elements of silence, to analyze the film’s narrative structure. The findings indicate that narration in Taste of Cherry does not progress through a linear advancement of events; rather, it is formed through the careful organization of visual silences, informational gaps, and visual elements of silence (such as negative space, rhythm, and pause). The study argues that in Abbas Kiarostami’s minimalist cinema, silence and the unsaid do not signify the absence of narration; instead, they function as active narrative engines that suspend meaning and transform the act of viewing into a reflective and contemplative experience
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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 12 May 2026

  • Receive Date 09 February 2026
  • Revise Date 08 May 2026
  • Accept Date 12 May 2026