**Objectives and Scope of the Journal**
**Special Topics of the Biannual Journal Narratology **
**A. Diachronic Studies of Narratives:**
- Narratology and the Tradition of Textual Analysis in World Literature
- Narratology and the Literary Tradition of Greece (Reinterpretation of Classical Greek Literary and Critical Works)
- Narratology and Sacred Texts
- Narratology and the Literary Tradition of the Islamic World
- Narratology and Quranic Stories
- Comparative Narratology of Eastern and Western Literary Systems
- Narratology and Reinterpretation of Persian Literary Works in Verse and Prose
- Narratology and the Rise of the Novel
- Narratology and the German Epic Tradition
**B. Synchronic Studies of Narratives:**
- Narratology and the Formalist Literary Tradition
- Narratology and Structuralist Literary Tradition
- Narratology and Anglo-American Literary Criticism
- Narratology and Structuralist Anthropology
- Narratology and Linguistic Studies
- Narratology and Popular Culture
- Narratology and the French Structuralist Tradition
- Narratology and Systemic-Functional Linguistics
- Structuralist Narratology: Definitions, Perspectives, and Challenges
- The Transition from Structuralist to Post-Structuralist Narratology
**C. Narratologies:**
- Narratology and Women’s Studies
- Narratology and Psychoanalysis
- Narratology and Sociology
- Narratology and Film Studies
- Narratology and Translation Studies
- Narratology and Legal Studies
- Narratology and Medical Studies
- Narratology and Children's Studies
- Narratology and Postcolonial Studies
- Narratology and Cognitive Studies
- Narratology and Visual and Performing Arts
- Narratology and Political Studies
- Narratology and Cultural Studies
- Narratology within the Framework of Semantics
- Challenging Narratology
**Editor's Note**
Narrative, in general, refers to any text, whether verbal or visual. By employing essential elements such as action, agents, plot, time, place, point of view, cause-and-effect relationships, various challenges, contrasts, interactions, intertwinement, emotions, tensions, and more, it establishes a semantic mechanism to make a transition from one state to another. Therefore, narrative possesses a dynamic and lively aspect. It is through narrative that the textual world becomes organized and meaningful. However, narrative does not necessarily follow a linear chronological process. While it can be linear, it also has the capacity to deviate from a linear structure. For instance, in an election victory report published by a newspaper, we may encounter the news of a party’s victory — the end of the action — at the very beginning of the narrative. Yet, this victory narrative encompasses planned actions, unpredictable events, the involvement of visible and hidden agents, instrumental and symbolic mechanisms, as well as temporal, spatial, and other conditions that have evolved and climaxed during the election campaign. But the newspaper is free to start and end this narrative at any chosen point. This highlights that, on one side of the narrative, there are all the events, circumstances, actions, and stages that have shaped it, while on the other side is the narrator, who selects the starting, continuous, and ending points.
Based on this explanation, narratology can be seen as a discipline that seeks to uncover and examine the mechanisms through which narratives and their meanings are constructed within various texts, whether they are literary, visual, cinematic, architectural, or musical. Some narratologists even discuss narrative within urban spaces, while others go further, addressing social narratives that pertain to everyday life in society. For instance, we might consider narratives of urban traffic, environmental pollution, or water scarcity and drought. Thus, the realm of narrative can be divided into two main categories: the world of intratextual narratives and the world of extratextual social narratives — although society itself can be seen as a large text, within which smaller texts are constantly at play.
Given the extensive scope of narrative and the fact that we are always immersed in narrative, the science of narratology emerges as a necessary discipline — a semiotic, historical, social, and cultural requirement. Alongside this discipline, which has documented nearly a century of empirical research, the need for a narratology journal was felt more than ever. Consequently, the organizers at the Iranian Association of Literary Criticism have long been considering establishing a journal to encompass studies across all domains of narrative. We hope, with the dedicated, sincere, and scholarly efforts of all scholars in this field, to meet the needs of a segment of the academic community that considers both the native functions of narrative and anticipates the development of narratology and its research models.
Indeed, what we owe today in the field of narratology to the thoughts and efforts of great scholars such as Propp, Lévi-Strauss, Dumézil, Mauss, Greimas, Eco, Barthes, Genette, Todorov, Ricoeur, Jameson, and others, should be regarded as a scientific heritage that we are tasked with preserving and advancing. The **Journal of Narratology** strives to contribute to the scientific development of this field and to undertake the identification, scientific analysis, and exploration of the possibilities and ambiguities within literary, artistic, and cultural works.
With gratitude to all the scholars who will assist us in this important endeavor,
Hamid Reza Shairi