Ethical Conversation with the Other in Conrad Aiken’s “Silent Snow, Secret Snow”: A Levinasian Reading

Touzideh, Mohammadreza; Nowrouzi Roshnavand, Farshid

doi:10.22049/jalda.2022.27397.1347

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

¹ MA in English Language and Literature, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9025-7974

² Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, English Department, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5338-7785

https://doi.org/10.22049/jalda.2022.27397.1347

Abstract

The ethical relation with the Other becomes of great significance in the postmodern ethos which considers the decentralization of subjectivity as one of its main philosophical and literary objectives. Emmanuel Levinas was one of the first philosophers who redefined the notion of ethics as a critical moment in which the subject’s encounter with the Other solely occurs through the use of ethical language, a mode of communication that essentially escapes any form of totalization in favor of the subject’s consciousness. Such an ethical meeting with the Other can be traced in Conrad Aiken’s short story “Silent Snow, Secret Snow,” which narrates the twelve-year-old protagonist’s encounter with the mysterious voice of snow. The results of the study show that the protagonist, once exposed to the speaking face of the Other, initiates an ethical conversation with it and, in so doing, loses his subjectivity to the ethical manifestation that the Other issues upon him.

Keywords

20.1001.1.28208986.2022.10.1.9.2

Main Subjects

Literature and ethical development

Article Title [Persian]

مکالمه اخلاقی با «دیگری» در داستان کوتاه «برف خاموش، برف مرموز» اثر کنراد آیکن: خوانشی لویناسی

Authors [Persian]

محمدرضا توزیده ¹
دکتر فرشید نوروزی روشناوند ²

¹ کارشناس ارشد زبان و ادبیات انگلیسی، دانشگاه شهید مدنی آذربایجان، تبریز، ایران

² استادیار زبان و ادبیات انگلیسی، گروه زبان و ادبیات انگلیسی، دانشکده علوم انسانی و اجتماعی، دانشگاه مازندران، بابلسر، ایران

Abstract [Persian]

رابطه اخلاقی با «دیگری» در گفتمان پسامدرن از اهمیت فراوانی برخوردار است، زیرا این گفتمان تمرکززدایی از سوبژکتیویته را یکی از اهداف اساسی خود برمی‌شمرد. اِمانوئل لِویناس یکی از اولین فلاسفه‌ای بود که به بازتعریف مفهوم اخلاقیات پرداخت. از نگاه او، اخلاقیات آن نقطه عطفی در رابطه سوژه با «دیگری» است که تنها از طریق بکارگیری زبان اخلاقی محقق می‌شود، نوعی ارتباط که ذاتا از هرگونه تمامیت‌خواهی به نفع آگاهی سوژه اجتناب می‌ورزد. این دیدار اخلاقی را در داستان کوتاه «برف خاموش، برف مرموز» اثر کنراد آیکن نیز می‌توان یافت. شخصیت اول این داستان که پسری دوازده ساله است، با صدای رازآلود برف مواجه می‌شود. نتایج این پژوهش نشان می‌دهد که شخصیت اول داستان هنگامی که در معرض چهره سخنگوی «دیگری» قرار می‌گیرد، مکالمه‌ای اخلاقی با آن را آغاز می‌کند و، بدین ترتیب، به‌تدریج سوبژکتیویته خود را در این مواجهه اخلاقی از دست می‌دهد.

Keywords [Persian]

اِمانوئل لِویناس
اخلاقیات
زبان اخلاقی
سوژه
دیگری
کنراد آیکن

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Journal of Applied Linguistics and Applied Literature: Dynamics and Advances

Ethical Conversation with the Other in Conrad Aiken’s “Silent Snow, Secret Snow”: A Levinasian Reading

References

References

Volume 10, Issue 1
April 2022
Pages 155-167

Ethical Conversation with the Other in Conrad Aiken’s “Silent Snow, Secret Snow”: A Levinasian Reading

References

References

Volume 10, Issue 1April 2022Pages 155-167

Volume 10, Issue 1
April 2022
Pages 155-167