Journal of the stylistic of Persian poem and prose
volume Number 19، number In Volume 4، July 2026 ، issue Number 122

Narrative Structure and Techniques in the Modern Novel: A Case Study of The Enchanted Soul by Romain Rolland and I’ll Turn Off the Lights by Zoya Pirzad

Parvaneh Valamehr , Abdullah Hassanzadeh Mirali (Author in Charge)

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The main concern of this study is how narration in these two works—through such components as point of view, focalization, narrative time, description, language, and the narrator’s mode of intervention—contributes to representing the female character’s lived experience and to the formation of meaning. Since narratology emerged in the wake of structuralism with a focus on the text’s internal mechanisms, this research seeks to show how differences in the choice of narrator and the mode of focalization lead to two distinct patterns of representing the female mind, emotion, and identity.

METHODOLOGY: Method: Adopting a descriptive–analytical approach and drawing on narratology, this study examines the narrative structure and techniques in two novels: Jean-Christophe by Romain Rolland and I’ll Turn Off the Lights by Zoya Pirzad.

FINDINGS: The findings indicate that in Jean-Christophe, third-person narration and predominantly internal focalization on the novel’s main character, Antoinette Rivière, provide the ground for combining psychological analysis, ethical reflections, and a socio-historical perspective. By contrast, in I’ll Turn Off the Lights, Clarisse’s first-person, internal narration foregrounds everyday, emotional, and familial experience and results in a more minimalist representation of the textual world.

CONCLUSION: Ultimately, this research argues that the narrative techniques in both novels are not merely tools for conveying the story; rather, they function as mechanisms for meaning-making, for shaping female subjectivity, and for linking individual experience to social and cultural contexts.

Keyword
narratology , point of view , focalization , narrator , Jean-Christophe , I’ll Turn Off the Lights