Journal of the stylistic of Persian poem and prose
volume Number 19، number In Volume 9، December 2026 ، issue Number 127

Narratology of Reza Julayi’s Novel An Old Case (Tension and Interaction between the Logic of Crime Fiction and the Expansion of Historical Narrative)

Ghahraman Shiri (Author in Charge), Zahedeh Torkashvand

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Reza Julayi’s novel An Old Case moves between two distinct narrative genres: the crime genre, which is based on uncovering the causal relationships underlying an incident, and the historical genre, which seeks to reconstruct the socio-political atmosphere of Tehran in the 1320s [1940s] through the expansion of the characters’ lives and relationships. The main question of this study is how these two genres are combined through the organization of time, the distribution and repetition of information, and the regulation of narrative distance, thereby shaping the form of the novel, and what consequences this interaction has for narrative coherence.

METHODOLOGY: This study employs a descriptive-analytical method, drawing on Gérard Genette’s narratological concepts of order, duration, frequency, mood, and voice.

FINDINGS: The findings demonstrate that narratological devices in the novel perform dual and interwoven functions. At the level of order, temporal shifts connect the past to the process of uncovering the incident and, rather than creating temporal ambiguity, gradually reveal the contexts and motivations underlying the formation of the crime. At the level of duration, sub-narratives slow down the progression of the case by expanding historical and character-related details, while simultaneously enabling the reconstruction of the social and political atmosphere of the period. Frequency, through the repetition and reinterpretation of events, completes the information concerning the case. In terms of mood, zero focalization constitutes the dominant narrative mode, although in certain sections the narrative approaches internal focalization in order to provide the reader with access to information about the case and the characters’ minds. Voice functions as a mechanism for regulating the reader’s relationship with the characters and shapes the way in which the characters and the historical past are received and evaluated.

CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that these five narrative categories do not operate independently; rather, they function as an integrated mechanism that regulates the relationship between “solving the case” and “understanding the historical context.” Accordingly, the tension between the crime genre and historical narrative in An Old Case is manifested not merely at the thematic level, but also in the organization of time, the distribution of information, narrative pace, and access to the characters’ minds. Through this organization, the novel reconstructs the criminal incident both as a problem to be solved and as an event to be historically understood.

Keyword
Narratology , Gérard Genette , Reza Julayi , Persian novel , An Old Case