A Semiotic Analysis of Character in the Novel Her Eyes Based on the Theory of Philippe Hamon (From the Code of the Gaze to the Gradual Process of Character Construction)

The novel Her Eyes by Bozorg Alavi is one of the works that raises the issue of character not only at the level of the presence of fictional characters, but also in how they are recognized, reconstructed, and interpreted. The central characters of the novel are not presented to the reader as unified data; rather, they are constructed through name, image, speech, silence, action, memory, judgment of others, and the measured distribution of information throughout the narrative. From this perspective, Philip Hamon's theory (۱۹۷۲), which considers character as a textual sign and an unstable signifier, provides a suitable tool for analyzing the mechanism of character development in this novel. The present study, using a descriptive-analytical method and relying on close reading of the text, examines the characters of the novel along the four main axes of Hamon's theory, namely types of character, character as signifier, character as signified, and levels of character description. The findings of the study show that Her Eyes is based on the suspension between seeing and knowing. The findings also indicate that in this novel, character is not a present and transparent truth, but rather the result of an interpretative, relational, and historical process. Finally, the application of Hamon's theory to the novel "Her Eyes" reveals that the novel's network of characters simultaneously organizes the romantic, artistic, and political structure of the work and transforms the reader from a passive consumer of the story into a participant in the production of meaning.

کلیدواژه ها:

Her Eyes ، Philippe Hamon’s Theory ، Types of Character ، Signifier of Character ، Signified of Character ، Level of Description