A Comparative Study of Perceiving Time in Western and Iranian Fictional Narrative

Time is a metaphor that shows itself in transition, repetition and space; Man is the only being who endures and knows himself in metaphor. Fictional narratives are the most distinguished structures to represent man’s existential time, so they not only cause identities but are affected by them. This article tries to prove, through tracing out the different interpretations of time in fictional narratives (myth, epic, legend and tale, romance, historical novel and novel) that they have introduced new identities to each specific period. These identities, apart from interpreting time, have interpreted themselves. Te central idea of the article is that Iranian fictional narratives have experienced time differently, compared to the western narratives, and as a result, Iranians, being primarily influenced by the analogical imagination of mystic discourse, have experienced the historical narratives much later.