Spatial-topographical metaphor and its function in The Emperor of Words

One of the central and common concepts in areas such as mysticism, philosophy, psychology, psychoanalysis and postcolonial studies is specifying the status of the paradoxical double-edged marking action – the being-identity and nonexistence – which is the subject of the representation of some literary narratives including fiction written for children and adolescents. The novel, The Emperor of the Words, written for children, is a good example of the aforementioned concept in Persian fiction. The novel utilizes spatial-topographical techniques to represent the concept. In this essay, the representational aspects of the spatial-topographical metaphor have been analyzed with a descriptive, interpretive approach. Findings of the essay show that the author forces the author-narrator of the novel break the boundary of narrative levels from the top to the bottom level and vice versa to create, on the one hand, the being-identity of the subjects and the objects of the narrative with spatial metaphors, working with two dominant symbols: lining and word coinage; and, on the other hand, map the nonexistence and lack of identity with different types of trials, examination, imprisonment, and separation. Meanwhile, the author-narrator of the novel attempt to depict different aspects of ambiguity created by the story agents, blurring the easy interpretation of the signs of the text. These include: erasing the lines, poetic asides, pretending to be mad, state of frenzy, dumb looking, wordlessness, namelessness and mixing narrative levels. These states, however, provide the opportunity of symbolic movement from nonexistence and identity.