Analysis of the Sublime Experience and the Crisis of Meaning in the Context of Metanarrative Collapse: A Case Study of the Novel

Mousavi, Roghayeh

doi:10.22080/lpr.2025.29044.1101

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Roghayeh mousavi

Postdoctoral in Persian Language and Literature, Razi University, kermanshah, Iran.

10.22080/lpr.2025.29044.1101

Abstract

The present research aims to examine the novel "Sad Moon, Red Moon" by Reza Jolayee, based on the theory of the sublime and the deconstruction of metanarratives in Jean-François Lyotard's thought. Metanarratives (or grand narratives) refer to comprehensive narratives that explain the meaning of history, society, and values around a global order or truth; however, Lyotard, in the postmodern era, demonstrates the crisis of legitimacy and collapse of these comprehensive narratives, replacing them with scattered, local, and personal micro-narratives. In this context, the sublime for Lyotard is an experience that confronts humans with the ultimate limits of comprehension, language, and meaning; an experience full of wonder or fear, which lies beyond the complete representational capacity of reason and language. The author's aim in this research is to explain how the sublime and the decline of metanarratives are reflected in the semantic and structural layers of the novel "Sad Moon, Red Moon". The research method is qualitative, based on text analysis and interpretation, inspired by Lyotard's aesthetic and philosophical concepts and examining narrative examples and character dialogues. The findings show that Jolayi creates Lyotardian sublime moments by addressing absences, mourning, confronting death, and the inability of language to express fundamental experiences. Additionally, by depicting the failure of ideals, the discrediting of grand objectives, and characters' struggles with power, he highlights the collapse of political and social metanarratives within the narrative, replacing them with individual voices, lived experiences, and micro-narratives of resistance.

Keywords

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Literary-philosophical researches

Analysis of the Sublime Experience and the Crisis of Meaning in the Context of Metanarrative Collapse: A Case Study of the Novel "Sad Moon, Red Moon" Based on Lyotard's Thoughts

References

References

Volume 3, Issue 2 - Serial Number 6
March 2026
Pages 169-189

Analysis of the Sublime Experience and the Crisis of Meaning in the Context of Metanarrative Collapse: A Case Study of the Novel "Sad Moon, Red Moon" Based on Lyotard's Thoughts

References

References

Volume 3, Issue 2 - Serial Number 6March 2026Pages 169-189

Volume 3, Issue 2 - Serial Number 6
March 2026
Pages 169-189