Analyzing the discourse system of existence and state in the process of the narration "One Thousand and One nights" based on semantic- semiotic approach

Introduction

Classical narrative literature serves as a profound cultural and philosophical repository in which human values and ontological queries are refracted through story. This study investigates the narrative discourse system in One Thousand and One Nights, a foundational corpus in Persian and Arabic literary traditions. Drawing on the semiotic-discursive frameworks developed by Algirdas Julien Greimas and further expanded by scholars like Eric Landowski and Eero Tarasti, the study foregrounds two central modalities of discourse—stative (Shooshi) and existential (Booshi)—to analyze how narrative processes initiate transformation in both characters and meaning structures (Fontanille & Zilberberg, 2001; Tarasti, 2009). In particular, this paper examines how the storytelling of Shahrazad not only defers death but also initiates a metaphysical shift in King Shahrayar’s being—from a reactive, traumatized sovereign to a conscious, ethical subject. The main research question is: How do Shooshi and Booshi discourse systems shape the trajectory of narrative healing and existential transcendence in the text?
 

Literature Review

The semiotic approach to discourse, as outlined in Greimasian semiotics, emphasizes meaning as a dynamic, negotiated process occurring within the structures of action, modality, and transformation (Greimas & Courtés, 1982). Scholars such as Fontanille (2011) and Tarasti (2009) distinguish discursive and figurative levels of narration, where meaning is neither fixed nor universal, but emerges through the temporal unfolding of narrative acts.
In Persian scholarship, Shaeiri et al. (2023) clarified foundational semiotic concepts in Persian literary discourse. Karimi Firoozjani and Hashemi (2023) applied the Shooshi-Booshi dichotomy to analyze Iranian folk tales. Taefi (2021) used Greimasian discourse theory to analyze mystical narratives, while Daneshgar and Rahmatian (2020) interpreted Abbas Maroufi’s Symphony of the Dead as a narrative structured by Booshi modalities. These contributions underscore the growing relevance of semiotic approaches in Iranian narrative criticism.
 

Methodology

This qualitative research follows a descriptive-analytical methodology using the Persian translation of One Thousand and One Nights by Abdullatif Tasuji (2017) as the primary corpus. The theoretical model is grounded in Greimasian semiotics, supported by Persian-language resources such as Adabiat-e Neshaneh-Ma’nashenasi (Shaeiri, 2016), Jahān-e Neshaneh va Ma’na (Shaeiri et al., 2023), and Tahlil-e Goftemān-e Neshaneh-Ma’nashenakhti (Shaeiri, 2007).
The study identifies transformations across the narrative through:

Discursive shifts in character identity;
Transitions in phenomenological presence (Shooshi);
Transcendent reconstitution of being (Booshi).

 

Discussion

4.1 Shooshi Discourse: Emotional Presence and Receptive Becoming
Shooshi discourse highlights affective presence, emphasizing receptivity rather than intentional action. Shahrayar’s initial state—dominated by betrayal and rage—illustrates a pathological Shooshi subjectivity (Shaeiri, 2023). As Shahrazad narrates, Shahrayar becomes increasingly open to emotional presence. He enters into an affective dialogue with the world, especially visible in Night 148, where his confession marks a Shooshi transformation: the stative mode evolves into an aesthetic-ethical presence.
This evolution is structured by the narrative rhythm of suspense and delay, which fosters affective intensity. Shooshi discourse therefore not only restructures the emotional life of Shahrayar but also alters his epistemological orientation toward the world.
 
4.2 Booshi Discourse: Existential Breakthrough and Narrative Transcendence
Booshi discourse reflects ontological becoming. Tarasti (2009) relates Booshi presence to Dasein, the subject’s being-in-the-world. Initially entrenched in a void of meaning, Shahrayar undergoes semantic transformation through Shahrazad’s storytelling. This transformation is not spontaneous but results from successive narrative engagements, each nudging the subject away from void and toward value.
At its core, Booshi discourse involves a dialectic of negation and affirmation: the subject must first negate his disintegrated self (Dasein I) before entering a reconstituted being (Dasein II) (Shaeiri, 2016). The climax of this transformation occurs when Shahrayar accepts Shahrazad as queen and renounces his pattern of violence—manifesting full Booshi presence.
 
4.3 From Semantic Pit to Transcendental Presence
The concept of the “semantic pit” is pivotal in visualizing the transitional space between Shooshi and Booshi states. As Shaeiri and Karimi-Nejad (2015) argue, subjects experience “presence shock” in such pits, triggered by modals like being able (توانستن) and having to (بایستن). In One Thousand and One Nights, Shahrayar’s passage from despair to ethical clarity is marked by several such semantic shocks, culminating in transcendence.
Shahrazad herself occupies a unique Booshi trajectory. Unlike Shahrayar, she integrates her past Dasein (as storyteller/sister) into her new role as discursive healer. She does not negate her identity; she extends it, thus embodying an ethical Booshi subjectivity rooted in knowledge, will, and necessity.
Together, Shahrayar and Shahrazad create a dual-subject model of discourse-based healing, suggesting that narrative can mediate not only psychological restoration but ethical reformation.
 

Conclusion

This study demonstrates how Shooshi and Booshi discourse systems, derived from Greimasian semiotics and enriched by phenomenological and existential insights, reveal the transformative power of narrative in One Thousand and One Nights. Through Shooshi discourse, Shahrayar rediscovers emotional presence; through Booshi discourse, he reconstructs ethical being. Shahrazad facilitates this process by crafting narrative conditions for affective awakening and ontological renewal.
The semiotic frameworks applied here show that meaning is not static but unfolds through narratively mediated transformation. In One Thousand and One Nights, storytelling becomes a site of existential pedagogy, where subjects are redefined, not through didacticism, but through aesthetic and symbolic participation in discourse. Ultimately, the text reaffirms the potency of narrative as a therapeutic and ethical force—an insight deeply resonant with both Greimasian theory and contemporary concerns in literary trauma studies and narrative ethics.
 
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