Research Journal of Poetry and Story Currents in Contemporary Literature of Iran

Research Journal of Poetry and Story Currents in Contemporary Literature of Iran

Analyzing the image of Purgatory man and a ruined man in the stories "Abji Khanum" and "sage velgard" by Sadegh Hedayat

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohammad ali Amini 1
Mohammad Homayon sepehr 2
Vahid Rashdvash 2
1 Ph.D. student, Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Communication and Media, Azad University, Tehran Center branch, Tehran
2 Assistant Professor, Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, Communication and Media, Azad University, Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/pmlj.2025.14652.1056
Abstract
The appearance and behavior of people have long been themes in literary works. Among contemporary writers, Sadeq Hedayat holds a prominent place. This study examines the portrayal of the purgatorial man and the ruined man in the stories “Abji Khanum” and “Sage Velgard.” The research draws on existentialist theory as well as the culture‑and‑personality school. Based on the content of Hedayat’s stories, the study employs the method of content analysis along with documentary research using library, archival, and online sources. The transitional period from tradition to modernity influenced the formation and direction of characters in Hedayat’s stories. Hedayat’s preoccupation with death has its roots in his childhood, and the ideas of existentialist thinkers such as Sartre, as well as writers like Kafka, Nietzsche, and Khayyam, also influenced the creation of his works. In these stories, confused and alienated individuals, figures caught in a purgatorial and ruined state, are shaped by the political, cultural, and social conditions of this transitional period. For them, there is no escape, and the shadow of death looms over their lives. The protagonists submit to the circumstances that govern them and accept their fate without attempting to break free from those conditions.
Keywords
Purgatory Man
Ruined Man
Modernity
Sadegh Hedayat
Abji Khanum
Sage Velgard.
Research Journal of Poetry and Story Currents in Contemporary Literature of Iran
Volume 3, Issue 2
March 2025
Pages 7-24