Research in Contemporary World Literature

Research in Contemporary World Literature

Representation of the “Intercultural Other” in Madame Gorgé: An Imagological Reading Based on Daniel-Henri Pageaux

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Atiyeh Arabi 1
Fatemeh Gholami 2
1 Department of French Language and Literature, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
2 Department of French Language and Literature, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
10.22059/jor.2026.403635.2742
Abstract
This study employs Daniel-Henri Pageaux’s (1939) theoretical framework in imagology, focusing on his tripartite model of infatuation (phobie/philie/ manie), to examine the representation of the “intercultural Other” in Madame Gorgé, a story by contemporary Persian novelist Goli Taraghi from her collection Scattered Memories (1318 AH). Using a multi-layered lexical, structural, and discursive analysis, the research investigates how the Iranian “Self” is depicted in relation to the culture of the “Other” within the context of migration, and how socio-political conditions shape this representation. The findings indicate that the protagonist’s stance oscillates between infatuation and fear toward the host culture. A key contribution of this study is the observation that resolution is not achieved by stabilizing one of these poles but through a transition from initial fear to a stage of “attachment,” wherein a measured acceptance of the “Other” occurs without fully dissolving the “Self.” This dynamic interplay highlights how language, as well as political and social contexts, facilitates the transformation of the “Other” and offers a more nuanced understanding of migrant identity in contemporary Iranian fiction.
Keywords
Pageaux’s imagology
“intercultural Other
” “Self
” Madame Gorgé
migrant identity
Subjects
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Research in Contemporary World Literature
Volume 31, Issue 3
Summer 2026
Pages 423-438