دانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Literary Translation and Politics: The Study of Iranian Women’s Citizenship RightsLiterary Translation and Politics: The Study of Iranian Women’s Citizenship Rights732338310.22077/islah.2025.8418.1546FAMahboubeh KhaliliAssistant Professor of Translation Studies, Department of English Language Translation, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran (corresponding author)Fatemeh ParhamAssistant Professor of Translation Studies, Department of English Translation Studies, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, IranJournal Article20241113This interdisciplinary study examines the role of literary translation in responding to socio-political reforms in Iran during the Second Pahlavi era, particularly after the White Revolution. Three English novels, translated into Persian within five years following the White Revolution, were analyzed to explore references to women’s rights, employing Marshall’s model of citizenship rights. The examination of Persian translations revealed that all instances of women’s civil, social, and political rights were preserved, with a majority remaining unaltered and a minority altered for further endorsement. Translators intervened to oppose women’s rights in only 3% of cases. While policies aimed at enhancing Iranian women’s quality of life, particularly concerning health and family rights, garnered support in these translations, those geared towards aligning women’s social roles and lives with Western modernization standards, rather than societal cultural norms, encountered resistance and changed. These findings underscore the impact of the White Revolution on societal attitudes in Iran and highlight the role of literary translation as a potential platform for reacting to socio-political developments, shedding light on the complexities of modernization in Iran during this period.This interdisciplinary study examines the role of literary translation in responding to socio-political reforms in Iran during the Second Pahlavi era, particularly after the White Revolution. Three English novels, translated into Persian within five years following the White Revolution, were analyzed to explore references to women’s rights, employing Marshall’s model of citizenship rights. The examination of Persian translations revealed that all instances of women’s civil, social, and political rights were preserved, with a majority remaining unaltered and a minority altered for further endorsement. Translators intervened to oppose women’s rights in only 3% of cases. While policies aimed at enhancing Iranian women’s quality of life, particularly concerning health and family rights, garnered support in these translations, those geared towards aligning women’s social roles and lives with Western modernization standards, rather than societal cultural norms, encountered resistance and changed. These findings underscore the impact of the White Revolution on societal attitudes in Iran and highlight the role of literary translation as a potential platform for reacting to socio-political developments, shedding light on the complexities of modernization in Iran during this period.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3383_820386a7878d32bdbb7f18e7f6d08055.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321From Book to ARG: A Study of the Relation Between Immersion and InteractivityFrom Book to ARG: A Study of the Relation Between Immersion and Interactivity3360342410.22077/islah.2025.8531.1562FAFarkhondeh Fazel BakhsheshiPhD. Candidate of English Language and Literature, Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, Shiraz University, International DivisionAmirhossein VafaAssistant Professor of English Literature, Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, Shiraz UniversityAlireza AnushiravaniProfessor of Comparative Literature,,Department of Foreign Languages, Shiraz University, Shiraz, IranJournal Article20241214The relationship between the text and the reader has been greatly influenced by the emergence of new forms of narration. These new forms are created by adding interaction to the text. By adding interaction to a narrative, these new forms create more opportunities for readers to control and shape the narration, resulting in a heightened level of immersion. Moreover, this type of narration opens up new possibilities for developing narratives that can serve various purposes beyond entertainment. This study aims to compare interactive forms of narration, such as FMV (Full Motion Video), ARG (Alternate Reality Games), escape rooms, interactive books, and plays, while examining the relationship between immersion and interactivity in these formats. While the reader will be a crucial point of focus, we will employ a qualitative method alongside quantitative measures to illustrate how variations in interactivity within a narrative can alter the readers’ immersive experiences across different modes of interactive narration.The relationship between the text and the reader has been greatly influenced by the emergence of new forms of narration. These new forms are created by adding interaction to the text. By adding interaction to a narrative, these new forms create more opportunities for readers to control and shape the narration, resulting in a heightened level of immersion. Moreover, this type of narration opens up new possibilities for developing narratives that can serve various purposes beyond entertainment. This study aims to compare interactive forms of narration, such as FMV (Full Motion Video), ARG (Alternate Reality Games), escape rooms, interactive books, and plays, while examining the relationship between immersion and interactivity in these formats. While the reader will be a crucial point of focus, we will employ a qualitative method alongside quantitative measures to illustrate how variations in interactivity within a narrative can alter the readers’ immersive experiences across different modes of interactive narration.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3424_aa7cacec62fbc741733cecae97617988.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321The Metamorphosis of Identity: Artistic Expression and Cultural Transformation in Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red and The White CastleThe Metamorphosis of Identity: Artistic Expression and Cultural Transformation in Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red and The White Castle6188345810.22077/islah.2025.8638.1572FAKotaba Saleh FenjanPh.D Student of English Language and Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, University of Tehran, Tehran. IranAli SalamiAssociate Professor of English Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran(Corresponding Author)Journal Article20241226This article explores the complicated interaction of artistic expression with cultural identity through two novels by Orhan Pamuk: My Name is Red and The White Castle. The analysis will lean upon an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that brings together Stuart Hall’s view on cultural identity as a fluid entity, Homi Bhabha’s theory of cultural hybridity, and Arjun Appadurai’s work on global cultural flows. This research demonstrates how Pamuk’s narratives contest given binary oppositions between East and West, and also tradition and modernity, through close textual investigation, reflecting upon questions regarding cultural change within the Ottoman framework. The study shall show how Pamuk’s characters negotiate the multiplicities of cultural influence through artistic utterance and personal metamorphosis with a view to creating new identities beyond borders. While tension in My Name is Red between Ottoman miniature traditions and Western portraiture is in itself a vehicle toward cultural adaptation, The White Castle presents an identity exchange between an Italian scholar and his Ottoman captor, which shows, through time and interaction, the permeable nature of such a boundary. This study focuses on how globalization equally amplifies traditional binaries and creates opportunities for their transcendence, enriching our understanding of Turkish literary modernism. It holds the view that cultural identity can be jointly created not simply by negating or fully accepting foreign influxes but by being in creative interaction with both the traditional and the new, and thus provides an important insight into the understanding of cultural change in societies experiencing rapid globalization and modernization.This article explores the complicated interaction of artistic expression with cultural identity through two novels by Orhan Pamuk: My Name is Red and The White Castle. The analysis will lean upon an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that brings together Stuart Hall’s view on cultural identity as a fluid entity, Homi Bhabha’s theory of cultural hybridity, and Arjun Appadurai’s work on global cultural flows. This research demonstrates how Pamuk’s narratives contest given binary oppositions between East and West, and also tradition and modernity, through close textual investigation, reflecting upon questions regarding cultural change within the Ottoman framework. The study shall show how Pamuk’s characters negotiate the multiplicities of cultural influence through artistic utterance and personal metamorphosis with a view to creating new identities beyond borders. While tension in My Name is Red between Ottoman miniature traditions and Western portraiture is in itself a vehicle toward cultural adaptation, The White Castle presents an identity exchange between an Italian scholar and his Ottoman captor, which shows, through time and interaction, the permeable nature of such a boundary. This study focuses on how globalization equally amplifies traditional binaries and creates opportunities for their transcendence, enriching our understanding of Turkish literary modernism. It holds the view that cultural identity can be jointly created not simply by negating or fully accepting foreign influxes but by being in creative interaction with both the traditional and the new, and thus provides an important insight into the understanding of cultural change in societies experiencing rapid globalization and modernization.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3458_dc70c3053cbe1580db56fdd898ed205b.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321“My Eyes Burned with Anguish and Anger”: Hegelian Dialectic and Development of Consciousness in James Joyce’s “Araby”“My Eyes Burned with Anguish and Anger”: Hegelian Dialectic and Development of Consciousness in James Joyce’s “Araby”89112366010.22077/islah.2025.9703.1680FAMohammadreza ZareDepartment of English, Faculty of letters and languages, Arak University, Arak, IranJournal Article20250707The present interdisciplinary qualitative study aims to analyze James Joyce’s “Araby” based on Hegelian dialectic. This seminal story from Dubliners has received immense critical reception over the years and has been studied through various critical frameworks. However, its potential for analysis based on Hegelian dialectic has been largely overlooked. Considering the last episode of the story as a moment of epiphany and self-realization, the study seeks to discuss how the protagonist’s development of consciousness can be interpreted based on the three stages of Hegelian dialectic: Understanding (Idealization of Mangan's sister and the bazaar), Dialectical (faced with contradiction at the bazaar), and Speculative (the final epiphany). The analysis demonstrates how the narrator’s initially fixed determinations and alienated consciousness in the understanding stage face their contradiction at the dialectical moment, resulting in the final epiphany, which mirrors the last stage of the dialectic where contradictions are resolved and self-realization is achieved. Further, based on the principles of Hegelian dialectic rooted in philosophical idealism, the study not only asserts that the narrator’s consciousness evolves through a process driven by contradiction, but it also interprets the narrator’s journey from naïve idealization to self-realization as a universal process of maturation. To avoid a mechanical and rigid application of the dialectical method, the analysis relies on close textual reading to identify the elements that contribute to each moment of the dialectic and deeply contextualizes the argument to deviate from oversimplification of the text.The present interdisciplinary qualitative study aims to analyze James Joyce’s “Araby” based on Hegelian dialectic. This seminal story from Dubliners has received immense critical reception over the years and has been studied through various critical frameworks. However, its potential for analysis based on Hegelian dialectic has been largely overlooked. Considering the last episode of the story as a moment of epiphany and self-realization, the study seeks to discuss how the protagonist’s development of consciousness can be interpreted based on the three stages of Hegelian dialectic: Understanding (Idealization of Mangan's sister and the bazaar), Dialectical (faced with contradiction at the bazaar), and Speculative (the final epiphany). The analysis demonstrates how the narrator’s initially fixed determinations and alienated consciousness in the understanding stage face their contradiction at the dialectical moment, resulting in the final epiphany, which mirrors the last stage of the dialectic where contradictions are resolved and self-realization is achieved. Further, based on the principles of Hegelian dialectic rooted in philosophical idealism, the study not only asserts that the narrator’s consciousness evolves through a process driven by contradiction, but it also interprets the narrator’s journey from naïve idealization to self-realization as a universal process of maturation. To avoid a mechanical and rigid application of the dialectical method, the analysis relies on close textual reading to identify the elements that contribute to each moment of the dialectic and deeply contextualizes the argument to deviate from oversimplification of the text.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3660_7fed02955a989ca4389367d43a71d24c.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321A Look at Content Challenges in Iranian Children and Adolescents' FictionA Look at Content Challenges in Iranian Children and Adolescents' Fiction113138360510.22077/islah.2025.8655.1575FAMaryam JalaliAssociate Professor in Persian Language and Literature, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, IranMahmoud FazilatProfessor in Persian Language and Literature, Department of Persian Language and Literature, University of Tehran, Tehran, IranElham ZamaniPh.D in Persian Language and Literature and Invited Lecturer, University of Tehran, Tehran, IranJournal Article20250202Children and adolescent literature in Iran is still a developing field. Studies in the field of children's literature are interdisciplinary and include fields of psychology, social sciences, Persian literature, and educational sciences. Limited studies exist on the challenges of children's literature in Iran. The aim of this study is to extract the components of "content challenges in children and adolescents’ fiction" considering the current situation.The current study was conducted using qualitative content analysis. The study is an applied research and adopts an inductive approach and employed the interview method for data collection. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 people who were subject experts, authors, and key informants. After documenting the interviews, semantic units were extracted as codes, then were grouped and categorized. Initially, 186 codes were collected. After removing duplicates, the total number of codes decreased to 117. Finally, by merging and combining the codes, the final number reached 48. These 48 codes were classified into five main components and 24 sub-components The content analysis of the interview texts showed the challenges of children's fiction in five main components, these components are 1- translated stories; 2- content production; 3- Author or Authorship; 4- The role of governance; 5- social and cultural conditions of society. Analysis and review of the opinions of experts in the field of children and adolescents’ literature showed that, despite the fact that the number of copies of books published in the field of children and adolescents in the country is increasing, and there are numerous challenges in the field of children and adolescents’ fiction. The challenges in various areas such as the content of works, the role of governance, writing, and translated works require attention, planning, and policy-making of the major authorities. Given the intergenerational role adolescents play in both receiving and transmitting social and cultural concepts, any indifference in this process can lead to numerous future cultural and social challenges. Therefore, knowing that the youth fiction in Iran is evolving, there is a need to pay more attention to the challenges found out in the research.Children and adolescent literature in Iran is still a developing field. Studies in the field of children's literature are interdisciplinary and include fields of psychology, social sciences, Persian literature, and educational sciences. Limited studies exist on the challenges of children's literature in Iran. The aim of this study is to extract the components of "content challenges in children and adolescents’ fiction" considering the current situation.The current study was conducted using qualitative content analysis. The study is an applied research and adopts an inductive approach and employed the interview method for data collection. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 people who were subject experts, authors, and key informants. After documenting the interviews, semantic units were extracted as codes, then were grouped and categorized. Initially, 186 codes were collected. After removing duplicates, the total number of codes decreased to 117. Finally, by merging and combining the codes, the final number reached 48. These 48 codes were classified into five main components and 24 sub-components The content analysis of the interview texts showed the challenges of children's fiction in five main components, these components are 1- translated stories; 2- content production; 3- Author or Authorship; 4- The role of governance; 5- social and cultural conditions of society. Analysis and review of the opinions of experts in the field of children and adolescents’ literature showed that, despite the fact that the number of copies of books published in the field of children and adolescents in the country is increasing, and there are numerous challenges in the field of children and adolescents’ fiction. The challenges in various areas such as the content of works, the role of governance, writing, and translated works require attention, planning, and policy-making of the major authorities. Given the intergenerational role adolescents play in both receiving and transmitting social and cultural concepts, any indifference in this process can lead to numerous future cultural and social challenges. Therefore, knowing that the youth fiction in Iran is evolving, there is a need to pay more attention to the challenges found out in the research.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3605_cc4705b1d2a3f0d8be80a8bdebfe87a3.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Diasporic Restlessness in John Fowles’s The Magus: A Post-Colonial ReadingDiasporic Restlessness in John Fowles’s The Magus: A Post-Colonial Reading139166366210.22077/islah.2025.9140.1620FAAli Zare ZadehM. A. in English Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, IranHossein SabouriProfessor of English Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, IranLeyla Rezapour KalajahiM. A. in English Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, IranJournal Article20250320This article examines how identity, nostalgia, and belonging impact Nicolas Urfe in John Fowles’s The Magus (1965). Drawing upon Homi Bhabha’s “Hybridity”, Stuart Hall’s “Cultural Identity”, and William Safran’s “Myth of Homeland”, the objective of this article is to recognize the futility underlying Nicolas’s relentless endeavors to establish a sense of belonging and reconcile with his inner turmoil and inherent desire in order to reveal the origins of his internal conflicts, such as anxiety, restlessness, and rootlessness. The significance of this article lies in its endeavor to analyze the diasporic experience on an individual ground that does not align with the typical paradigms of Nicolas’s relocation. This article also explores whether Nicolas feels a sense of belonging to a particular place that he can consider as home. We try to respond to two fundamental questions, namely what influences exist behind the adoption or rejection of a new self-identity by Nicolas in Fowles’s The Magus?, and does Nicolas with multi-layered identity associate with both native land and hostland, namely England and Greece, respectively in Fowles’s The Magus? In order to fill the existing gap, we explore how Nicolas’s identity oscillates between pre-immigration and post-immigration spaces, namely England and Greece, respectively.This article examines how identity, nostalgia, and belonging impact Nicolas Urfe in John Fowles’s The Magus (1965). Drawing upon Homi Bhabha’s “Hybridity”, Stuart Hall’s “Cultural Identity”, and William Safran’s “Myth of Homeland”, the objective of this article is to recognize the futility underlying Nicolas’s relentless endeavors to establish a sense of belonging and reconcile with his inner turmoil and inherent desire in order to reveal the origins of his internal conflicts, such as anxiety, restlessness, and rootlessness. The significance of this article lies in its endeavor to analyze the diasporic experience on an individual ground that does not align with the typical paradigms of Nicolas’s relocation. This article also explores whether Nicolas feels a sense of belonging to a particular place that he can consider as home. We try to respond to two fundamental questions, namely what influences exist behind the adoption or rejection of a new self-identity by Nicolas in Fowles’s The Magus?, and does Nicolas with multi-layered identity associate with both native land and hostland, namely England and Greece, respectively in Fowles’s The Magus? In order to fill the existing gap, we explore how Nicolas’s identity oscillates between pre-immigration and post-immigration spaces, namely England and Greece, respectively.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3662_b485fb04dfa4f1185b02211175172db8.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Negotiating Hybrid Identities in Diasporic “Translation Sites” of Pirzad’s a
A Day before EasterNegotiating Hybrid Identities in Diasporic “Translation Sites” of Pirzad’s a <i>A Day before Easter</i>167184366310.22077/islah.2025.8230.1528FAFatemeh ZandInstructure in Translation Studies, Translation Studies Department, Narjes College, Vali-e-Asr-University, Rafsanjan, IranElham Rajab DorriInstructer in Translation Studies, Translation Studies Department, Jahrom University, Jahrom, IranJournal Article20241004Pirzad's novel A Day Before before Easter, delves into the evolving identity of Iranian Armenians, highlighting their diasporic and transnational identities, despite acknowledging historical roots. Based on the ideas of “hybridity” and “translation sites” as the framework, this study explores at how translation sites as symbolic spaces influenced the development of multiple and hybrid identities of Armenian and Muslim characters as well as the possibility of linguistic and cultural interactions between them. Three distinct translation sites, the church, the school, and the graveyard, were identified in this study. These sites revealed how the characters' identities were developed based on their interactions with Muslim Iranians, affecting their language, religion, and society. The school functioned as zones of connection and communication between Muslims and Armenians where some Armenians display hybrid, multiplied identities while the church functioned as a site of “counter-translation,” where Armenians maintained a solidified and diasporic identity, enclosed by their religious and ethnic boundaries. The study suggests that identity conflicts at the translation sites in the story created a space for negotiation, fostering reconciliation and the blending of national and Armenian heritages among the characters.Pirzad's novel A Day Before before Easter, delves into the evolving identity of Iranian Armenians, highlighting their diasporic and transnational identities, despite acknowledging historical roots. Based on the ideas of “hybridity” and “translation sites” as the framework, this study explores at how translation sites as symbolic spaces influenced the development of multiple and hybrid identities of Armenian and Muslim characters as well as the possibility of linguistic and cultural interactions between them. Three distinct translation sites, the church, the school, and the graveyard, were identified in this study. These sites revealed how the characters' identities were developed based on their interactions with Muslim Iranians, affecting their language, religion, and society. The school functioned as zones of connection and communication between Muslims and Armenians where some Armenians display hybrid, multiplied identities while the church functioned as a site of “counter-translation,” where Armenians maintained a solidified and diasporic identity, enclosed by their religious and ethnic boundaries. The study suggests that identity conflicts at the translation sites in the story created a space for negotiation, fostering reconciliation and the blending of national and Armenian heritages among the characters.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3663_411c095d7c291c1599c05c5084022736.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Power, Conflict, and Climate in American War and The Ministry for the FutureAn Interdisciplinary Exploration of Power, Conflict, and Climate in American War and <i>The Ministry for the Future</i>185210366410.22077/islah.2025.8698.1580FASajjad GheytasiAssistant Professor, English Literature Department, Payame Noor University, Tehran, IranErfan Rajabiassistant professor of English language and literature,
department of English, faculty of language and literature,
university of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, IranJournal Article20250110This essay discusses the political dimensions of Omar El Akkad's American War and Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future, exploring their distinct yet interconnected critiques of governance, authoritarianism, and global cooperation in times of existential crisis. Drawing upon diverse political theories, such as Hobbesian social contracts, Arendtian distinctions between power and violence, and Marxist critiques of systemic inequality, the analysis situates these novels within the broader context of speculative fiction’s role in reimagining political systems. By examining themes of climate change, radicalization, systemic reform, and international diplomacy, this study illuminates the enduring relevance of speculative narratives as blueprints for understanding and addressing contemporary global challenges. These narratives not only critique existing power structures but also offer innovative perspectives on the possibilities of systemic reform. Ultimately, the essay positions speculative fiction as a vital tool for envisioning alternative trajectories for a just, inclusive, and sustainable future, emphasizing its transformative potential in shaping political and ecological discourse.This essay discusses the political dimensions of Omar El Akkad's American War and Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future, exploring their distinct yet interconnected critiques of governance, authoritarianism, and global cooperation in times of existential crisis. Drawing upon diverse political theories, such as Hobbesian social contracts, Arendtian distinctions between power and violence, and Marxist critiques of systemic inequality, the analysis situates these novels within the broader context of speculative fiction’s role in reimagining political systems. By examining themes of climate change, radicalization, systemic reform, and international diplomacy, this study illuminates the enduring relevance of speculative narratives as blueprints for understanding and addressing contemporary global challenges. These narratives not only critique existing power structures but also offer innovative perspectives on the possibilities of systemic reform. Ultimately, the essay positions speculative fiction as a vital tool for envisioning alternative trajectories for a just, inclusive, and sustainable future, emphasizing its transformative potential in shaping political and ecological discourse.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3664_c5e79a5cecaed1a83bb7eddac65a2051.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Muslim Migrant Masculinity in Robin Yassin Kassab's The Road from DamascusMuslim Migrant Masculinity in Robin Yassin Kassab's <i>The Road from Damascus</i>211226366510.22077/islah.2025.8578.1564FAAmirhossein SadeghiDepartment of English Language and Literature, University of Qom, Qom, IranMasoud FarahmandfarAssociate Professor of English Literature at Allameh Tabatabai UniversityJournal Article20241215Masculinity, unlike femininity, have long been left understudied by the scholars. This originated from the essentialist idea that men and masculinity are natural, and subsequently had been taken for granted. They were, not required to be studied. Men, were deemed as the agents who gazed and studied. However with the advent of structuralist and poststructuralist ideas in humanities and specially in social theory, masculinity attracted attentions. No longer was masculinity considered natural, God-given. Now the new theories regarded masculinity as a constructed phenomenon subject to cultural, structural, discursive, and material forces. Therefore it was inevitably subject to change, It was no longer seen as an essential entity. These theoretical inventions spread, though belatedly, into the realm of literary studies. Literary works, especially fiction, provides a very rich material to explore the dynamics and nuances of theory. The present article sets to apply the theories in the field of masculinity studies from social theory to a novel by the British-Syrian writer Robin Yassin Kassab. The Road from Damascus could be useful text to investigate how masculinity produced and reproduced, how it constructed and changed as men experience different social structures. The novel, successfully, takes masculinity as a sign whose significance alters as it moves from one structure to another. A significant aspect of the novel is its focus on immigrant people in the cultural space of England. The article would investigate how the two “modalities” masculinity and immigration would invite new meanings into the previous studies done on the work.Masculinity, unlike femininity, have long been left understudied by the scholars. This originated from the essentialist idea that men and masculinity are natural, and subsequently had been taken for granted. They were, not required to be studied. Men, were deemed as the agents who gazed and studied. However with the advent of structuralist and poststructuralist ideas in humanities and specially in social theory, masculinity attracted attentions. No longer was masculinity considered natural, God-given. Now the new theories regarded masculinity as a constructed phenomenon subject to cultural, structural, discursive, and material forces. Therefore it was inevitably subject to change, It was no longer seen as an essential entity. These theoretical inventions spread, though belatedly, into the realm of literary studies. Literary works, especially fiction, provides a very rich material to explore the dynamics and nuances of theory. The present article sets to apply the theories in the field of masculinity studies from social theory to a novel by the British-Syrian writer Robin Yassin Kassab. The Road from Damascus could be useful text to investigate how masculinity produced and reproduced, how it constructed and changed as men experience different social structures. The novel, successfully, takes masculinity as a sign whose significance alters as it moves from one structure to another. A significant aspect of the novel is its focus on immigrant people in the cultural space of England. The article would investigate how the two “modalities” masculinity and immigration would invite new meanings into the previous studies done on the work.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3665_2a404e8ac60ba325aaf34589126e5ed3.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Influence of Ethics on Ecofeminism: Eliminating dichotomies in Bird Cottage by Eva MeijerInfluence of Ethics on Ecofeminism: Eliminating dichotomies in <i>Bird Cottage</i> by Eva Meijer227250373410.22077/islah.2025.8846.1589FAFaezeh Shadman MahaniM.A in English Language and Literature, Department of Foreign Languages, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran(Corresponding Author)Nahid FakhrshafaieAssistant Professor of English Language and Literature, Department of Foreign Languages, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, IranJournal Article20250127In <em>Bird Cottage</em> by Eva Meijer, the main character blurs the dualistic dichotomies between humans and animals by applying ethical practices, morality, and emotion. Ecofeminists stand against the Western reason/emotion dichotomy, and they mutilate human/animal dichotomies by cherishing ethics and morality. In literature and environmental concerns the traces of Ethics and Ecofeminism should be followed. Hence, in this article, by referring to theoreticians like Carolyn Merchant, Gwen Hunnicutt, Lori Gruen, and other eminent critics, <em>Bird Cottage</em> by Eva Meijer is analyzed through an ethical-ecofeminist perspective, not only to show the influence of ethics on deforming dualisms between humans and nonhumans, which is a purpose of ecofeminism, but also to show the social influence of dualistic and non-dualistic relations on humans by following and not following ethics. Considering ecofeminism and its scope in this analysis, it is concluded that Meijer in <em>Bird Cottage</em> emphasizes utilizing ethics and environmental justice in seeking non-dualistic coexistence with nonhumans and, in the interim, she deforms Western human/animal dualism by referring to Len’s attitude and her actions toward wild birds.In <em>Bird Cottage</em> by Eva Meijer, the main character blurs the dualistic dichotomies between humans and animals by applying ethical practices, morality, and emotion. Ecofeminists stand against the Western reason/emotion dichotomy, and they mutilate human/animal dichotomies by cherishing ethics and morality. In literature and environmental concerns the traces of Ethics and Ecofeminism should be followed. Hence, in this article, by referring to theoreticians like Carolyn Merchant, Gwen Hunnicutt, Lori Gruen, and other eminent critics, <em>Bird Cottage</em> by Eva Meijer is analyzed through an ethical-ecofeminist perspective, not only to show the influence of ethics on deforming dualisms between humans and nonhumans, which is a purpose of ecofeminism, but also to show the social influence of dualistic and non-dualistic relations on humans by following and not following ethics. Considering ecofeminism and its scope in this analysis, it is concluded that Meijer in <em>Bird Cottage</em> emphasizes utilizing ethics and environmental justice in seeking non-dualistic coexistence with nonhumans and, in the interim, she deforms Western human/animal dualism by referring to Len’s attitude and her actions toward wild birds.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3734_3cb2abf53c4668a337ed2623549c167d.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Rethinking Failure: A Decolonial Reassessment of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Arundhati Roy's The God of Small ThingsRethinking Failure: A Decolonial Reassessment of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things251280376110.22077/islah.2025.10022.1728FAReyhane Sadat ShadpourDepartment of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, College of Literature and Humanities, Shiraz University, Shiraz, IranAmirhossein VafaAssistant Professor of English Literature, Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics, College of Literature and Humanities, Shiraz University, Shiraz, IranJournal Article20250901This article reconceptualizes the concept of failure through a decolonial lens, arguing that failure is not a deficit or lack, but a form of resistance against colonial, capitalist, racial and patriarchal systems. Rethinking failure by adopting theories of Jack Halberstam, decolonial theories of Walter Mignolo and Ramon Grosfoguel, and the key concepts of Critical Race Theory, this paper presents a comparative reading of Ralph Ellison’s <em>Invisible Man</em> (1947) and Arundhati Roy’s <em>The God of Small Things</em> (1997). Both novels resist dominant narratives of success and visibility through characters whose failed form of being disrupts the rigid societal hierarchies rooted in class, race, and gender. The unnamed narrator of <em>Invisible Man</em> embraces invisibility as an agentive act of nonconformism, while the decolonial love of Ammu and Velutha undermines the caste-oriented, patriarchal norms. Through these narratives, this study aims to reveal how literary failure can be employed as a strategy to delink from the colonial system of values and a new form of being, or re-existence. Integrating African American and postcolonial narratives, this article argues for a decolonial comparative literature that privileges relationality over universalism and makes space for subaltern ways of being and knowing.This article reconceptualizes the concept of failure through a decolonial lens, arguing that failure is not a deficit or lack, but a form of resistance against colonial, capitalist, racial and patriarchal systems. Rethinking failure by adopting theories of Jack Halberstam, decolonial theories of Walter Mignolo and Ramon Grosfoguel, and the key concepts of Critical Race Theory, this paper presents a comparative reading of Ralph Ellison’s <em>Invisible Man</em> (1947) and Arundhati Roy’s <em>The God of Small Things</em> (1997). Both novels resist dominant narratives of success and visibility through characters whose failed form of being disrupts the rigid societal hierarchies rooted in class, race, and gender. The unnamed narrator of <em>Invisible Man</em> embraces invisibility as an agentive act of nonconformism, while the decolonial love of Ammu and Velutha undermines the caste-oriented, patriarchal norms. Through these narratives, this study aims to reveal how literary failure can be employed as a strategy to delink from the colonial system of values and a new form of being, or re-existence. Integrating African American and postcolonial narratives, this article argues for a decolonial comparative literature that privileges relationality over universalism and makes space for subaltern ways of being and knowing.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3761_310e8a5a635b208985d6e4226edc96c1.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Beyond Dualisms: An Ecofeminist Critique of Patriarchal Oppression in Margaret Atwood’s The TestamentsBeyond Dualisms: An Ecofeminist Critique of Patriarchal Oppression in Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments281304392510.22077/islah.2025.9329.1636FAYaser BalochEnglish Department, Faculty of Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, IranMohammad-Javad HajjariEnglish Department, Faculty of Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, IranNasser MalekiEnglish Department,, Faculty of Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, IranJournal Article20250503This paper examines how patriarchal control impacts both women and nature in Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments in light of Val Plumwood’s environmentalism. Plumwood critiques dualistic thinking that privileges masculinity and culture over femininity and nature, outlining five mechanisms of domination—“backgrounding,” “radical exclusion,” “incorporation,” “instrumentalism,” and “homogenization”— that create a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority. Drawing on this framework, the study investigates how The Testaments portrays the intertwined oppression of women and the environment in the male-dominated society of Gilead, highlighting their shared struggle for survival. The novel not only depicts how dualisms sustain oppression but also reveals moments of resistance and survival that challenge these binaries. By bringing ecological and feminist concerns into dialogue, this paper highlights the interconnectedness of environmental degradation and gendered violence. It ultimately argues for dismantling oppressive dualisms in favor of an alternative worldview based on intrinsic value, mutual respect, and symbiosis between all genders and nature.This paper examines how patriarchal control impacts both women and nature in Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments in light of Val Plumwood’s environmentalism. Plumwood critiques dualistic thinking that privileges masculinity and culture over femininity and nature, outlining five mechanisms of domination—“backgrounding,” “radical exclusion,” “incorporation,” “instrumentalism,” and “homogenization”— that create a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority. Drawing on this framework, the study investigates how The Testaments portrays the intertwined oppression of women and the environment in the male-dominated society of Gilead, highlighting their shared struggle for survival. The novel not only depicts how dualisms sustain oppression but also reveals moments of resistance and survival that challenge these binaries. By bringing ecological and feminist concerns into dialogue, this paper highlights the interconnectedness of environmental degradation and gendered violence. It ultimately argues for dismantling oppressive dualisms in favor of an alternative worldview based on intrinsic value, mutual respect, and symbiosis between all genders and nature.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3925_5c73e960012379819a6f450d70c3a76d.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Metaphor and the Sociological Imagination of Zygmunt BaumanMetaphor and the Sociological Imagination of Zygmunt Bauman305330392410.22077/islah.2025.9859.1706FAAli Yaghoobi ChoobariDepartment of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Guilan University, Rasht, IranJournal Article20250811Zygmunt Bauman (1925-2017) consistently oscillates between the roles of sociologist and novelist throughout his works, and, unlike many other sociologists, he makes conscious and deliberate use of metaphor. The aim of this article is to examine the metaphorical concepts in Zygmunt Bauman’s imagination by employing the “metaphor identification method” and drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Lakoff and Johnson as well as Paul Ricoeur. The findings of the study reveal that Bauman employs metaphors at both the ontological and methodological levels. For Bauman, metaphor is not merely a descriptive tool, but a research strategy for examining abstract and intangible aspects of human life such as inequality, globalization, ethics, suffering, love, solidarity, and oppression. The overarching and central metaphor in Bauman’s thought is liquidity. His other metaphors are subordinate to the metaphor of liquid modernity and are coherently interconnected within this conceptual constellation. He believes the old order is collapsing in the transition from solid to liquid modernity, but the new has not yet been born. Moreover, many of Bauman’s metaphors exhibit temporal, spatial, and binary characteristics. These metaphors allow Bauman not only to describe the complexities of modern society but also to make them experientially accessible and intellectually comprehensible. Bauman’s notion of a liquid society can be seen as a metaphorical extension of concepts such as Giddens’s “late modernity,” Ulrich Beck’s “risk society,” and Lyotard’s “postmodern.” However, Bauman reconfigures and re-narrates these ideas through a distinct theoretical framework inspired by Paul Ricoeur.Zygmunt Bauman (1925-2017) consistently oscillates between the roles of sociologist and novelist throughout his works, and, unlike many other sociologists, he makes conscious and deliberate use of metaphor. The aim of this article is to examine the metaphorical concepts in Zygmunt Bauman’s imagination by employing the “metaphor identification method” and drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Lakoff and Johnson as well as Paul Ricoeur. The findings of the study reveal that Bauman employs metaphors at both the ontological and methodological levels. For Bauman, metaphor is not merely a descriptive tool, but a research strategy for examining abstract and intangible aspects of human life such as inequality, globalization, ethics, suffering, love, solidarity, and oppression. The overarching and central metaphor in Bauman’s thought is liquidity. His other metaphors are subordinate to the metaphor of liquid modernity and are coherently interconnected within this conceptual constellation. He believes the old order is collapsing in the transition from solid to liquid modernity, but the new has not yet been born. Moreover, many of Bauman’s metaphors exhibit temporal, spatial, and binary characteristics. These metaphors allow Bauman not only to describe the complexities of modern society but also to make them experientially accessible and intellectually comprehensible. Bauman’s notion of a liquid society can be seen as a metaphorical extension of concepts such as Giddens’s “late modernity,” Ulrich Beck’s “risk society,” and Lyotard’s “postmodern.” However, Bauman reconfigures and re-narrates these ideas through a distinct theoretical framework inspired by Paul Ricoeur.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3924_23c6e59a71ca79fd2e97b6ef0a9b1089.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321The Book of Collateral Damage and The Yellow Birds: U.S. Hegemony and Divergent Narratives of WarThe Book of <i>Collateral Damage and The Yellow Birds</i>: U.S. Hegemony and Divergent Narratives of War331356392610.22077/islah.2026.9955.1718FALaleh AtashiAssociate Professor of English Literature,, department of linguistics and foreign languages, Shiraz, Shiraz University (corresponding author),Zainab Ibrahim Alvan AlkaeebiPh.D graduate of English Literature, Shiraz, The International Branch of Shiraz UniversityAzra GhandeharionAssociate Professor of English Literature, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad,Mashhad, IranJournal Article20250821This paper is a comparative study of two war novels, namely The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon and The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. Both Antoon, an Iraqi-American author, and Powers, an American writer, describe war critically but from very different points of view. In Antoon’s novel, an Iraqi scholar living in the U.S. during the conflict tries to review the war, collect newspaper pieces of war news, and create a catalogue of the people, the land, and the human and non-human entities he knew before and during the war in Iraq. In Powers’ autobiographical account, the narrator is a young soldier struggling with war trauma and trying to express his bereavement for his dead friend. Both novels address war trauma, but the dimensions of trauma and the way memory and remembering operate in the lives of the narrators are very different. This paper argues that the positionality of the authors determines the way they narrate war. The Iraqi scholar tries to revisit the past and finds recollection a therapeutic act, while the young American soldier is haunted by the memory of his lost friend, and forgetting often becomes a survival strategy for him. The approach used to answer the question—How is war trauma experienced differently on the two sides of the same battlefield?—is a postcolonial one. The study borrows some ideas from postcolonial theoreticians such as Edward Said and Gayatri Spivak to analyse the two novels comparatively.This paper is a comparative study of two war novels, namely The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon and The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. Both Antoon, an Iraqi-American author, and Powers, an American writer, describe war critically but from very different points of view. In Antoon’s novel, an Iraqi scholar living in the U.S. during the conflict tries to review the war, collect newspaper pieces of war news, and create a catalogue of the people, the land, and the human and non-human entities he knew before and during the war in Iraq. In Powers’ autobiographical account, the narrator is a young soldier struggling with war trauma and trying to express his bereavement for his dead friend. Both novels address war trauma, but the dimensions of trauma and the way memory and remembering operate in the lives of the narrators are very different. This paper argues that the positionality of the authors determines the way they narrate war. The Iraqi scholar tries to revisit the past and finds recollection a therapeutic act, while the young American soldier is haunted by the memory of his lost friend, and forgetting often becomes a survival strategy for him. The approach used to answer the question—How is war trauma experienced differently on the two sides of the same battlefield?—is a postcolonial one. The study borrows some ideas from postcolonial theoreticians such as Edward Said and Gayatri Spivak to analyse the two novels comparatively.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3926_616e9dc57dfc7bdccd90e473e9cde1b3.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Law and Literature, Kafka; ; Legal discourse; Right to Reasons; Narrative jurisprudenceLaw and Literature, Kafka; ; Legal discourse; Right to Reasons; Narrative jurisprudence357386392710.22077/islah.2026.10280.1778FAَAhmad Mohamadi SuhrawardiVisiting Professor of the English Language, English Department, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, the University of Tehran, IranJournal Article20251023This article proposes habeas narrativum: a translation protocol that treats literary form as procedural evidence within legal discourse and converts scenes of injury in Kafka’s The Trial into administrable minima for decisions in informational regimes. Rather than reading Kafka as allegory or doctrine, the method isolates recurrent formal injuries (non-notice, non-reasons, secret files, and credibility theater) and renders them as four predicates that make authority answerable: (1) prospectively intelligible notice identifying the items at issue, the operative rule text, and the time window; (2) review-ready reasons that are case specific, traceable to the disclosed record, falsifiable by counterevidence, and timely; (3) access and rectification through a contestable record bundle; and (4) a standard of review that prefers evidence over demeanor heuristics and specifies remedies keyed to missing predicates. Read this way, The Trial functions as a forensic archive whose scenes document which minima are absent and, therefore, what a reviewer must be able to demand on the record. To demonstrate portability beyond the literary court, a brief platform-moderation mini-case shows how these predicates reorganize routine review: requiring itemized notices, record-tied reasons, and rectification channels without demanding model transparency, thereby turning literary diagnosis into enforceable review practice in contemporary legal discourse.This article proposes habeas narrativum: a translation protocol that treats literary form as procedural evidence within legal discourse and converts scenes of injury in Kafka’s The Trial into administrable minima for decisions in informational regimes. Rather than reading Kafka as allegory or doctrine, the method isolates recurrent formal injuries (non-notice, non-reasons, secret files, and credibility theater) and renders them as four predicates that make authority answerable: (1) prospectively intelligible notice identifying the items at issue, the operative rule text, and the time window; (2) review-ready reasons that are case specific, traceable to the disclosed record, falsifiable by counterevidence, and timely; (3) access and rectification through a contestable record bundle; and (4) a standard of review that prefers evidence over demeanor heuristics and specifies remedies keyed to missing predicates. Read this way, The Trial functions as a forensic archive whose scenes document which minima are absent and, therefore, what a reviewer must be able to demand on the record. To demonstrate portability beyond the literary court, a brief platform-moderation mini-case shows how these predicates reorganize routine review: requiring itemized notices, record-tied reasons, and rectification channels without demanding model transparency, thereby turning literary diagnosis into enforceable review practice in contemporary legal discourse.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3927_842c7f71163f0c72356647dd730d4cd5.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Co-constituting the Self and the City: A Chronotopic Analysis of Raja Alem’s The Dove's NecklaceCo-constituting the Self and the City: A Chronotopic Analysis of Raja Alem’s <i>The Dove's Necklace</i>387402392810.22077/islah.2026.9394.1644FAKareem Lowaymi MutlaqAssistant Professor of English Language and Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, IranMaryam BaghlaniMA Graduate in English Language and Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, IranJournal Article20250515This study examines the reciprocal relationship between urban transformation in Mecca and the constitution of identity in Raja Alem’s contemporary Saudi novel, <em>The Dove's Necklace</em> (2010). While existing scholarship frequently addresses the marginalization of women or the sociocultural erosion resulting from Mecca’s urbanization, it often overlooks the mutually constitutive dynamic between the city and its inhabitants. This paper argues that the rapid redevelopment of Mecca precipitates simultaneous and interconnected transformations in both its physical landscape and its characters’ subjectivities. The analysis employs a chronotopic framework, drawing on Bakhtin’s concept of the chronotope to demonstrate how Mecca’s space and time and the characters' sense of self are intrinsically linked and co-productive. By operationalizing the chronotope within a tangible, physical context, this study addresses a critical gap in literary scholarship. Consequently, it not only elucidates the complexity of Alem’s narrative but also positions <em>The Dove's Necklace</em> within global discourses on urbanization, cultural heritage, and the negotiation of identity, thereby underscoring the significance of contemporary Middle Eastern literature for an international readership.This study examines the reciprocal relationship between urban transformation in Mecca and the constitution of identity in Raja Alem’s contemporary Saudi novel, <em>The Dove's Necklace</em> (2010). While existing scholarship frequently addresses the marginalization of women or the sociocultural erosion resulting from Mecca’s urbanization, it often overlooks the mutually constitutive dynamic between the city and its inhabitants. This paper argues that the rapid redevelopment of Mecca precipitates simultaneous and interconnected transformations in both its physical landscape and its characters’ subjectivities. The analysis employs a chronotopic framework, drawing on Bakhtin’s concept of the chronotope to demonstrate how Mecca’s space and time and the characters' sense of self are intrinsically linked and co-productive. By operationalizing the chronotope within a tangible, physical context, this study addresses a critical gap in literary scholarship. Consequently, it not only elucidates the complexity of Alem’s narrative but also positions <em>The Dove's Necklace</em> within global discourses on urbanization, cultural heritage, and the negotiation of identity, thereby underscoring the significance of contemporary Middle Eastern literature for an international readership.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3928_5e3488aaa68af3860dd0375bdadfc1f1.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Affective Rhythm and the Temporal Disjunctions of Stephen King’sThe Waste LandsAffective Rhythm and the Temporal Disjunctions of Stephen King’s <i>The Waste Lands</i>403429396910.22077/islah.2026.10663.1831FAFatemeh GhanbariPhD Candidate in English Literature, Department of English Literature, CT.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, IranAyoub DabiriAssistant Professor, Department of English, Ab.C., Islamic Azad University, Abhar, IranJournal Article20251208This article reads Stephen King’s <em>The Waste Lands</em> through affect theory, drawing primarily on Brian Massumi’s account of affect as intensity, something that emerges in the body before it emerges in cognition or interpretation. From this perspective, the article argues that sensation in <em>The Waste Lands</em> is not a secondary layer of meaning but it is one of the principles through which meaning begins to form. In King’s Mid-World, bodies often respond before minds can understand. Pressure, vibration, hesitation, and sudden stillness shape how characters usually experience time, danger, and action. Drawing on Massumi’s understanding of affect as a pre-cognitive force, the article develops the concept of affective rhythm to describe how patterned intensities organize perception and behavior in the novel. At certain moments, this approach also touches on Deleuze’s reflections on time, where disrupted action allows duration and sensation to appear more directly. Rhythm does not simply occur with events; it directs attention, delays explanation, and makes survival uncertain. The article shows how King repeatedly creates moments in which understanding occurs late. Characters do not act based on what they know, but they act based on what they feel and then knowledge follows, if it comes at all. Thus, <em>The Waste Lands</em> does not invite complete interpretation. It asks, instead, for a gradual attunement to a world whose meanings remain unstable. Based on Massumi’s affect theory, <em>The</em> <em>Waste Lands</em> emerges as a narrative guided by sensation, where rhythm becomes both a fragile continuity and a way of knowing.This article reads Stephen King’s <em>The Waste Lands</em> through affect theory, drawing primarily on Brian Massumi’s account of affect as intensity, something that emerges in the body before it emerges in cognition or interpretation. From this perspective, the article argues that sensation in <em>The Waste Lands</em> is not a secondary layer of meaning but it is one of the principles through which meaning begins to form. In King’s Mid-World, bodies often respond before minds can understand. Pressure, vibration, hesitation, and sudden stillness shape how characters usually experience time, danger, and action. Drawing on Massumi’s understanding of affect as a pre-cognitive force, the article develops the concept of affective rhythm to describe how patterned intensities organize perception and behavior in the novel. At certain moments, this approach also touches on Deleuze’s reflections on time, where disrupted action allows duration and sensation to appear more directly. Rhythm does not simply occur with events; it directs attention, delays explanation, and makes survival uncertain. The article shows how King repeatedly creates moments in which understanding occurs late. Characters do not act based on what they know, but they act based on what they feel and then knowledge follows, if it comes at all. Thus, <em>The Waste Lands</em> does not invite complete interpretation. It asks, instead, for a gradual attunement to a world whose meanings remain unstable. Based on Massumi’s affect theory, <em>The</em> <em>Waste Lands</em> emerges as a narrative guided by sensation, where rhythm becomes both a fragile continuity and a way of knowing.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3969_0c67886f2b89292763886fb49777b0aa.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Decolonized Trauma and Narratology in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The LowlandDecolonized Trauma and Narratology in Jhumpa Lahiri’s <i>The Lowland</i>430449399310.22077/islah.2026.10173.1756FASomayeh EsmailiMA student, Department of English Language and Literatures, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Golestan University, Gorgan, IranBehzad PourgharibAssociate Professor, Faculty of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism,, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran(Corresponding Author)Journal Article20250930The theory of decolonized trauma deviates from the western definition of trauma, which is based on occurrence and non-representation. In this regard, this article aims to address how trauma is represented in the novel The Lowland of the American-Indian author, Jhumpa Lahiri, by focusing on some narratological concepts such as order, frequency, delay and state as theorized by the narratologist Gerard Genette. These features are used in this research in order to demonstrate how the three impasses of classical trauma studies (representation, repetition, and belatedness) are refused and how the main characters Gauri and Subhash’s painful experiences and memories are discovered under diasporic circumstances. Also, they recount their terrible recollections with an honest description of their experiences as individuals who have been able to overcome the negative impacts of traumatic memories. The results also illustrate that Lahiri uses various flashbacks, repetition of events, and a diversity of views to underline the trauma’s influence on the characters’ day-to-day lives as well as its being narrated as a non-sudden occurrence. Furthermore, the study points out how the idea of double focalization gives immigrant characters a strong platform from which to discuss their painful experiences, which in turn will help reestablish a new community.The theory of decolonized trauma deviates from the western definition of trauma, which is based on occurrence and non-representation. In this regard, this article aims to address how trauma is represented in the novel <em>The Lowland</em> of the American-Indian author, Jhumpa Lahiri, by focusing on some narratological concepts such as order, frequency, duration, and focalization theorized by Gerard Genette. The study examines how Lahiri’s narrative reconfigures the three aporia of classical trauma theory: representation, repetition, and belatedness. Instead of considering trauma as the depiction that cannot be described, <em>The Lowland</em> portrays the psychological trauma of Gauri and Subhash through continuous flashbacks, repetitions, and focalization changes. These methods underscore the fact that memory continues to play its role in the diasporic life and these methods assist the characters to deal with and reconstruct their traumatic pasts. According to the study, applying both focalization by Lahiri provides the characters of immigrants with narrative agency and enables them to represent their experiences of living in a transnational environment and to conceive of new ways of community. Altogether, the article demonstrates that Lahiri employs certain narratological techniques to introduce a decolonized perspective on trauma that breaks the boundaries of the Western trauma theory.<br /> https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3993_a952f02c5b7e96c3ce0fe22c1f7c2ded.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260605Migration, Subalternity, and Silence in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Admiring Silence and The Last GiftMigration, Subalternity, and Silence in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Admiring Silence and The Last Gift450472392910.22077/islah.2026.10339.1786FAFatemeh Zahra ShahbakhshMA Graduate in English Language and Literature, Department of English Language and Literature University of sistan and Baluchestan, Zahdan, IranAhmad ShirkhaniAssistant professor in Department of English Language and Literature,, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahdan, IranJournal Article20251030Abdulrazak Gurnah, Nobel Laureate in Literature (2021), explores postcolonial migration as central theme in his fiction to highlight how displacement reshapes voice, agency, and belonging. Focusing on <em>Admiring Silence</em> (1996) and <em>The Last Gift</em> (2011), this study examines the interrelation of migration, subalternity, and silence as prominent elements in the construction of migratory subjectivity. Drawing on Gayatri Spivak’s concept of the subaltern voice and Kevin Olson’s theory of subaltern silence, this article argues that migratory subalternity as a distinct condition generates silence that is a contextually responsive practice whose function changes across time, institutions, and generations. Through a chronological perspective, the two novels reveal an evolution in Gurnah’s view of migratory experience. In <em>Admiring Silence,</em> silence performs a strategic function by which the migrant narrator is allowed partial agency and narrative self-fashioning within the hegemony of the host culture. By contrast, <em>The Last Gift</em> presents the internalization and institutionalization of silence, shaped by shame, trauma, medical discourse, and post-9/11 securitization of immigration. Analysing silence through an intergenerational lens and as a form of postmemory, the article reveals how the protagonist embodies somatic muteness and epistemic erasure, while his children negotiate inherited silence through writing, anger, and demands for articulation. This study invites the reader to regard migratory subalternity as a re-formulating condition, distinct from colonial and postcolonial marginalization.Abdulrazak Gurnah, Nobel Laureate in Literature (2021), explores postcolonial migration as central theme in his fiction to highlight how displacement reshapes voice, agency, and belonging. Focusing on <em>Admiring Silence</em> (1996) and <em>The Last Gift</em> (2011), this study examines the interrelation of migration, subalternity, and silence as prominent elements in the construction of migratory subjectivity. Drawing on Gayatri Spivak’s concept of the subaltern voice and Kevin Olson’s theory of subaltern silence, this article argues that migratory subalternity as a distinct condition generates silence that is a contextually responsive practice whose function changes across time, institutions, and generations. Through a chronological perspective, the two novels reveal an evolution in Gurnah’s view of migratory experience. In <em>Admiring Silence,</em> silence performs a strategic function by which the migrant narrator is allowed partial agency and narrative self-fashioning within the hegemony of the host culture. By contrast, <em>The Last Gift</em> presents the internalization and institutionalization of silence, shaped by shame, trauma, medical discourse, and post-9/11 securitization of immigration. Analysing silence through an intergenerational lens and as a form of postmemory, the article reveals how the protagonist embodies somatic muteness and epistemic erasure, while his children negotiate inherited silence through writing, anger, and demands for articulation. This study invites the reader to regard migratory subalternity as a re-formulating condition, distinct from colonial and postcolonial marginalization.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3929_053eae80d27308fd729edc80474e6721.pdfدانشگاه بیرجندمطالعات بین رشته ای ادبیات، هنر و علوم انسانی2783-27596120260321Smoke and Ashes: Opium Hidden: Opium’s Hidden HistoriesBy Amitav Gosh. First Edition. London: John Murray, 2024<i>Smoke and Ashes: Opium Hidden: Opium’s Hidden Histories</i>By Amitav Gosh. First Edition. London: John Murray, 2024473478344410.22077/islah.2025.8976.1600FAAhmad GholiAssistant professor of English Literature, Foreign Languages Department, , Gonbad Kavous University, Gonbad Kavous, IranJournal Article20250218Award-winning novelist, cultural anthropologist, and environmental advocate, Amitav Gosh is well known for his Ibis trilogy: <em>Sea of Poppies</em> (2008)<em>, River Smoke</em> (2011)<em>, </em>and <em>Flood of Fire</em> (2015) wherein he dramatizes the First Opium War between England and China in the first half of the nineteenth century. His nonfictional <em>Smoke and Ashes</em> (2023) is the fruit of his research notes collected while writing the trilogy providing good background information for the trilogy’s intricate world. Besides Gosh’s scholars, the book will prove worthwhile for postcolonial historians and anyone interested in the complex machinery of the British Empire in nineteenth-century India and China. The book’s great intellectual charm and strength lie in its genre-defying quality. It synthesizes historical analysis with travel narrative, personal memoir, socio-cultural investigation, and the examination of artistic works related to the opium industry. In addition, it does not confine its analysis to the colonial past since it tracks the vicious consequences of the opium trade in modern times, in particular America. Indeed, the book is a scholarly endeavor to expose not only the fictionality of Western capitalism but also the depth of the British Empire’s gross injustice to subjugated people and their world through critical engagement with extensive colonial archives. He achieves his goal thanks to his lucid prose, powerful arguments, thorough research, and ethical stance.Award-winning novelist, cultural anthropologist, and environmental advocate, Amitav Gosh is well known for his Ibis trilogy: <em>Sea of Poppies</em> (2008)<em>, River Smoke</em> (2011)<em>, </em>and <em>Flood of Fire</em> (2015) wherein he dramatizes the First Opium War between England and China in the first half of the nineteenth century. His nonfictional <em>Smoke and Ashes</em> (2023) is the fruit of his research notes collected while writing the trilogy providing good background information for the trilogy’s intricate world. Besides Gosh’s scholars, the book will prove worthwhile for postcolonial historians and anyone interested in the complex machinery of the British Empire in nineteenth-century India and China. The book’s great intellectual charm and strength lie in its genre-defying quality. It synthesizes historical analysis with travel narrative, personal memoir, socio-cultural investigation, and the examination of artistic works related to the opium industry. In addition, it does not confine its analysis to the colonial past since it tracks the vicious consequences of the opium trade in modern times, in particular America. Indeed, the book is a scholarly endeavor to expose not only the fictionality of Western capitalism but also the depth of the British Empire’s gross injustice to subjugated people and their world through critical engagement with extensive colonial archives. He achieves his goal thanks to his lucid prose, powerful arguments, thorough research, and ethical stance.https://islah.birjand.ac.ir/article_3444_3b763de044415da7e40757761dc3fbc5.pdf