Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature, Arts and Humanities now accepts articles in English
Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature, Arts and Humanities is an open-access, double-blind, peer-reviewed publication published by the University of Birjand. This journal is a semiannual publication that publishes original and relevant scientific articles on connections and interactions between literature and other fields of study in the humanities, sciences, and fine arts (See journal scope). This journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and complies with applicable ethical standards. All submitted manuscripts are checked for similarity through Samim Noor/Hamyab software to ensure their authenticity and are then rigorously peer-reviewed by expert reviewers.
Journal Features
Journal Title:Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature, Arts and Humanities (ISLAH)
Abstract Comparative literature, which developed in late nineteenth-century France, emerged to cross the geographic, linguistic, and political boundaries of European national literatures. The discipline's rise coincided with the growth of national identities across Western Europe. During this period, widespread nationalist ideologies fueled a fierce competition for cultural supremacy among European nations, including France. There, the emerging field of comparative literature developed as an extension of traditional literary history, greatly dominated by the era's positivistic philosophy. Influence studies were the dominant rhetoric of the French school of comparative literature, emphasizing multilingualism and historical documents. The research methodology was rigorously demanding. In essence, the French school was interested in what European literature had learned from others and had, thus, enriched their respective cultural heritage. However, this benign goal deviated from its original path and became Eurocentric. In the second half of the 20th century, opposition arose on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. René Wellek criticized the French school for its historical approach and offered a new theory that emphasized literariness. To him, literature was a totality which included all national literatures, embracing the whole of humanity.
Abstract 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.
Abstract 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.
Abstract 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.
Abstract 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.
Abstract 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.
Ali Zare Zadeh, Hossein Sabouri, Leyla Rezapour Kalajahi
Abstract 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.
Abstract 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.
Abstract 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.
Abstract 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.
Abstract In Bird Cottage 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, Bird Cottage 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 Bird Cottage 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.
Abstract 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 Invisible Man (1947) and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (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 Invisible Man 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.
Abstract 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.
Abstract 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.
Laleh Atashi, Zainab Ibrahim Alvan Alkaeebi, Azra Ghandeharion
Abstract 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.
Abstract 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.
Abstract This study examines the reciprocal relationship between urban transformation in Mecca and the constitution of identity in Raja Alem’s contemporary Saudi novel, The Dove's Necklace (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 The Dove's Necklace 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.
Abstract This article reads Stephen King’s The Waste Lands 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 The Waste Lands 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, The Waste Lands 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, TheWaste Lands emerges as a narrative guided by sensation, where rhythm becomes both a fragile continuity and a way of knowing.
Abstract 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 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.
Abstract 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 Admiring Silence (1996) and The Last Gift (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 Admiring Silence, 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, The Last Gift 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.
Abstract Award-winning novelist, cultural anthropologist, and environmental advocate, Amitav Gosh is well known for his Ibis trilogy: Sea of Poppies (2008), River Smoke (2011), and Flood of Fire (2015) wherein he dramatizes the First Opium War between England and China in the first half of the nineteenth century. His nonfictional Smoke and Ashes (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.
Abstract The issue of nation branding as an interdisciplinary concept has been popular in the field of marketing and international relations for several years and has attracted the attention of governments. Given the importance of nation branding in promoting and enhancing Iran's image both internationally and domestically, this article analyzes Hakim Abolghasem Ferdowsi's Shahnameh using a historical-narrative approach. It explores the concepts and themes associated with the name Iran in Ferdowsi's perspective, and examines the meanings and connotations that the audience of the Shahnameh encounters when hearing the name Iran and its derivatives. For this study, narrative analysis was conducted using content analysis tools in MAXQDA software. The findings indicate that the Iranian brand rests on five pillars: Iranian tradition; characteristics of Iran and Iranians; the constituent elements of Iran as a nation-state; the concept of Iran as a nation-state in comparison with other states—particularly Turan; and the perceived failures of Iran and Iranians, which will be elaborated on later. These results not only lay the groundwork for developing new constructions of national identity but also provide a basis for organizing media campaigns aimed at promoting Iran’s nation branding both domestically and internationally. The results of this research, while laying the groundwork for achieving new constructions in the field of national identity, can be used to organize media campaigns in the field of nation branding of Iran inside and outside the country.
Abstract Since classical times, philosophy has maintained an inseparable connection with literature. This relationship is not confined to the application of philosophical theories in interpreting literary works. Numerous philosophers have argued that literature can serve as a medium for philosophization and the conveyance of knowledge. However, within many university curricula, literature is often regarded merely as a form of art, the primary function of which is the creation of beauty or the expression of emotions. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, employing the method of conceptual analysis, and drawing upon the theory of Peter Lamarque and Stein Haugom Olsen, two contemporary analytic philosophers, the present qualitative, library-based study investigates whether knowledge can be conveyed through literary discourse. The study contends that serious literary works, by concretizing abstract philosophical concepts, offer readers a distinctive perspective through which to view the world and its problems in a new and different light. In doing so, literature provides a particular kind of insight or understanding that can be regarded as a form of knowledge/cognition. After the theoretical discussion, Anton Chekhov’s short story “Misery” is analyzed as an example to illustrate the potentials of literary works for philsophization and the quality of philosophical thoughts in literature. According to the findings of the present inquiry, since literary discourse possesses significant cognitive and ethical value, it ought to receive greater attention in discussions concerning the transformation and indigenization of the humanities in Iran.
Abstract This study employs an interdisciplinary approach and an analytical-comparative methodology to examine shared psychological characteristics in the poetry of Forough Farrokhzad and the paintings of Vincent van Gogh. The primary objective is to determine points of convergence and divergence between these two artists' works in their expression of emotions, their use of symbols, and cultural influences. Utilizing van Gogh's paintings as tangible manifestations of inner turmoil, the research investigates how both artists articulate universal human experiences, such as love, solitude, and the search for meaning, through distinct artistic media (poetry and painting). The findings reveal that Farrokhzad's psychological impulses, which evolve from personal anguish to existential suffering, find visual representation in van Gogh's works. By establishing a dialogue between literary and visual texts, this study uncovers latent psychological dimensions in both artists' oeuvres, proposing an innovative interdisciplinary framework for art and literary studies. Furthermore, the analysis of shared symbols (night, trees, wind, and stars) demonstrates their aligned perspectives on modernity's defining themes: alienation, suffering, and the quest for transcendence.
Abstract The short story "The Pear Tree" by Goli Taraghi (1996) and its film adaptation directed by Dariush Mehrjui (1997) have been examined through various interdisciplinary approaches. Most analyses emphasize the presence of semantic oppositions, particularly the binary of fertility/infertility. The core argument of the present research is that the short and its film adaptations cannot be interpreted solely by drawing on conceptual binaries, as the complex and dynamic structures of meaning emerge through narrative movement between opposing and contradictory categories. Therefore, this descriptive analytical study adopts the analytical model of the Semantic Square developed by Algirdas Julien Greimas within a structuralist semantics, which demonstrates how discourse generates meaning through dynamic oppositions. The findings show that both the literary and cinematic discourses demonstrate the struggle of a symbolic character (the tree) to escape a state of suspension. At first glance, this seems to be a conflict between concepts of fertility and infertility, but a deeper semantic analysis reveals a movement among the four concepts of fertility, sterility, non-fertility, and non-sterility. In Taraghi’s story, meaning is shaped through literary and linguistic techniques, while in Mehrjui’s film, it is conveyed through cinematic codes and signs.
Abstract "Varagheh and Golshah" is an oldstory, written by a poet named Ayouqi.The origin of the story, as the poet says, is one of the Arab stories that happened in the past of the Arab tribes, and it is the story of two cousins (son and daughter of two brothers) named "Varagheh and Golshah" who grew up together in theirown tribe and the family. And they became interested in and fell in love with each other. The general similarities between this story and the story of "Orwa and Afra", which is also the love story of two lovers in Arabic literature and has its roots in Arabic sources, leaves no doubt that the story of "Varagheh and Golshah" is taken from the story of "Orwa and Afra". It is obvious that this romance, like the "Orwa and Afra" romance, has its roots in Arabic sources, but it is necessary to research from which source or sources this story is taken and which are its most important sources. The results of the researches done on the sources of the story of "Varagheh and Golshah" by Ayouqi and the accuracy in the era of composing of this romance show that Ayouqi could have used Al-Aghani by Isfahani and "Al-Sher va al-Shoara" by Ibn Qutaybah and "Muruj Al-Dhahab" by Masoudi.
Abstract Today, geographical criticism can be used as a tool for analyzing literary texts in an interdisciplinary field. Among literary texts, novels play an important role in giving spatiality to the narrative. As one of the most prominent French writers, Albert Camus created many works in which space and time play a key role in the unfolding of historical events. In fact, the form that the fictional world takes determines the fate of the narrator and the work itself. In this research, the aim is to examine how space and time are formed in the novel The Plague. For this purpose, a descriptive-analytical method will be used in the analysis of the data, and in particular, Bertrand Westphal's theory in the field of geographical criticism will be used. He considers three hypotheses for space: space and time, transgression and referentiality. Furthermore, the use of the three main axes of geographical criticism according to him, which include tangible space, perceived space and imaginative-imaginary space, allows us to analyze multiple aspects of spatial representation in the novel and understand its role in the construction of key themes. This research shows that space, as a fundamental element in the construction of meaning, is not a neutral place in the novel The Plague, but rather a place of encounter with new phenomena and becomes a full-fledged actor in history, where the fears, concerns and hopes of the city's inhabitants are shaped.
Abstract This study explores the representation of intergenerational silence of women within contemporary Iranian crime literature, a silence viewed as a symbolic act embodying collective psychic continuity and functioning as a cultural mechanism of survival. Grounded in trauma and intergenerational memory theories, and emphasizing the concepts advanced by Caruth, Hirsch, and LaCapra, silence is portrayed not as absence but as a complex narrative articulation of pain and re-enactment of suppressed memory. The research aims to investigate processes through which remembrance and the transmission of wounds redefine feminine identity against patriarchal and cultural hierarchies of power. Using a descriptive–analytical approach and an interdisciplinary method, the study examines the correlation between crime fiction and trauma psychology through feminist and generational lenses in the Iranian novels, The Young Skull and Jordan's Crime. Findings indicate that silence functions not as narrative closure but as a platform for the repetition of the unsaid and gradual recovery of wounded memory, an unseen language acting as resistance and reconstruction of collective identity. Ultimately, trauma, intersecting with silence and transgenerational transmission, opens the possibility of restoring feminine discourse and reconstituting fractured subjectivity, enabling repetition rather than cessation.
Abstract This study aims to explore the connection between meaning and form in the context of Iranian art, investigating the relationship between the structures of Persian literature and the principles of geometry and aesthetics in traditional Iranian architecture. In this approach, art is considered as the manifestation of unity in multiplicity, and the pattern of form emerging from meaning within the Iranian‑Islamic intellectual system is contemplated. This approach demonstrates that interdisciplinary studies are an effective tool for uncovering the hidden layers of connection between poetic language and the spatial organization of architecture, and can provide a new framework for a comprehensive understanding of Iranian art. The research method is qualitative‑analytical and based on the comparison between poetic texts and architectural spatial structures. Accordingly, five prominent examples of traditional Iranian architecture have been selected, along with poetic samples from Rumi, Hafez, Saadi, and Nezami as comparative exemplars. The analyses reveal that the pattern of geometric proportions present in the mentioned architectural works correlates semantically with key concepts of Persian poetry, such as unity and love (in Rumi’s Masnavi), balance and moderation (in Hafez’s ghazals), ascent and perfection (in Nezami’s Khamsa), as well as moral order (in Saadi’s Golestan). The findings emphasize the coexistence of meaning and form systems and the symbolic function of geometry in conveying philosophical and mystical concepts; thus, Iranian art can be regarded as a reflection of the interaction between intellect and intuition, and a blend of poetic language and geometric logic. In addition to explaining the theoretical foundations of the connection between meaning and form, the research outcome paves the way for quantitative‑conceptual analyses in interdisciplinary studies of Iranian art and architecture.
Abstract The purpose of this study is to analyze Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (2005) under Cyborgian concepts of decentered – nomadic bio-subjects, trans-genetic organisms, and trans-humans that create metaphorically the biomedical characters undertaking the human cloning in the theoretical framework of cyborg biotechnology. The method is an interdisciplinary study between science and literature. Ishiguro shows the process of forming the human clones through tracing the main character’s memories, Kathy. The cyborgian theories of Donna Haraway, Paul Virilio and Rosi Braidotti are employed to study the genetic organs of the selected novel in bio-medical discourse. The study reveals that politicians make the bio-medical subjects dehumanize in biotechnology, using them as the bio-commodities. In Neo-capitalism, the cyborgian biomedical character is the platonic copy of the real human due to three reasons: first, it does not have any human subjectivity; second, it has possibly lost its human identity; and, third, its gene has been changed. However, the importance of this study portrays that cyborg bio-literature makes the biomedical subjects more re-humanized to claim agency over them in bio-narratives. Cyborg disappears the conventional borderlines and depoliticizes them, creating the transgressed boundaries.
Abstract This interdisciplinary study in the field of the sociology of literature aims to analyze the functions of "false consciousness" in Persian proverbs based on Jean Bachelard's theoretical framework. Using a descriptive-analytical method and a case study of several commonly used Persian proverbs, the research demonstrates how these aphorisms, under the guise of apparent wisdom and neutrality, contribute to the reproduction of dominant relations. They operate through five main functions: alignment, justification, concealment, positioning, and simplification. The results of this analysis indicate that these five functions, interacting with one another, form an ideological network that makes it difficult for members of society to understand and reflect on power structures. On one hand, proverbs compel the subordinated to submit by justifying the status quo and naturalizing inequalities. On the other hand, by simplifying complex realities, they prevent radical critique and social transformation. As a pioneering study in the systematic application of Bachelard's theory in the domain of folk literature, this article takes a step toward revealing the ideological role of culture in perpetuating unjust structures and emphasizes the necessity of a critical reading of seemingly harmless elements of everyday culture.
Abstract This study aims to investigate the complex dialectic between art and society through a critical comparison of the perspectives of Theodor Adorno and Pierre Bourdieu, two thinkers who, from distinct intellectual traditions, have each addressed the social origins of art and its relations to power. Methodologically, the research employs a documentary and comparative‑critical approach, drawing on Adorno’s theoretical critique and Bourdieu’s empirical analyses to explore the social and cultural forces shaping artistic production and perception. Within the framework of the Frankfurt School, Adorno conceives of art as a domain of resistance to the logic of the market and ideological domination, emphasizing its relative autonomy as a liberating force. In contrast, Bourdieu, through the concepts of field, cultural capital, and habitus, demonstrates that aesthetic taste and artistic production are reproduced within class structures and unequal power relations. The findings indicate that contemporary art possesses a dual and paradoxical nature: it can both reproduce mechanisms of domination and embody capacities for critique and resistance. The study concludes that a comprehensive understanding of the sociology of contemporary art requires the integration of Adorno’s critical approach with Bourdieu’s field‑based analysis.
Abstract This article examines the dramatic dimension of reciting the Persian qasida and its relationship to Aristotelian poetics. The discussion proceeds from two main premises: (1) Recitation—understood as an artistic mode of delivering poetry, particularly the laudatory qasida—emerges from the intersection of literature and drama; (2) A comprehensive understanding of recitation can only be achieved through an interdisciplinary perspective that combines literary and artistic analysis. From this vantage point, the laudatory qasida should not be confined to its textual content. It is not merely a vehicle for praise, but also a masterwork of artistic form. The term “form” here refers not only to the linguistic, rhetorical, and aesthetic structures of the qasida, but also to the performative qualities inherent in its recitation. Historically, the delivery of a laudatory qasida constituted a form of staged performance—where the poet or narrator stood in a designated place, positioned at the center of the audience’s attention, conveying meaning through intonation, presence, and gesture. Understanding this performative aspect is inseparable from the classical concept of akhz bil-wujuh found in early Arabic and Persian treatises on poetics—a notion that encapsulates the very essence of performance in tragedy, oratory, laudatory qasida, and satire.
Abstract In contemporary literary and artistic theories, intertextuality has emerged as a prevalent concept, emphasizing the notion that texts are not entirely closed systems, but rather possess intricate connections with other texts. A notable example of this phenomenon is the play Karnama-ye Bondar-e Bidakhsh by Bahram Beyzai, which incorporates elements of mythical history. The author has employed ancient myths to enhance the depth and significance of his work. The objective of this research is to examine the intertextual connections of Beyzai's play Karnama-ye Bondar-e Bidakhsh with Zoroastrian texts (Avestan and Pahlavi texts), as well as Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and select literary and historical books from the Islamic period. This descriptive-analytical research endeavors to address the following inquiries: First, what is the intertextual relationship between Beyzai's narrative regarding the main elements of the play Karnama-ye Bondar-e Bidakhsh and ancient Iranian religious, literary, and historical texts? Secondly, the manner in which these intertextual relationships are manifested in Beyzai's text is examined. The results of this research indicate that, given Beyzai's profound knowledge of ancient Iranian myths and history, it appears he has shaped the main elements of his narrative, such as the character of Bondar Bidakhsh and Royineh-Dezh (Brazen fortress), based on a hypertextual intertextual relationship with Zoroastrian texts, the Shahnameh, and historical books from the Islamic period.
Abstract The 2020 Iranian film Bi Hameh Chiz (Without Everything), inspired by Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play The Visit, narrates the story of social tensions and structural violence in a remote village, culminating in a collective agreement to sacrifice one of the inhabitants. This study applies René Girard’s philosophical–cultural anthropology to examine two key mechanisms in his theoretical framework—mimetic desire and the scapegoat mechanism—within the film’s narrative structure. The article’s analytical framework combines anthropology, philosophy, sociology, mythology, social psychology, and film studies, and draws comparative references to examples from literature and myth, juxtaposing them with the situations depicted in the film. The analysis demonstrates how mimetic desire in the relationships between characters—especially the shifting positions of “mediator” and “object” between Lili and Amirkhan—drives social tension to a crisis point, leading the community to resort to the archaic scapegoat mechanism as a means of restoring apparent order. The findings indicate that, although the scapegoat mechanism in modern societies appears in altered, more ‘civilised’ forms, it continues to operate at the level of the collective unconscious and in political–social behaviours. At times, it is reproduced in ways that appear rational or socially sanctioned. These results underscore the necessity of interdisciplinary analysis of cultural productions in order to reveal the hidden layers of violence and persistent archetypal behavioural patterns in contemporary societies.
Abstract This study examines the narrative and representation of physical disability, gender, and masculinity in The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. It extends beyond the confines of literary analysis, adopting an interdisciplinary perspective that integrates the domains of literary and cultural studies with disability theory to investigate how Victorian norms shaped perceptions of the disabled body, highlighting the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities, and analyzing Eliot’s portrayal of Philip Wakem. The research emphasizes the intersection of physical disability, emotional sensitivity, and constructs of masculinity and femininity within the social fabric of the Victorian era. Drawing on cultural criticism and disability theories, especially those of Lennard J. Davis and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, the analysis applies concepts such as “narrative prosthesis” and the “identity-forming body” to explore character development and narrative structure. Philip Wakem, the disabled character, embodies a non-normative form of masculinity marked by emotional depth and traits often associated with femininity, positioning him in stark contrast to dominant, physically powerful male figures like Tom and Stephen. His physical impairment results in social exclusion and restricts his emotional and sexual agency. Yet, through his intellectual and emotional strengths, Philip becomes a moral observer whose presence encourages Maggie’s emotional awakening and ethical growth. Ultimately, Eliot’s novel, through a realistic and empathetic lens, critiques the ableist structures of Victorian society and redefines disabled identity within a broader cultural and social framework.
Seyed Mohammad Maddah Hosseini, Kazem Chalipa, Behrooz Mahmoodi-Bakhtiari
Abstract The introduction of theatre to Iran during the Qajar period was the result of cultural transformations and the encounter of intellectual elites with Western civilization. The pioneers of Iranian theatre regarded playwriting as a tool for social critique, political agency, and the denunciation of governmental corruption, particularly in the absence of a democratic system. During the second Pahlavi era, especially following the the coup d’état of 19 August 1953, theatre increasingly became a site for the representation of power relations and the articulation of social critique. From an interdisciplinary perspective, theatre functioned as an intervention in the public sphere, the political field, and the production of the social. Employing a qualitative discourse analysis methodology and drawing on the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, this study examines the nature and mechanisms of discursive meaning-making in the works of Gholamhossein Sa‘edi. The central objective of this research is to explore how social critique is discursively constructed in Sa‘edi’s plays. The findings indicate that Sa‘edi portrays people as ignorant masses and the state as a dominating and hegemonic force. His discourse extends social critique beyond the Pahlavi regime and challenges any political order grounded in a centralized state, considering the realization of a socialist utopia to be contingent upon a process of desirable structural reconfiguration.In plays such as Vāy bar Maghlub and Parvarbandān, intellectuals are depicted as being entrapped within capitalist mechanisms and liberal hegemony; they either submit to the dominant order or resort to ineffective forms of individual action that ultimately contribute to the reproduction and stabilization of hegemony. Sa‘edi’s critique focuses on the obstruction of collective consciousness and the limitations of emancipatory action, while the critical discourse.
Abstract This article explores the intricate interplay among humanity, the capitalist system, and the environment within the framework of climate fiction (cli-fi) in Amirkhani’s Rahesh (2017) from the perspective of left thinkers. Deploying a descriptive-analytic method and drawing on the theoretical perspectives of critics such as David Harvey and Donna Haraway and notions such sympoiesis as “sympoiesis," "kin-making," and " co-becoming," the writer tries to discuss whether environmental problems are purely ecological in nature or not. It is argued that environmental degradation, rather than being primarily an anthropocentric phenomenon, is a product of the Capitalocene and the capitalist system. In other words, although phenomena such as global warming, air pollution, and biodiversity loss may appear to be the result of anthropocentrism and the entrenched human/nonhuman binary, they are, in fact, symptomatic of a capitalist order that relentlessly exploits both human activity and natural resources, regardless of ecological consequences. Accordingly, the only viable path out of environmental crises lies in rejecting anthropocentrism and reconfiguring humanity’s relationship with the natural world. This reconfiguration or Chthulucene requires an embrace of the principles of coexistence and sympoiesis between humans and the more-than-human world.
Abstract The multidimensional prism of the legend of Kaykhosrow has a significant capacity for interpretation through various approaches and a high ability to adapt to both old and new works of art worldwide. By studying this story, based on the plot of “Western screenplays”, new angles and dimensions of this work are revealed. For this purpose, the present study adapts the story of Kaykhosrow to the stages of the hero's journey and its role in Western films. The primary source in this research is Ferdowsi's narration of the legend of Kaykhosrow, which possesses a more epic and earthly aspect than mythological narratives and is therefore more suitable for adaptation in contemporary works. The main framework of the research is the plot of classic Western films, which Will Wright extracted through his study of dozens of Western cinemas. These studies show that, despite many differences in the temporal, spatial, and cultural origins of the "legend of Kaykhosrow" and the "Western film", there are many commonalities between the two. The archetypal foundations of "Western cinema" and the purely human themes in "Kaykhosrow's story" are important factors in the correspondence and similarity between these works, which makes the global significance of "Kaykhosrow's legend" significant in the Context of comparative literature.
Abstract In Purple Hibiscus (2003), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie depicts the intersections of trauma, colonial legacy, and personal transformation within the postcolonial context of Nigeria. This article examines the novel through three interrelated perspectives. The first section examines the oppressive patriarchal structures embodied in the character of Eugene Achike, whose religious fanaticism and authoritarian control create an atmosphere of fear and psychological trauma, reflecting a broader critique of patriarchal power and political tyranny in contemporary Nigeria. The second section explores Christianity as a colonial legacy and instrument of repression, focusing on Western Catholicism internalized and practiced in Nigeria, which contributes to silence, guilt, and cultural erasure. The final section considers Kambili’s character development as a narrative of hope and resistance. Through her gradual awakening and the subtle acts of defiance by her brother and mother, the novel gestures toward the possibility of rebirth and the reclamation of agency. Drawing on the postcolonial theories of Homi Bhabha and Gayatri Spivak, this article investigates cultural hybridity, mimicry, and the recovery of voice and identity in Purple Hibiscus. The findings of this study indicate that the novel not only portrays the mechanisms of patriarchal and religious oppression in postcolonial society but also offers a complex process of both individual and collective resistance.
Abstract This study examines the relations of power in both colonial and indigenous communities, also the way of resistance of indigenous people to colonialism. By referring to Michel Foucault's theoretical framework of the relations of power and the issues related to resistance, it demonstrates the reasons for which Umoufia society seeks refuge in cultural integration and avoid physical encounter with colonialism. While showing a true picture of cultural ups and downs in Umoufian community at the heart of colonialism, and trying to correct the earlier representations of cultural barbarism of African societies, Chinua Achebe introduces the audience to different forms of the relations of power in the contact zone of colonialism and Umoufia tribe. The present essay aims to answer the key question: at the time of confrontation, why and based on what kind of reasoning do clan members seek refuge in the policy of appeasement and prefer cultural integration to physical confrontation with colonialism? According to Edward Said, natives show resistance through knowledge, discourse and cultural difference, mostly embedded in power relations.
Abstract The book Comparative Literature in Fluctuation, written by Roya Latafati and Bita Moazami Farahani, (Samt, 2019) is one of the analytical and theoretical works in Persian in explaining and introducing new aspects of comparative literature. This educational work, which is written in five chapters, has been compiled as one of the main and specialized resources for students of French language and literature (Comparative Literature course) at both master’s and doctoral levels. The findings of this critical research in explaining the merits and shortcomings of this work are as follows; This concise educational work has introduced and analyzed up-to-date topics and areas in comparative literature that have been less addressed by other Iranian researchers. On the other hand; Utilizing new research, proposing new issues in the field of comparative literature, scientific consultation with Enrô Eloïe Bonrou (Professor of Comparative Literature at the Sorbonne), using some examples and cultural-literary evidence from Iran in explaining topics, mentioning necessary footnotes, etc. are some of its other merits. However, the lack of questions and teaching guides, the lack of explanation of the educational goals expected of learners, the lack of attention to punctuation marks and some structures of the Persian language, the obscurity and ambiguity in the expression of some issues, as well as the use of English words and expressions that have equivalents in the Persian language, etc. are among its shortcomings.
Abstract Due to the dynamic essence of comparative literature there are many debates about the definition of this field of study among academia. Adrijana Marcetic, a professor of comparative literature in Belgrad University, in her book "After the Comparative Literature" (1961), tries to solve some of these misunderstandings by writing about the history of comparative literature theories. She wrote the book on Serbian language and then after Greta Goetz translated it into English and then Masoud Farahmand and Pegah Farhangmehr retranslated from English to Persian. The Persian translation of the text is good, but there are some mistakes. For example, they altered the translation of some words like "hybridization" and " divergence." If we consider the problems of translating the pretranslated texts, it is apparent that translators faced a plethora of obstacles and there is insufficient time and ability to cover this area in its entirety. The researcher will analyse the book in this review.
Abstract This interdisciplinary study is a mystical reconsideration of Elif Shafak’s The Forty Rules of Love (2011), FRL hereafter, based on the theologian Mircea Eliade’s perspective on the notion of sacred life as hierophany. Considering the huge bulk of reviews analyzing the Eastern Sufi aspect of the novel as a mystical stand, this investigation probes the compatibility of Eliade’s Universalist spiritual stand with the Sufi perspective reflected in the novel, considering the Islamic tradition through focusing on Maulana’s mystical transformation via Shams of Tabriz. It also pays attention to the Western cultural manifestations absent in most of the reviews and considers the Orientalist features attributed to the novel by some critics. The investigation concludes that the form of Sufism represented in the novel is close to Maulana’s original perspective, and there is a spiritual congruity between Maulana’s Islamic stand, being affected by Ibn Arabi, and Eliade’s Western Christian one. This justifies the depiction of the characters’ mystical transformation within FRL as being touched by Islamic principles and not totally submissive before the Orientalist discourse.
Behzad Pourgharib, Abdolbaghi Rezaei Talarposhti, Ahmad reza Rahimi
Abstract As one of the most important literary works written by an American writer, A Farewell to Arms has been studied from the perspective of a variety of critical approaches. The present study examines this novel from the point of view of trauma studies, especially as discussed by Judith Herman. Hermann divides trauma into several types and proposes three basic steps for the healing process: immunization, recalling and mourning, and reconnecting with life. Using her ideas, this paper concludes that the protagonist of the novel goes through traumatic experiences, whose effect deeply transform his very elemental characteristics. Furthermore, it illustrates how the main character makes an attempt to reconnect with the pre-traumatic society in a doomed way. The reason is attributed to the simple fact that he has not been able to confront and accept trauma and provide a reliable narrative. The main reason for his failure is that he does not go through all the stages Herman believes a trauma survivor should go through to relieve the pain and suffering.
Abstract Philologie in German (English philoloy; French philologie; Latin philologia ‘love of word’) is defined as the study of language in its historical context. It is considered a part of historical linguistics which traces the development and etymology of words in a language and across languages. John Peile defines philology as follows: It is the science which teaches us what language is. The philologist deals with the words which make up a language, not merely to learn their meaning, but to find out their history. He pulls them to pieces, just as a botanist dissects flowers, in order that he may discover the parts of which each word is composed and the relation of those parts to each other: then he takes another and yet another language and deals with each in the same way: then by comparing the results he ascertains what is common to these different languages and what is peculiar to one or more: lastly, he tries to find out what the causes are which operate on all these languages, in order that he may understand that unceasing change and development which we may call, figuratively, the life of language. (Peile1988, 5) In his book, Cours de linguistique générale, Ferdinand de Saussure offers a comprehensive definition of philology. Language is not the unique object of philology. The task of philology is above all to establish, interpret, and comment upon texts. This just concern leads philology to concern itself with literary history, customs, institutions, etc. . . . Everywhere it makes use of its own method, which is textual criticism. (qut. in Watkins 1990, 21)
Abstract This interdisciplinary, descriptive, library based research adopts Mark Elin’s theory of “Personality Disorder” to study William Dorrit’s character, whose title in the novel is the “Father of Marshalsea”. Elin’s theory of personality disorder is based upon the functions of “self-memory”, of which “Reality Testing” is an important one. Applying this theory, the research shows that in the first book of the novel, William Dorrit’s personality disorder vacillates between Narcissism and inferiority complex. In the second book, however, his personality disorder turns into “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” which is caused by the overwhelming events of the past. Reality-testing, does not operate properly in William Dorrit’s mind. Consequently, he is not capable of making distinctions between memory and reality. The final outcome of this incapability is his complete mental breakdown. The other finding of this research is the existence of a structural symmetry between chapters nineteen of both books of the novel, in which the major themes are William Dorrit’s mental and psychological agitations.
Abstract This study undertakes a comparative ecofeminist analysis of Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse and Simin Daneshvar's Island of Bewilderment and The Bewildered Cameleer. Through a nuanced examination of these literary works, it explores the intricate interconnections among women, nature, and patriarchal cultural structures within English and Persian contexts analyzing the narratives, interpreting the symbolic motifs such as nature and paintings, analyzing the discourse between men and women, and exploring the intersections of genders. The analysis reveals how both authors symbolically represent nature as a conduit for women's emotional journeys and personal growth, while simultaneously critiquing the oppressive forces of patriarchal ideologies that subjugate women and the environment. Characters like Lily Briscoe and Hasti emerge as emblems of resistance, challenging societal norms and redefining their identities beyond the confines of traditional gender roles. The novels also highlight the pervasive influence of patriarchal structures within cultural traditions and celebrations, perpetuating gender stereotypes and marginalizing women's voices. However, the narratives offer alternative perspectives by portraying women as embodiment of "Mother Nature," possessing inherent strength, resilience, and a profound connection to the natural world. This ecofeminist lens challenges the binary opposition between culture and nature, advocating for a harmonious coexistence that recognizes the interdependence of all life. Ultimately, this comparative analysis contributes to the ongoing discourse on ecofeminism, gender studies, and environmental justice, underscoring the urgency of addressing the intertwined oppression of women and nature within patriarchal societies.
Abstract This interdisciplinary study discusses Svetlana Alexievich’s The Unwomanly Face of War, a literary work that focuses on the history of World War Two from the perspective of female soldiers of the Soviet Union. The women are veteran soldiers, a part of war history who continue their lives after the war and who suffer various mental disorders as a result of the war. These mental disorders are not only the aftereffects of the war, but also the consequences of political and social taboos of the Soviet Union. We analyze the women’s testimonies as they pertain to Cathy Caruth’s trauma theory. By analyzing trauma theory as it applies to the female soldiers, we see that if the society were to treat the female soldiers as heroines, to treat them with the same respect with which male soldiers are treated, the women would suffer fewer psychological disorders, but unfortunately, many of them suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). Trauma theory draws on psychoanalysis to establish a connection between the characters in the novels and real-life people, allowing a consideration of each character as a more well-rounded and in-depth individual, improving the studies of both literature and psychology.
Abstract This article examines the reception and interpretation of Shakespeare’s works in modern-day Iran, beginning with an overview of the Qajar Dynasty (1789–1925) and focusing on Post-Revolutionary Iran. The study aims to illuminate an often-overlooked aspect: a significant shift in attitudes toward Shakespeare’s plays between pre- and post-Revolutionary Iran, shaped by the dominant policies and ideologies of each era. Prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, adaptations of Shakespearean works such as Macbeth and Hamlet demonstrated discernible political orientations. In contrast, post-Revolution adaptations, including Tardid and Mortal Wound, adopted a more sophisticated moralistic perspective. This transformation extended not only to thematic content but also to the medium of adaptation. During the pre-Revolution period, Shakespeare’s plays were primarily translated into dramatic performances. However, the post-Revolutionary era saw a shift toward visual adaptations, including cinematic productions and home-video renditions. The contrast between these periods offers insights into Iran’s contemporary outlook, revealing the interplay between historical power structures and the reception of Shakespeare’s works. This study highlights the extent to which prevailing systems of authority shape the acceptance and adaptation of cultural expressions across distinct historical contexts.
