Construction of Modern Woman in Modernist Discourse of the Qajar Era

Abstract

As Iran confronted Western modernity and the resulting discursive conflicts, discussing women, their identity, and their living conditions became a central topic. A wide range of discourses formed around these issues, making women a significant focus of debate. This article examines the modernist discourses on women, utilizing critical discourse analysis to explore the semantic construction of the modern woman in these discourses. It addresses the question of what the subject of the modern woman meant in the modernist discourse of the Qajar era, what ideologies dominated this discourse on women, and what position this discourse achieved in the dominant discourse of the constitutional era.The research findings indicate that the modern woman, who was formed in opposition to tradition, is constructed in the modernist discourse as a demanding and critical subject. By criticizing traditions and focusing on the core idea of equality, it seeks modern identity elements for women like those for men. This discourse has been more successful in propositions that did not explicitly oppose tradition.

Keywords

• modernity
• modern woman
• traditional woman
• discourse
• critical discourse analysiss