فصلنامه نقد ادبی (Oct 2023)
Evaluation and Critical Sociological Analysis of the Representation of Feminine Identity in the Novels of Mohammad Hejazi
Abstract
While the quality of women's lives and their status and position can be indicative of the prominent cultural and civilizational features of a society, in most societies, especially in our patriarchal society, we witness a kind of liminality, insignificance, and "persistence" of women in the face of both tangible opportunities and imaginary constraints and stereotypes. Since the genre of the novel is one of the most significant mediums that indirectly reflect the symbols of this situation, this study explores the representation of women and the dominant but implicit assumptions in the selected novels of the First Pahlavi era (Mohammad Hejazi's trilogy) from a sociological perspective, using a critical discourse analysis approach. The data analysis was conducted thematically, with the unit of analysis being the "sentence," and utilizing previous research as a foundation for credibility assessment. The results of this study showed that women in Hejazi's stories in the trilogy of Superior Spear and the Religion-Tradition-Modernism trilogy are represented in binary and ternary categorizations. Contrary to the prevailing mental stereotype of the "oppressed woman," the role, characteristics, caricature, and narrative have not been reduced to a single attribute for all women. Based on this, we observe a commitment to both discourse patterns, both conservative and progressive, fuzzy and middle-ground, oscillating between religion and modernity, conservatism and progressivism, which has sometimes led to a "discourse conflict”. Extended Abstract The social status and quality of life for women in any society can be considered as indicators and criteria for the cultural and civilizational characteristics of that society. Throughout history, in all societies, especially in patriarchal societies, the identities and social roles of women have been overlooked or considered insignificant. Despite unprecedented changes in creating structural opportunities for Iranian women, they are still predominantly portrayed within traditional gender roles, stereotypes, and assumptions. Gender stereotypes can be analyzed indirectly and metaphorically in common cultural artifacts such as proverbs, textbooks, films, magazines, and popular novels of each era. Among these, the genre of the novel has allocated the largest share in discourse analysis, and women and their attributed roles have always been prominent topics in social novels. In the pursuit of continuity, prominence, and perpetuation of the representation of Iranian women as oppressed and objectified, this study attempts to analyze and identify the representation of women's identities in three novels (trilogy) by Mohammad Hejazi, using a comprehensive sociological perspective and a critical discourse analysis approach. The fundamental research questions are: 1) How are women represented in Mohammad Hejazi's trilogy of novels? 2) What are the important sociological components documented for women, such as roles, identities, executive characteristics, etc., in these novels? 3) To what extent have the constructed attributes contributed to the reproduction or alteration of the status and identity of women in the society of that era? 4) Have the features and representations presented in the selected novels portrayed a "homogeneous" image of women or not? To achieve this, in the descriptive phase, the themes, elements, and key concepts related to the subject of the study in the text are identified, and subjects, characters, traits, and roles of women and their presence are reconstructed. In the interpretive phase, we delve into the contextual and intertextual aspects of women's subjects and analyze the generated themes. In the explanatory phase, we focus on the social framework, discursive actions, and the relationship between the text and social structures. The use and application of previous research, as well as consultation with expert qualitative researchers for the correction and confirmation of extracted content have always been the researchers' concern. The unit of analysis is the sentence. The first reading of Hejazi's stories indicates a diverse spectrum of women in mainly binary categorizations and confrontations. These attributes and categorizations, which are the subject of ideological disputes, foster a continuous discursive conflict within themselves. By placing women's subjects in their own spatiotemporal context, patterns can be extracted, which categorize women into traditional/modern, active/passive, educated/uneducated, weak and oppressed/strong. Hidden patriarchy, situational objectification-subjection, overall ambiguity, women in the struggle between tradition and modernity, and women at the crossroads of modernity and religion are among the main themes covering the representation of women in the selected texts. According to Hejazi, as claimed by Fairclough, while identifying the assumptions of the prevailing ideology that the people of Iran interacted with women on that day and led to the plasticity of feminine identity, he criticizes and challenges them. In his stories, he effectively highlights the issue of femininity, pays attention to feminine identity, and demonstrates its new dimensions in the First Pahlavi era in Iran. Hejazi challenges the dominant traditional discourse and brings women into positions beyond the confines of the home and without being attributed to stereotypical qualities like "stove-bound" and "bitterness," which were frequently seen in the literature of that era. However, most evidence shows the movement of two discourses, traditional and modern, side by side and in concert with each other, rather than in conflict and confrontation. This means that renewed discourses, alongside traditional discourses, have initiated a movement, and we witness a kind of combined discourse. In summary, Hejazi demonstrates that we are faced not with a singular reality but with diverse realities; he presents a moderate intellectual discourse. Although one foot of it is still trapped in tradition and patriarchy and thinks within the framework of traditional mindsets, it undoubtedly takes firm and steady steps towards modernity with the other foot.
