The Opposition Between Women and Men in Koocheh-e Aghaghia Based on Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

Female writers argue that in male-authored literature, the role assigned to women is generally secondary, and in most literary works women are portrayed as the “other” of men. Consequently, women’s experiences and issues are often neglected in male-centered literature. This situation led female authors to emphasize that, owing to their unique biological and experiential position, women are capable of presenting distinctive meanings of female experience that male literature is unable to adequately describe or express. Among contemporary female writers who have seriously addressed women’s lives and their distinctive language is Razieh Tajar. Her novel Koocheh-e Aghaghia is one of her works in which women play a prominent and influential role in advancing the narrative plot. The female characters in this novel, under the influence of the dominant patriarchal discourse, are compelled to accept men’s demands as well as certain characteristics of a patriarchal society, particularly polygamy. Nevertheless, the author’s deliberate tendency to marginalize the agentive position of male characters while portraying women as active and influential actors provides the foundation for the emergence of feminine narrative literature, resistance to male dominance, and the articulation of certain feminist perspectives. An analysis of these elements through the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis demonstrates resistance to tradition and patriarchal social structures, while also revealing the social and political contexts that have contributed to the subordination and passivity of women within the traditional patriarchal structure of Iranian society.