The Problematic Female Subject in Connection with the Fairy's Function in the Novels of Shahrnush Parsipur: An Analysis

Subject Areas : Mytho

Monā Tāleshi ¹ , Ghodsiyyeh Rezvāniyān ^{2 *}

1 - Ph.D. in Persian language and literature, University of Isfahan
2 - The Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Mazandaran University

Received: 2024-10-11 Accepted : 2024-12-23 Published : 2025-03-14

Keywords: Fairy, Function, Novel, Woman, Protagonist, Subject,

Abstract :

Shahrnush Parsipur has focused on the subject of women as protagonists in her three novels: The Dog and the Long Winter (1974), Touba and the Meaning of Night (1989), and Women Without Men (1990). The female subject in these works is shaped in opposition to a patriarchal society and in connection with nature. The female protagonists in these works do not play a role in social transformations as problematic heroes; rather, they are highlighted due to social deficiencies that hinder women's presence in society. This research, using a descriptive-analytical method, seeks to examine the path of the formation of the female subject as a protagonist in Parsipur's novels. The findings indicate that if we consider the novel as a genre connected to society, in Parsipur's novels, the female subject emerges through the shaping of the female protagonist based on myth and nature, and its representation is processed as the archetype of the fairy, which was sacred in the pre-Zoroastrian period but, due to the rejection of its function in the Zoroastrian era, became associated with magic and demons. Although the social structure does not allow for the formation of a female protagonist through direct engagement with society, the connection to a mythical lineage from the matriarchal era is the factor behind the emergence of the female subject.