بررسی تطبیقی رمان رؤیای تبت اثر فریبا وفی و رمان بهشت مامان غیضه اثر بثینه العیسی، با رویکرد نقد فمنیستی

Extended abstract

Introduction

The novels Dream of Tibet written by "Fariba Wafi" and Under the feet of mothers written by "Buthaina Al-Eisa" by two contemporary Iranian and Kuwaiti women writers are women's narratives of Asian Muslim women's lives, which the present research examines and compares using the feminist criticism method. The findings of the research indicate that the authors of these two works have depicted the status of women in their society by using the components of feminist literature. Even though they were created in two countries and with two different languages, the dream of Tibet and the paradise of Maman Ghizah have many commonalities that are caused by geographical, religious and cultural relations and affinities between them. Multiple female characters in both works, although they are independently involved in their personal feelings and problems, form a coherent whole. Despite the difference in the details of the two mentioned novels, their central core is similar and compatible; In both stories, women seek to find their existential values, to gain equal rights with men, and to find love and peace.

 The novel The Dream of Tibet begins at the moment when the story has ended. The narrator, whose name is Sholeh, enters the story without observing the order of the events, by mocking his older sister Shiva and recklessly narrates all the events that happened by addressing her. Shiva, who married Javid sixteen years ago, has a daughter and a son. He was imprisoned for a few years following his political activities along with Javid and his other friend Sadegh. Sadegh remains in prison for a long time, but Shiva and Javid are released after a few month. After his release, Shiva is attracted to housekeeping and uses his cold-blooded and boyish spirit in raising children and managing life. This spirit has become his characteristic due to his upbringing in a patriarchal family that called him Hossein Agha since his childhood due to his love for his sons, with the political activities of his youth. Javid, who cannot afford living expenses with his teacher's salary, moves to his father's house with his family. where his father's second wife Forugh lives. Forugh, who separated from his first wife Muhammad Ali due to not having children, is married to Javid's father, but he always visits Muhammad Ali and spends his time with him in his dream of life. After the death of Mohammad Ali's mother, who played an important role in their separation, Forugh runs away from Javid's father's house to live with Mohammad Ali. Javid also informs his father. As a result, Forugh stops with Father Javid's machete and repents; But he never forgets Muhammad Ali. Shortly after Shiva moved to Javaid's father's house, Forugh suffered a stroke and Shiva took over nursing him. When Sadegh is released from prison, Sholeh is disturbed and defeated due to the breakup with the man she loves, Mehrdad. He is looking for an excuse to forget Mehrdad's love. Meanwhile, Sadegh comes to his aid and listens to his words. Sholeh forgets Mehrdad over time and falls in love with Sadegh; But Sadegh's heart is in the hands of someone else, and in front of Sholeh's question, what does he look like and what is his name? It tells about his spiritual qualities. Sadegh, who no longer believes in his ideals, decides to go to an unknown place, such as Tibet. Sholeh goes to his house to dissuade him and asks him to marry her. But as always, he is faced with Sadegh's mysterious logic, which rejects him. After moving to his father's house, Javid decides to change his job. With the help of Shiva, he starts a sawmill. There is no news of the large group of friends who used to come to Javid and Shiva's house. Sadegh is the only one who still comes to their house. Sadegh also decides to emigrate to change his life; But Shiva always looks behind and cannot keep up with Javid. He, who has been silent for years because of his patience, is now fed up with this monotonous situation. After being disillusioned with politics, she became attracted to domestic activities and lost her friends. She sinks into a Sadegh's dream of going to Tibet and is tempted to get lost and run away from daily responsibilities, and when she voluntarily aborts her third child, A feeling of loneliness and extreme despair is formed in him. Javid organizes a farewell party for Sadegh and Shiva turns to drunkenness to escape his despair, and while drunk, he expresses his feelings towards Sadegh and says that he wants to go to Tibet and cries in public for the first time. Sadegh also shows his feelings towards Shiva by holding his hand. Javid looks startled and Sholeh hits him like a dry doll because of the feeling of jealousy that has engulfed him and finds out that Sadegh's lover is none other than his sister Under the feet of mothers novel is the life story of a Kuwaiti family. "Ghiza" is the grandmother of the family, a domineering woman and guardian of the rules of the patriarchal society. Following the pregnancy of Ghiza's two daughters ("Hila" and "Nura") and his daughter-in-law ("Shahla"), they bring him the news of the death of his son "Ali". It seems that Ali was one of the active terrorists in Afghanistan. "Ghiza" intends to hide this disgrace by creating a false story and makes "Ali" a righteous martyr. After building an apartment, he gathers all his family members to take care of them in the paradise he built; But behind this decision lies another truth, the women of the family have gathered together to always serve Fahad, the only son of the family. "Ghiza" intends to hide this disgrace by creating a false story and makes "Ali" a righteous martyr. After building an apartment, he gathers all his family members to take care of them in the paradise he built; But behind this decision lies another truth, the women of the family have gathered together to always serve Fahad, the only son of the family. "Fahad", who went to prison for the crime of murder as a teenager, is released after spending three years in prison, and the girls' conflicts begin again; And finally, "Fahad" marries "Fateme" despite his love for "Mazawi". "Nora" who finds out about the end of this conflict, leaves "Ghiza" mother's paradise with her daughter to build a bright future and away from restrictions.

Methodology

This theoretical research in a descriptive-analytical way and by using the principles of feminist criticism, while extracting the components of women's literature in the two mentioned works, examines the similarities and differences of these components in the two novels Dream of Tibet and Under the feet of mothers based on the American school of comparative literature. to analyze The collection of information and research data has been done by documentary and library methods and by targeted sampling. In this article, the theory of feminism and the history of the women's movement in Iran and the Arab world are first explained, and then the differences and similarities between the two works are analyzed in the discussion section. The main criterion in choosing these two novels is, firstly, the gender of the two authors, which is considered one of the axes of formative criticism, and then the historical, geographical, religious affinities, and the relative similarity of the cultural and social fabric of the Arab world and Iranian society, and the dominance of the patriarchal view in the social structure. These are the nations.

Discussion

A comparative study of two works from the perspective of the components of women's literature

       Both of these works can be analyzed from a feminist point of view. The common theme is the position of women in society and the family, as well as women who have accepted patriarchal rules and repeat them. Both novels describe several women in different situations who are in conflict with themselves and their society. In this section, we examine the most important feminist strains mentioned, the similarities and differences of the two novel. Feminist similarities of two novels:

1- The effect of war on women's feelings

       In both stories, there are short episodes about the atmosphere of war and revolution and its impact. Because every war and revolution has consequences that change the fate of people, these two novels mention these harms. In the novel Dream of Tibet, due to political activities, "Shiva" spends some time in prison along with "Javid" and "Sadegh", and these conflicts are one of the reasons for "Shiva's" introverted and conservative character. In the novel Behesht Maman Ghaizah, following the war and the occupation of Kuwait by Saddam in 1990, Ghaiza and her children immigrate to Saudi Arabia for a while, and while escaping, they encounter Ruqayyah, an orphan girl who is running away from bullets. From then on, "Ruqayyah" lives with the "Ghiza" family, sometimes as an anonymous servant and sometimes as "Ghiza's" adopted daughter. "Ali", the son of "Ghiza", is a member of a terrorist group, after his death, the life routine of "Ghiza", his daughters and "Ali's wife" Shahla changes completely; And it can be said that "Shahla" suffers the most and after the death of "Ali" she suffers from depression, extreme obesity and finally madness.

2- Women against women

In both novels, there are characters and situations where women are pitted against women; It means that women help to stabilize and expand patriarchy with their behavior and decisions. The mothers of these two novels are more fanatical than the men. In the novel Dream of Tibet, Mehrdad's mother's decision to marry her son to another girl causes the separation of "Sholeh" and "Mehrdad". Also, "Mohammed Ali's mother" causes her son's divorce and remarriage with another person due to "Forugh's" infertility. In Under the feet of mothers dissuades her daughter-in-law, Shahla, from remarrying with her policies. Under the influence of Ghaiza's words and promises, after the death of her husband, she moves to her mother-in-law's house, which causes her to be rejected by her family. But "Ghiza" uses her only as long as she needs, by overeating during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and by keeping her away from the public eye, taking the right to work outside the home, and even having fun and dancing at home, during her years. turns her into a fat, depressed and insane woman. The conflict between the women of the two novels can also be seen in their female jealousies. In Under the feet of mothers, the one who is jealous is Ghaiza, when she was not yet the head of the house and a domineering woman and lived next to her husband's family.

3- Forced marriage

       Forced marriage in the form of Sunnah is one of the manifestations of misogyny in Eastern societies. In the Tibetan dream, the marriage of "Javid" and "Shiva" is a traditional marriage, and Javid takes the same approach as his ancestors in dealing with the women in his life. He is a supporter of the leftist ideology and adheres to the denial of individual ownership, but his only criterion for choosing "Shiva" is loyalty; At the end of the book, "Shiva's" behavior violates even its imagination, and it turns out that loyalty or disloyalty is not an inherent trait, but is built or destroyed in life. In the story Under the feet of mothers, the marriage of "Shahla" and "Ali" is an imposed marriage.

4- Legal permission and social norm of polygamy

       In both novels, the issue of polygamy of men is raised. In the dream of Tibet, the character "Mehrdad" is unable to resist his mother's wishes and says that he cannot act against her wishes and is forced to marry the daughter of his mother's choice; But he asks "Flame" to continue their relationship. The lack of emotional stability or perhaps the diversity of the character of "Fahad" is also manifested in Under the feet of mothers; When the heart gives "Mazawi" to love; But when he sees "Fateme" cleaning and taking care of his mother, "Shahla", he seems to find peace with her and falls in love with her.

       Sometimes the motivation of men to remarry in patriarchal societies is to have a son, as in the Tibetan dream "Father Shiva" cheats on his wife after not having a son.

3- Imposing staying at home and avoiding social participation

        In the unconscious of patriarchal society, gender segregation in social roles also exists as a general belief. Some jobs are men's and women have no role in them, as if women were not made for anything other than doing housework. Today, in most women's writings, the subject of women's protest is seen that their place is not only in the kitchen but in the community. In Tibet's dream, we also see "Shiva's" objection to this issue and his desire to escape from the everyday life of a household. In Under the feet of mothers, "Fateme" is also tired of doing housework to attract Fahad's attention and constantly expresses her dissatisfaction with herself.

6- Referring to the fetus and fertility

       Writers, in feminist literary works, usually refer to one of the distinct characteristics of women, to portray women as the creator and creator of nature. Woman is a symbol of birth and life. Fariba Wefi has used this element in a clever way. "Shiva's mother" who has never succeeded in giving birth to a son, and this is the reason for her husband's disagreements and betrayals. By stating that the fetus that dies is a boy and will not return, it actually evokes its lost wishes and happiness in the audience's mind. Buthaina Al-Eisa fertilizes the three main characters of the story in a period of time. "Hila", "Shehla" and "Nora" all three get pregnant; But "Ghiza" has an unconscious fear of this event, arguing that it is not possible for life to be so generous.

Physiological and psychological needs of women, acts of violence against women and the reasons for women's superstition are other components that are discussed in two novels. In the novel Dream of Tibet, we don't see strong egalitarianism or gender discrimination, except in the behavior of Shiva's father who wants a son. But in Under the feet of mothers, this issue is repeated and depicted in a bold way. The discriminations that are applied between the girls ("Fateme" and "Mazawi") and "Fahad", the only son of the family, are among these gender discriminations.

Conclusion

Examining the content and thematic components of two selected novels by two Iranian and Kuwaiti women writers shows that in both novels, there are often themes related to women's writing, from the effect of war on women's feelings to egalitarianism and the lack of economic independence of women. In her novel, Buthaina Al-Eisa has brought together several women with different personalities. "Ghiza" is a domineering old woman who cleverly declared the death of her terrorist son as martyrdom and took control over the lives of her family members; But her daughter "Nura", who is a teacher, is a symbol of a warrior woman who fights against stereotypes of patriarchy and being the second gender from the beginning of the story. Al-Eisa has put several Molded characters together in one novel. "Ghiza" (dominant and guardian of patriarchal laws), "Ruqayyah" (a woman with no identity), "Shahla" (a passive woman), "Hila" (a woman without logic and surrendering to superstitions), "Nura" (idealist and intellectual) as well "Mazawi" continues her mother's path and "Fateme" is a passive woman. The novel Under the feet of mothers has well depicted the elements of patriarchy and the stubborn rules of Kuwaiti society for women. The whole story, except for the "kindergarten" at the beginning and the outing with his friends, takes place in the interior of the "Ghiza" house; It is as if there is no world for women behind the doors of Maman Ghiza's paradise. In contrast, Tibetan dream women may seem to have more freedoms; But they are involved in their feelings and internal war. They are facing silent patriarchy in society. "Shiva" is a woman who intends to heal her wounds by distancing herself from her feminine identity. Tired of the cliché of being powerful, wise and perfect, he finally admits to Sadegh's love. On the other hand, the love between "Mazawi", "Fateme" and "Fahad" can be compared with the love between "Sholeh", "Shiva" and "Sadegh". "Mazawi" leaves when she realizes that "Fahad" does not want her to be an independent and complete woman; And "Fahad" immediately falls in love with "Fatima"; But "Sadiq" only loves "Shiva" and "Sholeh"'s love for "Sadegh" is one-sided. "Shiva's mother" is a woman whose small jealousies towards "Forugh" we see more or less throughout the story. "Forugh" is a woman who has had the love of two men, even though she herself is a victim of a patriarchal society; But he received love and attention from "Muhammad Ali" in a short time, something that "Shiva's mother" was deprived of. The diminutive character of "Shiva's mother" and "Ruqayyah", both of which are ignored, can be considered to be of the same gender. In addition to the familiar cultural and patriarchal parallels that dominate both stories, which can be attributed to geographical, religious and cultural affinities, the women of the stories and their intellectual concerns may be different at first glance; But in reality, all of them have been damaged by the patriarchal society, and each one of them is in some way looking for self-healing and seeking to find the truth of their existence, to get equal rights, love and peace.

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