Abstracts Womens Studies

Scripting Femininity: Iranian Women's Narratives Constitution to Reza Shah (1906-1925)

by Aylin salahshoor

Identity is conceptualized as a set of individual characteristics that evolve over time, influenced by various social structures and individual agency, including religious, cultural, social, and economic factors. The transformation of women's traditional identity in Iranian literature began gradually but gained momentum during the late Qajar period and the early stages of modernity, particularly with the onset of the Constitutional Revolution. This thesis examines the linguistic and narrative strategies employed by Iranian women writers, the first-generation playwrights, to redefine femininity and challenge patriarchal constructs. This thesis constitutes the inaugural scholarly examination of two plays, Farwell by Ein Sofouf and A Scene From A Play by Sedigheh Dolat Abadi, in the English language. By analyzing literary contributions and evolving portrayals of women during this transformative era, the study employs a qualitative-comparative approach grounded in feminist linguistic studies, gender studies and ethnographical historiography to establish a conceptual framework illuminating these literary transformations.