Document Type : علمی- پژوهشی

Authors

• Fatemeh Mozafari ¹
• Firouzeh Ameri ¹
• Efat sadat Hosseini ²

¹ Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

² Department of Philosophy of Art, Faculty of Law, Theology and Political Science, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Some feminists believe that Foucault has not specified which gender dominates the other and which gender is dominated in the genealogy of power. Accordingly, by combining the Foucauldian concept of power with feminism, they have created Foucauldian feminism to give a convincing answer to the issue of domination in gender relations.They argue that women, after accepting the constructed ideals of femininity as true discourses, voluntarily engage in self-disciplining, which is obedience to the patriarchal system. Therefore, Focouldianfeminists try to resist the imposed and internalized norms of femininity and to give freedom to women. The present study attempts to introduce the tenents of Foucoldian feminism and then to apply it to SadeqHedayat’s short story, “The Doll Behind the Curtain”. It demonstrates that Hedayat in this short story has also depicted the characteristics of the ideal woman of the modern patriarchal society by describing the fascination of the main character, Mehrdad, towards the statue woman. Furthermore, this paper shows that, with the special characterization of a girl, named Derakhshande, Hedayat, in line with the ideas in Focouldian feminism, displays that the women seek to discover gender discourses produced by powers and to apply disciplinary techniques to themselves so that they can attract men’s attention and be the desirable ones, which is a tragedy for the women and is embodied in the tragic murder of Derakhshande by Mehrdad in the last scene of the story.

Highlights

Foucauldian Feminism: A reading of SadeqHedayat’s “The Doll Behind the Curtain”

Extended Abstract

Some feminists believe that Foucault has not specified which gender dominates the other and which gender is dominated in the genealogy of power. Accordingly, by combining the Foucauldian concept of power with feminism, they have created Foucauldian feminism to give a convincing answer to the issue of domination in gender relations.They argue that women, after accepting the constructed ideals of femininity as true discourses, voluntarily engage in self-disciplining, which is obedience to the patriarchal system. Therefore, Focouldianfeminists try to resist the imposed and internalized norms of femininity and to give freedom to women. The present study attempts to introduce the tenents of Foucoldian feminism and then to apply it to SadeqHedayat’s short story, “The Doll Behind the Curtain”. It demonstrates that Hedayat in this short story has also depicted the characteristics of the ideal woman of the modern patriarchal society by describing the fascination of the main character, Mehrdad, towards the statue woman. Furthermore, this paper shows that, with the special characterization of a girl, named Derakhshande, Hedayat, in line with the ideas in Focouldian feminism, displays that the women seek to discover gender discourses produced by powers and to apply disciplinary techniques to themselves so that they can attract men’s attention and be the desirable ones, which is a tragedy for the women and is embodied in the tragic murder of Derakhshande by Mehrdad in the last scene of the story.

Introduction

Michel Foucault, the French postmodern philosopher, has analyzed the concept of “power” in detail in his various works. Foucault implicitly divides this concept into two levels: modern and premodern; its first level includes “disciplinary power” and “regulatory power”; its second level is related to “sovereign power.” In fact, the second level deals with the modern technology of power making attempts to manage people’s lives with its new techniques. This sort of Foucault’s division of power can be used in the perspective of feminism, in such a way that power relations in patriarchal society become a point of commonality between this movement and the thought of Michel Foucault. It will also elucidate that feminist and Foucauldian analysis do not directly reflect each other as each of them has an independent approach that raises different questions and has different achievements. Some convergences in both of them are remarkable and interesting; however, the most important of which is their view of people’s bodies; theorists of both approaches consider the body as a place in which the power is exercised resulting in the subjection and subjugation of the body; they have deeply challenged the concept of resistance against powers and have seriously discussed all its dimensions; they have also insisted on the uncertainty of sexual identity; the theorists believe that gender is not inherent, and related discourses are produced by those in power and are induced to the subjects. As a result, by applying some components of Foucauldian concept of power and integrating them with feminist concepts, theorists have been able to create the approach of “Foucauldian feminism.” After introducing Foucauldian feminism, in the second part of the article, this approach will be applied toSadeqHedayat’s “The Doll Behind the Curtain,” one of the most prominent modern Iranian stories in which the role of women is very prominent. It will also be revealed how in the hidden layers of this story, one can find components related to gender dominance, subjugation of women, and self-disciplining. The new patriarchal power, panopticism, men as executors of disciplinary power, docile bodies and women’s commodification are the concepts that can be found in the analysis of this story as well.

Goal

In contemporary times, feminism has attracted the attention of many researchers. For this reason, they have studied various aspects of this movement and even combined it with other movements.“Foucauldian feminism” is one of those emerging approaches which is about concerns related to women and has attracted the attention of some literary critics whohave attempted to analyze and evaluate literary works from this perspective. Hence, the main goal of this article is to introduce this approachto the readers, especially the readers of the field of modern Persian literature. SadeqHedayat’s works, as prominent examples of contemporary Persian literature, are suitable choices for this type of analysis. Until now, some of his works have been criticized from various perspectives such as psychoanalytic approach, women's issues, etc. Foucauldian feminism is one of the approaches through which Hedayat’s works can be scrutinized and his short story “The Doll Behind the Curtain” is selected for this exploration.

Methodology

This library research, initially, attempts to touch on feminism and the basic demands of its adherents, and then, it deals with the different levels of Foucauldian concept of power and its components. After providing a general overview of feminism and the concept of power, the concept of Foucauldian feminism and its theorists are introduced. Additionally, this article works on one of the prominent Hedayat’s stories entitled  “The Doll Behind the Curtain” ,in which the concept of power and the issue of women are outstanding, and then, scrutinizes this story according to Foucauldian feminism.

Conclusion

This research restates that feminist scholarship has established that Gender is not essential and fixed, but artificial and variable,constructed by patriarchal power and imposed on women. In this regard, feminists try to deconstruct the norms of femininity and restore the true sexual identity of women. Modern patriarchal power,however, attempts to instill femininity in women to make docile and obedient subjects out of them by using disciplinary techniques which are focused on women’s bodies. They have been able to make many women internalize the ideals of femininity in themselves in such a way that they voluntarily exert discipline on themselves. Therefore, feminists have employed Foucauldian concept of power in order to confront the internalized norms of femininity and give freedom to women. Moreover, this research by scrutinizing Hedayat’s “The Doll Behind the Curtain” from a Foucauldian feminist perspective, further confirms  that femininity is not innate and biological, but constructed by society and imposed on women to make them desirable subjects. In this story, Hedayat implicitly introduces the ideal woman of patriarchal society. He elucidates that the ideal woman should always be obedient and disciplined like the doll and should never be able to resist her owner.Sheshould never protest, but should always be quiet and silent and have a cold smile on her face that tells of her satisfaction. In fact, the female statue is a symbol of an ideal woman of patriarchal society; that is why Derakhshande, the woman, has to discover the outstanding features of an ‘ideal’ woman and internalize them by constantly monitoring herself in order to become a desirable subject for Mehrdad, the man.

Key words: feminism, Michel Foucault, power, patriarchy, gender, Sadeq Hedayat, the Doll Behind the Curtain

Keywords

• Michel Foucault
• power
• patriarchy
• Sadegh Hedayat
• feminism
• gender

Main Subjects

• Literary theories