هویت زنانه دیگری در رمان "رقص در آینه شکسته" از مهری یلفانی با تکیه بر نظریه پسااستعماری (مقاله علمی وزارت علوم)
درجه علمی: نشریه علمی (وزارت علوم)
آرشیو
چکیده
مردمحوری و امپریالیسم اشکال مشابهی از سلطه را علیه زنان که زیردست و غیر تلقی می شوند، به کار می برد که در بسیاری از ابعاد، مشابه و موازی یک دیگرند. رمان "رقص در آینه شکسته"، اثر مهری یلفانی، نویسنده زن مهاجر ایرانی، سعی دارد جامعه سنتی ایران و جامعه مدرن میزبان خود؛ یعنی کانادا را متقاعد به شنیدن صدای مخالف خود کند. او که همیشه و در طول حیات خود از سوی خانواده و جامعه، عنصری دست دوم، بیگانه، فرودست و دیگری تلقی می شده به طرح این مقوله در رمان خود می پردازد و رویکردی انتقادی نسبت به هر دو جامعه سنتی و مدرنِ میزبان دارد. در این مقاله، پاسخ به سوالِ چگونگی جلوه های "دیگری" و هویت زن مهاجر از دو منظر کلی در این رمان مورد تحلیل تاویلی و توصیفی قرار گرفته است و نشان می دهد که نه تنها در جامعه مرد سالار سنتی، مرد تصمیم گیرنده اصلی در همه امور برای زنان است و زن به عنوان دیگری، هویت انسانی خود را از دست می دهد بلکه در جامعه مدرنِ میزبان نیز، به مهاجران اعم از زن و مرد و به زن به طور اخص به عنوان فرودست نگریسته می شود و آنان باید تابع نظام و فرهنگی باشند که از سوی جامعه غربی مورد تایید و تاکید قرار می گیرد و در میان این دیگر انگاری ها است که شخصیت و هویت دوگانه زنان مهاجر شکل می گیرد که آن ها را به نوعی ندامت گزیرناپذیر از مهاجرت می کشاند.Otherness female identity in the novel "Dancing in a broken mirror" by Mehri Yalfani based on post-colonial theory
Populism and imperialism use similar forms of domination against women who are considered subordinate and different, which are similar and parallel to each other in many dimensions. The novel "Dancing in a Broken Mirror", written by Mehri Yalfani, an Iranian immigrant woman writer, tries to convince the traditional society of Iran and the modern society of its host, Canada, to listen to its opposition. He, who was always considered a second-hand, alien, Subaltern and other element by his family and society throughout his life, deals with this category in his novel and has a critical approach towards both traditional and modern host societies. In this article, the answer to the question of the manifestation of "otherness" and the identity of immigrant women from two general perspectives in this novel has been analyzed interpretatively and descriptively, and it shows that not only in the traditional patriarchal society, the man is the main decision-maker in all matters. It is for women and women lose their human identity as Other, but also in the modern host society, immigrants, both men and women, and women in particular, are viewed as inferior and they must be subject to the system and culture that It is approved and emphasized by the western society, and it is among these other ideas that the dual character and identity of migrant women is formed, which leads them to a kind of inevitable regret from migration Extended 1.Introduction Mehri Yalfani, a writer and translator living in Toronto, is one of the authors whose literature on immigration can be found in his works. He has mostly dealt with the social problems of Iranian women living abroad. In this research, the novel "Dancing in the Broken Mirror" written by Mehri Yalfani is examined and explored. This novel is the story of an immigrant woman who, after years of being away from her teenage love, immigrates to reach her and live with her son. The story is narrated from this woman's point of view, and in the course of the narration, the audience gets to know other immigrant characters, who are generally women. The story revolves around the female main character, who is the narrator, and deals with the dualities that exist within the character of this immigrant woman. Although the "other" issue is raised in the post-colonial theory in the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized, but in this novel it can be related to the relationship between the populist society and women who do not reflect the traditional view of themselves and have a modern western vision, as well as the relationship between immigrant women. or exile with the host society. Relationships based on which the personality is viewed through the eyes of the "other". With the thoughts that the female narrator has in this novel, she knows that in her country she is seen as a foreigner and "other" and in the host country, she will not find the position she was looking for and there she will be seen as " "Other" is viewed. Therefore, it has lost its identity and suffered from identity duality.The concept of "other" is a universal phenomenon in which it claims that "self" is the main subject and all others come under the heading of "other". The term "other" in general has a different meaning according to the meaning of each text. For the first time, "Simon de Beauvoir" proposed the idea that man is "subject" and woman is "other". In the introduction to the book "The Second Sex", which is considered one of the most important theoretical texts in the field of feminism of the 20th century, de Beauvoir states about the concept of "other" that the "other" class is as old as human thought. In the first societies, in the oldest mythologies, a person has found the dual expression of himself and the other. Basically, this duality does not belong to the sexual division and is not dependent on empirical facts.Women are discussed as "other" because they are dependent on their men. The situation of third world women is even more pathetic. They are discriminated against in two ways: first by their men and then by the white upper class. Third world women are discriminated against based on sex, color and class. The psychological reason behind the behavior of women as "other" is to subjugate them under patriarchal domination and use their position when needed. In her article titled "Can the Subaltern Speak", Spivak emphasizes some of the problems of Third World women that have never been mentioned in the international context. Spivak's writings reflect the struggle of women and oppressors in third world countries. Feminism as a theory cannot pay attention to the views and aspirations of all women in the world. Regional differences in each time and place that play a key role in their formation should be openly examined (Spivak, 1981: 268-241). Postcolonial feminism precisely refers to the formation of a new type of colonialism within the colonial discourse. In fact, colored women and their cultural, racial, ethnic, and value barriers have been marginalized by white women this time, and this indicates another oppression by white women. Spivak is not against feminism, but many of his arguments reinforce the basic principles of feminism. She states the fact that there are differences in race, class, religion, civilization and culture among women. Feminism needs to focus on the differences between women and help them achieve their personal goals. Subaltern was one of the main concepts of Spivak's famous article. The word Subaltern was first used by Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist, in relation to subordinate social groups. Groups that lack the unity and organization of powerful groups and the subject of the hegemony of the ruling classes (Gramsci, 1971: 14). Although these groups constitute a large part of the society, they are ignored by the ruling classes of the society due to the fact that they do not have a coherent organization and also do not have powerful means of mass communication such as influential media in the society.2-Research methodologyIn the present study, the authors try to investigate other species and their role in shaping the identity of the immigrant personality with the analytical-interpretive-interpretive method. Analytical-interpretive-interpretive method is a type of text analysis and description with a qualitative approach to the thoughts of post-colonial theorists, especially Spivak, and discusses the analysis of the formal, implicit and hidden content of the author's message in the division of "other" species. 3-DiscussionOther effects in the novel under review can be discussed and pursued from two general perspectives:A) Traditional populist society looks at women as other: In the traditional society depicted in the novel "Dance in the Broken Mirror", as Spivak says about the populist society of India, women are considered secondary sex. They don't have a chance to express their thoughts and opinions and are strongly influenced by the domineering society, they serve the beliefs of the men of their society. Humans are essentially social creatures. That is, their identity is a forced product of desires and wishes that the society has cultivated in them (Tang, 2013: 67). In this traditional society, women are viewed as something else. This type of view of women starts from within the family. The dreams of young girls in a traditional family are destroyed. Parents are against girls studying and entering university and society and going to work. A mother's wish for her daughter is to give her a husband. If boys go to university and study. In the traditional populist society depicted in this novel, the view of women as "other" is significant from several perspectives:Her otherness in opposition to the patriarchal system, when she lives as a daughter in her father's house. The female main character of the novel narrates very little about her childhood and adolescence and about the time before falling in love and getting married. This means that the woman is unhappy with her life in her father's family. This regret and unhappiness can be found in his words. In fact, a woman's paternal family with patriarchal characteristics is a manifestation of a society in which a woman does not dare to express herself and express her opinion. By falling in love and establishing a relationship with a man, the female narrator expresses her opposition to the rules of her family, which is the epitome of a populist society. After his romantic relationship cannot save him from the environment of his father's house, he resorts to another means such as migration to free himself from the straits of a crisis.The hegemony of patriarchal discourse is visible throughout society, even women are affected by this hegemony, and the patriarchal view and behavior towards women can be observed even by women themselves, such as the mother or even the narrator himself as the mother-in-law, who has the same traditional dominant view towards women. Marjan is his bride.His otherness when he questions the class system of his society and family and chooses a man lower than his class as his wife. On the other hand, he does not follow the patriarchal system and decides to shape his future life without his father's consent. Therefore, he is rejected from the family by the patriarchal system, which here consists of father and accompanying mother. The view of the Bawar class creates a kind of alienation in the family of a woman who does not consider her husband to be of the same rank as hers. The mother of the family, more than others, adheres to this class point of view, that's why the most conflict and confrontation between the woman's husband - culture - and her mother occurs in the story. Her husband's hatred is due to his mother's class perspective to the extent that it affects both of their lives. So much so that there is an impression that Farhang is willing to accept the difficult conditions of living with her, not because he is in love with her, but because of his revenge against his wife's mother and the failure of his class perspective, he consented to this marriage.Her otherness when she does not treat her husband according to the custom of the patriarchal society. She does not surrender to him and keeps her husband away from her. She does not bear children for her husband and aborts her child without his husband's permission. The words and actions of the narrator in this novel are reminiscent of feminists' thoughts and opinions about women and their role in the family. John Stuart Mill believed that society had established false moral standards that hurt women. Most of the "virtues" that are praised in women are actually negative traits that prevent women from advancing towards their human personality. He admitted that the time-consuming and breath-taking duties of a wife and mother, which make any kind of mental concentration impossible with their multi-part nature, prevent him from succeeding in any profession (Tong, 2013: 43-44). The fact that the woman-narrator does not allow her husband to have marital relations and responds negatively to her husband's insistence to have a child and even aborts the unwanted child (Yelfani, 1999: 159), is in harmony with the thoughts and opinions of a group of feminists.B) The female other in the modern host society: In the modern host society, immigrants, both male and female, are viewed as different and must be subject to a system that is approved and emphasized by the western society. "The contrast that Western discourse creates about the East naturally uses another fundamental contrast, and that is the contrast between men and women. As a rule, the West is masculine - conscious, rational, productive and orderly - while the East is the feminine pole - irrational, passive, irregular and emotional - this is the opposite" (Bertens, 2011: 236). Immigrants put aside many of the norms that they belonged to in their society and join people who have a new and different life. Immigrants, who are generally from eastern societies, prefer the west as the core and the center over the east as the periphery and the other. It follows such an understanding that domineering tendencies are formed in the West, and the opposite point is the feeling of nothingness, inferiority, and feeling of subservience in the Eastern immigrants; To the extent that Western culture considers that which is not Western or related to the West and the center as something else and rejected (Ashcroft, 2011: 32). Although this issue applies to all immigrants, it is doubly so in the case of immigrant women. The "other" look at the character of the female immigrant - the narrator - in the host land has various perspectives:1- His otherness among his son's family in Toronto, Canada. When his son dies, he is considered by his daughter-in-law as a burden and an extra person. When the main character of the woman leaves her motherland and enters the host society, she actually loses her social class and in the host society, she is reduced to the position of the lower class of the society, who is forced to serve in order to find shelter for herself. Do something. However, the woman is not satisfied to return to her homeland and free herself from this low social position. One of the reasons for this can be the existence of individual and social freedoms in the host society. Let's not forget that the immigrant woman writer has achieved a privilege that is the fruit of her migration: the immigrant woman can speak. A person who has lived for years in a traditional closed society and far from individual and social freedoms - especially for women - now has the opportunity to live the way he wants without being judged and investigated by the society and government system. take This fear of scandal in the society can be seen in the woman's conversation with her son. When the boy knows that culture was not his father.2- The otherness of the narrator in the western society as an immigrant and oriental woman. Most of the immigrant characters depicted in this novel are in the middle of adapting to the new society, and according to Homi Baba, they are trying to achieve a dual identity in the in-between space where a trammel or hybrid identity is formed. This "in-between" space, which Baba likens to the third space, creates an argumentative condition that does not have the symbols and meanings of culture, coherence and stability of its past (Bhabha, 1994: 5). They try to match their behavior and speech with the host society. This similarity includes the type of clothing and eating habits to the types of family and social relationships, for example, the narrator says: "Alborz also made me eat McDonald's" (Yelfani, 1999: 39). One of the examples that is repeated many times in this novel is that the immigrants change their names in such a way to match the common names in the host society. On the other hand, changing the name is an effort on the part of the immigrant characters so that they are not seen as "other" in the host society, and in this way they try to convince the host society that they are insiders. Of course, this kind of behavior of immigrants is not approved from the point of view of the storyteller, and it is accompanied by a kind of ridicule from him. Therefore, the irrational narcissism of immigrants to the West cannot be accepted from the narrator's critical point of view, which includes the author's hidden thoughts in the novel. Especially the immigrants who try to adopt the western lifestyle without any shortages and sometimes more aggressively than the westerners themselves. These immigrants try to achieve a new identity by forgetting their past; Because the Subaltern identity is a distinct identity, and the Subaltern "consecrates dualism and cultural multi-foundation" (Barry, 1999: 198), and of course, it is this identity hybridity that challenges the colonizer, because the immigrant is also a part of the destination society and it is not.4-ConclusionIn this article, looking at the concept of Subaltern and alien in post-colonial theory, the manifestations of "other" were discussed from two general perspectives in the novel Dancing in the Broken Mirror by Mehri Yalfani: A) In the traditional patriarchal society depicted in this novel, the "look" The "other" to the woman can be proposed from several perspectives: 1. Her otherness in opposition to the patriarchal system, when she lives as a daughter in her father's house and challenges the rules of the patriarchal system with her secret love relationship. 2. His otherness, when he does not accept the class system of his society and family and chooses a man lower than his class as his wife. 3. Her otherness, when she does not treat her husband according to the customs of the populist society. The words and actions of the narrator in this novel are reminiscent of feminists' thoughts and opinions about women and their role in the family. B) In the modern host society, immigrants, both men and women, are viewed as different and must be subject to the system that is approved and emphasized by the western society. The character of immigrant women is formed among these othernesses. The "other" look at the character of the immigrant woman - the narrator - in the host land has various perspectives: 1. Her being another among her son's family in Toronto, Canada. 2. Her otherness in the western society as an immigrant and oriental woman. According to Homi Baba, most of the immigrant characters depicted in this novel are trying to achieve a dual identity in the in-between space, in which a trammel or hybrid identity is formed. They try to match their behavior and speech with the host society. This similarity includes the type of clothing and eating habits to the types of family and social communication. Of course, this kind of behavior of immigrants is not approved from the point of view of the storyteller, and it is accompanied by a kind of ridicule from him. Therefore, the irrational narcissism of immigrants to the West is not acceptable from the narrator's critical point of view, which includes the author's intellectual hidden thoughts in the novel.The character of the narrator in the discussed novel is multiplicity and heterogeneity. The creation of a fictional character called Roya by the main female character shows this duality within her character. He "other" shows his existence in a character with the same name as himself. The imaginary dream is actually the character's hidden dreams and desires that are manifested in this imaginary character. There is an internal contradiction in the narrator's speech and actions. He has repeatedly stated that he will not return to Iran because there is no one and nothing left there to be attached to. But on the other hand, we see that he behaves like a traveler in the West and someone who is not going to stay there for a long time. Despite the fact that he does not say that he wants to return to Iran, we can see from his behavior and speech that life in the West is not compatible with his mentality. All his memories and identity are in Iran and he feels identityless in a foreign land. In the end, he asks his grandson to return his body to his motherland.5-ReferencesAhmadzadeh, Shideh.(2011). <em>Migration in literature and art</em>. Tehran: Sokhan.Ashcroft, B. 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