Papers by Robabeh Zabihzadeh
GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 2015
Domestic violence against women is a common social ill that destroys thousands of women’s lives w... more Domestic violence against women is a common social ill that destroys thousands of women’s lives worldwide (Khan, 2000). However, the growth of this concern, particularly in developing countries such as Afghanistan, requires more scholarly attention not only because the lives of many Afghan women are affected by it, but also because it remains overlooked due to socio-cultural norms that consider discussions about it as taboo. Of late, however, there is a rising trend among members of the Afghan Diaspora in portraying domestic violence against their womenfolk back home through such artistic mediums as fiction (Parveen, 2015). Therefore, in this paper, we shall examine the manifestations of domestic violence against women in the Afghan context through a textual analysis of The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi, an author belonging to the Afghan Diaspora. Originally written in French, this breakthrough novella highlights the harsh reality of the misery suffered by many Afghan women on a reg...
3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 2017
On September 11, 2001, the world was stunned into silence as four hijacked airplanes crashed into... more On September 11, 2001, the world was stunned into silence as four hijacked airplanes crashed into two of America's iconic landmarks, namely the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. For the first time, perhaps since the Vietnam War, the entire United States of America was engulfed in a mutual sense of loss and inconsolable grief. 2996 people, a vast number of them unarmed civilians including all the passengers aboard the four hijacked airplanes, lost their lives in what was perceived by many to be the worst terrorist attack of the twenty-first century. Occurrence of such a colossal tragedy has led to producing a large corpus of textual representation of the event including countless novels such as Amy Waldman's The Submission (2012). This study focuses on analysing The Submission by Amy Waldman using the theory of Psychoanalysis to explore the concept of psychological trauma and the effects of PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) on female characters affected by the tragedy of 9/11. The analysis, which is mostly based on Wilson and Keane (2004) and Caruth (2001) psychoanalysis theories, seeks to explore Waldman's perception of the process of healing from the devastating tragedy and psychological trauma of the female characters of the story. It is believed that Waldman's novel does not only portray the trauma of the characters but also presents the path of recovery and overcoming the PTSD of those who were emotionally wounded by the tragedy of 9/11.
English Language and Literature Studies, 2020
The universal concern of domestic violence against women in its various manifestations came to th... more The universal concern of domestic violence against women in its various manifestations came to the center of scholarly attention due to its harmful effects and consequences on the lives of thousands of women worldwide. This umbrella term that refers to any form of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse against women is the result of gender-based power imbalance and sexist inequalities in societies where patriarchal norms hold sway. However, the enormity and severity of the problem is more profound in third-world countries where governing policies are determined by traditional and religious doctrines. Afghanistan is one such third-world country where woman’s oppression and abuse originate from the reigning religious principles that dominate its culture, society and politics. Nevertheless, there is a recent trend among literary figures of the Afghan Diaspora in highlighting the plight of Afghan women in Afghanistan through the medium of fiction. This paper therefore intends to inve...
English Language and Literature Studies, 2017
Malaysia is a multicultural and multi ethnic society in which national and ethnic identities are ... more Malaysia is a multicultural and multi ethnic society in which national and ethnic identities are very critical and widely disputed issues. Accordingly, several Malaysian writers such as K.S. Maniam have addressed the issues in their literary productions. This paper intends to examine the dilemmas, agonies and desolations of Indian community in Malaysia which have been reflected in K.S. Maniam’s autobiographical novel The Return (1981). In the story, Maniam voices out the experiences of Indian minority in the troubled times of Malaysia and their struggle for assimilation and adaptation to the new land as well as their identity crisis. Central characters of the story, Ravi, Periathai and Naina as three different generations of Indian migrant in the landscape of Malaysia attempt to embrace the new land as their home and build their coherent or homogeneous Malaysian identity. This paper also explores Maniam’s protagonist’s (Ravi) identity conflicts and his endeavor to escape from his un...
Journal Article , 2020
The universal concern of domestic violence against women in its various manifestations came to th... more The universal concern of domestic violence against women in its various manifestations came to the center of scholarly attention due to its harmful effects and consequences on the lives of thousands of women worldwide. This umbrella term that refers to any form of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse against women is the result of gender-based power imbalance and sexist inequalities in societies where patriarchal norms hold sway. However, the enormity and severity of the problem is more profound in third-world countries where governing policies are determined by traditional and religious doctrines. Afghanistan is one such third-world country where woman's oppression and abuse originate from the reigning religious principles that dominate its culture, society and politics. Nevertheless, there is a recent trend among literary figures of the Afghan Diaspora in highlighting the plight of Afghan women in Afghanistan through the medium of fiction. This paper therefore intends to investigate the manifestations of domestic violence against women in the Afghan context through a reading of Atiq Rahim's novella, A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear (2007). Rahimi's novella narrates the story of a male protagonist named Farhad and simultaneously highlights the miserable living conditions of the Afghan people, particularly the lives of Afghan women during the turbulent period of the Soviet Invasion as well as the many internal political upheavals that followed soon after. Using feminist literary criticism, the present paper shall discuss the depictions of three prominent forms of domestic violence against women as experienced by the female characters in the novella, namely physical, sexual and psychological violence that have shaped them into oppressed, silenced and traumatized individuals.
Malaysia is a multicultural and multi ethnic society in which national and ethnic identities are ... more Malaysia is a multicultural and multi ethnic society in which national and ethnic identities are very critical and widely disputed issues. Accordingly, several Malaysian writers such as K.S. Maniam have addressed the issues in their literary productions. This paper intends to examine the dilemmas, agonies and desolations of Indian community in Malaysia which have been reflected in K.S. Maniam's autobiographical novel The Return (1981). In the story, Maniam voices out the experiences of Indian minority in the troubled times of Malaysia and their struggle for assimilation and adaptation to the new land as well as their identity crisis. Central characters of the story, Ravi, Periathai and Naina as three different generations of Indian migrant in the landscape of Malaysia attempt to embrace the new land as their home and build their coherent or homogeneous Malaysian identity. This paper also explores Maniam's protagonist's (Ravi) identity conflicts and his endeavor to escape from his unsettled identity as an Indian Malaysian. Ravi seeks his identity in mastering English, the colonial language, yet this is the very point of his alienation as he finds out that all his preconceptions about language was false and illusionary.
On September 11, 2001, the United States of America and her people were confronted with one of th... more On September 11, 2001, the United States of America and her people were confronted with one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in recent history, which caused, among others, extensive infrastructural damage and heavy loss of life in its wake. The colossal scale of the destruction that characterised this national tragedy, went on to transform many Americans, particularly those directly affected by the attacks, into a people suddenly vulnerable to an alarming level of fear and insecurity. That being said, the tragedy of 9/11 has been framed as a straggling, serious threat with a persistent echo of the terror and vulnerability it had generated. Indeed, the trauma of 9/11 has altered the average American’s perceptions of self and of others, thus intensifying the collective vulnerability of the American public towards the event’s sociopsychological ramifications. This is particularly evident in those who have survived the carnage of 9/11 but are mentally and psychologically scarred for life as a result of their traumatic experiences, wherein a sense of permanent vulnerability is cultivated. Zepinic (2012) argues that by remembering such traumatic events as 9/11, victims are more likely to recall personal bad experiences that have no correlation whatsoever with the traumatic event in question. As a result, said victims are subsequently susceptible to intrusions of negative autobiographical memories that may activate or intensify their negative cognitive self-schemes that will ultimately increase their vulnerability as they are doubly victimized by 9/11 and their supressed personal trauma. This article, therefore, aims to explore depictions of American vulnerability following the September 11 terrorist attacks in Lynne Sharon Schwartz’s post-9/11 novel, The Writing on the Wall (2005). By applying a psychological approach to the text, we show how the trauma of 9/11 has not only instilled fear in the story’s protagonist, Claudia, but also resurrected her personal demons, reducing her to a victim of post-9/11 American vulnerability.
Domestic violence against women is a common social ill that destroys thousands of women " s lives... more Domestic violence against women is a common social ill that destroys thousands of women " s lives worldwide (Khan, 2000). However, the growth of this concern, particularly in developing countries such as Afghanistan, requires more scholarly attention not only because the lives of many Afghan women are affected by it, but also because it remains overlooked due to socio-cultural norms that consider discussions about it as taboo. Of late, however, there is a rising trend among members of the Afghan Diaspora in portraying domestic violence against their womenfolk back home through such artistic mediums as fiction (Parveen, 2015). Therefore, in this paper, we shall examine the manifestations of domestic violence against women in the Afghan context through a textual analysis of The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi, an author belonging to the Afghan Diaspora. Originally written in French, this breakthrough novella highlights the harsh reality of the misery suffered by many Afghan women on a regular basis, notably the various forms of domestic violence that they have to endure in the poverty-stricken, war-torn and staunchly patriarchal environment of their homeland. Through a feminist reading of The Patience Stone (2011), we shall examine Rahimi " s depictions of domestic violence against women in the novella as a highly engendered phenomenon resulting from gender inequality and a sexist hierarchy of power prevalent in Afghan society. Furthermore, this paper is outlined based on three main forms of domestic violence, namely physical, sexual and emotional abuse, which are depicted in The Patience Stone through the novella " s female characters, notably the main protagonist.
On September 11, 2001, the world was stunned into silence as four hijacked airplanes crashed into... more On September 11, 2001, the world was stunned into silence as four hijacked airplanes crashed into two of America's iconic landmarks, namely the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. For the first time, perhaps since the Vietnam War, the entire United States of America was engulfed in a mutual sense of loss and inconsolable grief. 2996 people, a vast number of them unarmed civilians including all the passengers aboard the four hijacked airplanes, lost their lives in what was perceived by many to be the worst terrorist attack of the twenty-first century. Occurrence of such a colossal tragedy has led to producing a large corpus of textual representation of the event including countless novels such as Amy Waldman's The Submission (2012). This study focuses on analysing The Submission by Amy Waldman using the theory of Psychoanalysis to explore the concept of psychological trauma and the effects of PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) on female characters affected by the tragedy of 9/11. The analysis, which is mostly based on Wilson and Keane (2004) and Caruth (2001) psychoanalysis theories, seeks to explore Waldman's perception of the process of healing from the devastating tragedy and psychological trauma of the female characters of the story. It is believed that Waldman's novel does not only portray the trauma of the characters but also presents the path of recovery and overcoming the PTSD of those who were emotionally wounded by the tragedy of 9/11.
Uploads
Papers by Robabeh Zabihzadeh