Ideology of representation: Episodic literary movements in modern Persian literature

Reading literary texts has always been problematic. It is especially problematic when subject of study is a literature from another time and place. Modern Persian literature exemplifies this situation because it has been the subject of multiple and at times contradictory readings. In reading this literature, there is a tendency among critics to see a single ideology as responsible for the rise of these texts in Iran. They tend to use one lens--often Islamic or Marxist--to view the texts. These problems are in fact related to more general questions concerning the ideology of representation and reading as a literary activity.;This dissertation argues that a more complete understanding of literary products is possible through the conceptualization of an analytical model based on the idea of episodic literary movement (discursive movement). This exploration involves the detailed examination of the concepts of episode, ideology and metaphor--and the relationships among them.;This dissertation holds that the ideological features and the interplay of literature and other sign systems before, during, and after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 have been changing according to the dominant socio-political condition of each period, giving rise to several distinct literary episodes such as Persianism, committed literature, Feminist discourse, and modern Islamic literature. It thus engages in cultural, historical, and discursive analyses of the works of prominent literary figures of the pre- and postrevolutionary periods to answer questions regarding the problematic of the ideology of representation and interpretation.;The dissertation concludes that although broader social and personal factors are important in structuring literary works, such as those created by Iranian authors, the actual process of producing literary meanings should be analyzed within the dynamic of the discursive context within which they are produced because literary production as a cultural phenomenon is a discontinuous process which originates in an episodic fashion. In fact, literary meanings which are conveyed through theme, characterization, form, and style always force a reflection upon their mode of aesthetics, their periodically changing socio-historical condition, and their discursive context.