ادبیات داستانی معاصر زنان افغانستان در بستر تحولات اجتماعی- سیاسی 

Women’s Fiction Literature in the Context of Socio-Political Developments in Afghanistan

Sunday, January 28, 2024 I 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM | Royce Hall 314

Alternate live stream on Zoom:

https://ucla.zoom.us/j/99816401692

(No need to register in advance, just click the link at 4:00pm on January 28 to join.)

This presentation will provide a historical overview of women’s fiction from its inception in the twentieth century to the present. Analysis of this literature will delve into the socio-cultural and political conditions that have influenced the development of women’s writing and how female fiction writers have left their mark on the history of Afghan prose writing. Because many political disruptions have affected Afghanistan’s social and cultural life, and by extension women’s writing, the presentation will follow an historical trajectory punctuated by meaningful examples to illustrate the distinct characteristic of the different periods.

About the Speakers

Sarwerasa Rafizada, Ph D., Scholar at Risk, is a Visiting Researcher and adjunct Professor at UCLA, the Center of Near Eastern Studies. Her research agenda is focused on contemporary Persian literature, particularly Afghan women’s works, gender studies, and feminism. Some of her publications are Critical Discourse Analysis of the Image of Women in Afghan Fiction, Representations of Women in Contemporary Literary Fiction of Afghanistan, The Impact of Media on Gender Violence in Afghanistan, The Role of Women Writers in Diaspora Literature or Afghan Immigration Literature, Halliday’s Functional Grammar, and A Model for Text Analysis and Interpretation. Her current project focuses on women’s diaspora literature.

Nasrin Rahimieh is Howard Baskerville Professor of Humanities in the Department of Comparative Literature and Associate Dean for Personnel at UC Irvine. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Iranian Studies. Her teaching and research are focused on modern Persian literature, the literature of Iranian exile and diaspora, contemporary Iranian women’s writing, and post-revolution Iranian cinema. Among her publications are Iranian Culture: Representation and Identity (2015), Forugh Farrokhzad, Poet of Modern Iran: Iconic Woman and Feminine Pioneer of New Persian Poetry (2010 and 2023) co-edited with Dominic Parviz Brookshaw, Missing Persians: Discovering Voices in Iranian Cultural History (2001), the English translation of the late Taghi Modarressi’s last novel, The Virgin of Solitude (2008), and Oriental Responses to the West (1990). Her current project is on contemporary Iranian women’s literature.