Societies in Persian literature

Societies in Persian literature

The Battle of Discourses at the Border: A Laclau–Mouffe-Inspired Reading of Oryan dar Barabar-e Bad

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Letters and Humanitiese,Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
2 MA Graduate in Persian Language and Literature, University of Nishapur, Nishapur, Iran
10.30488/sipl.2025.564007.1127
Abstract
Ahmad Shakeri’s novel Oryan dar Barabar-e Bad is an arena in which various discursive voices coexist and offers a representation of the confrontation among political, religious, ethnic, and mystical discourses in the post-Iran–Iraq War context. Drawing on the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, this study analyzes the process through which the religious-revolutionary discourse establishes its hegemony through the articulation of discursive signifiers such as “martyrdom” and “guardianship” (velayat) and the exclusion of rival discourses. The findings show that, within the narrative logic of the novel, the ethno-nationalist discourse of Komala remains incomplete because of its structural weaknesses, including its dependence on foreign forces (Sweden and France) and its radical secularism, which leads to its exclusion from the community’s “sacred canopy.” The Wahhabi discourse, represented through the multilayered character “Nahorai,” enters the field of ethnic discourse through economic inducement, the instrumental use of ethnicity and religion, and the sanctification of violence; however, it is ultimately defeated through the alliance of multiple discourses and excluded as an “absolute Other.” The mystical discourse operates in a two-way dialectical relationship: on the one hand, by sanctifying revolutionary action, it contributes to the consolidation of its hegemony; on the other hand, it is redefined by the revolutionary discourse and directed from individualistic passivity toward social commitment. This analysis demonstrates that the novel is not merely a reflection of the experience of war but also a field of discursive struggle in which collective identity is consolidated through the exclusion of multilayered Others
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