New researches in Islamic humanities studies

New researches in Islamic humanities studies

Comparative Analysis of Feminine Identity and the Role of Motherhood in the Poetic Maternalities of Shokoh Ghasemnia and Zahra Mousavi

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Zeynab Haji Abdollahi 1
Ali Akbar SamKhaniani 2
Ali Akbar Shayanseresht 2
1 PhD Student in Persian Language and Literature, Lyrical Literature, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran
10.22034/api.2026.2086845.1684
Abstract
Objective: This study, adopting a comparative approach, examines female identity and the maternal role in post-revolution children’s maternal poetry. It elucidates how “being a woman” as a lived experience and “being a mother” as a social role are reflected within the maternal discourse of this period.
Method: The present study is grounded in Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and employs in-depth qualitative analysis. Within this framework, the maternal poems of two female poets from two different post-revolution generations Shokouh Qasemnia (early generation) and Zahra Mousavi (later generation) are analyzed at three levels: text, discursive practice, and social context. The statistical population includes all poetic works of these two poets in the field of children’s poetry after the revolution. From among these works, the collections “Elagheh ba To Ghahram,” “Bazi dar Hammam,” “Hassani,” and “Nokhodiha” by Qasemnia, and “Darya,” “Zamin be Man Goft Chi Goft?” and “Seda‑ye Chi Bud?” by Mousavi were purposively selected based on containing the highest number of maternal poems.
Results: The results indicate that in the early post-revolution period, the dominant maternal discourse was grounded in role‑centeredness and identity erasure, and the representation of women was largely confined to the maternal role. However, in later periods, elements of female identity gradually entered the maternal discourse, leading to the emergence of a discursive tension between “being a woman” and “being a mother.”
Conclusions: This transformation has led to the prominence of individual concerns of women poets alongside maternal responsibilities in the works of the newer generation. As a result, the relationship between female identity and the maternal role has shifted from a one‑dimensional, coexistence‑based model to a dynamic and analytically meaningful domain.
Keywords
Role Conflict, Female Identity, Maternal Themes in Children&‌‌‌rsquo
s Poetry, Mousavi, Ghasemnia
Subjects
Aghagolzadeh, F. (2019). Critical discourse analysis. Tehran: Elmi va Farhangi Publishing.
Ahmadi, P. (2018). Women’s poetry from the beginning to today. Tehran: Cheshmeh Publishing.
Babachahi, A. (2007). Today’s poetry, today’s woman. Tehran: Virastar Publishing.
Beauvoir, S. de. (2021). The second sex (Q. Sanavi, Trans.). Tehran: Toos Publishing.
Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge.
Eybek-Abadi, F., Beigzadeh, K., Rahimi Zangeneh, A., & Kolahchian, F. (2018). A critical discourse analysis of lullaby vocabulary based on Fairclough’s model. Farhang va Adabiyat-e ‘Ameh, 6(24), 93–116.
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. London: Longman.
Fairclough, N. (2018). Critical discourse analysis: A socio-linguistic approach (M. Hashemi, Trans.). Tehran: SAMT.
Fowler, R. (2017). Linguistics and literary criticism (M. Khozan & H. Payandeh, Trans.). Tehran: Ney Publishing.
Ghasemnia, Sh. (1996). Hassani has a chick. Tehran: Peydayesh Publishing.
Ghasemnia, Sh. (2003). The Nokhodi’s, Vol. 2: I know how to take a bath. Tehran: Ghadyani Publishing (Banafshé Books).
Ghasemnia, Sh. (2006). Hassani in the land of tales. Tehran: Peydayesh Publishing.
Ghasemnia, Sh. (2013). Hey donkey, I’m mad at you. Tehran: Shahr Publishing.
Ghasemnia, Sh. (2019). Playing in the bathroom. Tehran: Ghadyani Publishing.
Gooden, A., & Gooden, M. (2001). Gender representation in children’s books. Sex Roles.
Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. London: Sage.
Homayouni, S. (2013). Iranian folk songs: “What do I know of Iran”. Tehran: Daftar-e Pazhuhesh-ha-ye Farhangi.
Karachi, R. (2015). The history of women’s poetry from the beginning to the eighth century AH. Tehran: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies.
Kristeva, J. (1985). Stabat Mater. In T. Moi (Ed.), The Kristeva reader (pp. 160–186). New York: Columbia University Press.
Mousavi, Z. (2020). What was that sound? Vol. 3: “Qan and qan qan” – Mom’s car. Tehran: Ofoq Publishing.
Mousavi, Z. (2021). The sea: What did the earth tell me? Mashhad: Astan Quds Razavi Publishing.
Nodelman, P. (2008). The hidden adult. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Nourasideh, A. A., & Emami Chahartaq, R. (2024). Re-reading feminine identity in contemporary Iranian poetry: Discourse of resistance and reinterpretation of roles. Journal of Contemporary Persian Literature Studies, 28(2), 45–70.
Raoofian, S., & Tayebi, A. (2023). Psychological representation of mother in children’s poetry after 2011: From ideal to reality. Journal of Modern Research in Humanities, 15(45), 110–135.
Reynolds, K. (2011). Children’s literature: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Reynolds, K. (2015). Children’s literature (M. Hejvani, Trans.). Tehran: Faraham Publishing.
Rich, A. (1976). Of woman born: Motherhood as experience and institution. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Sediq, E. (1975). The memoirs of a lifetime (Vol. 2). Tehran: Dehkhoda.
Van Dijk, T. A. (1998). Ideology: A multidisciplinary approach. Sage.
Warren, K. J. (2000). Ecofeminist philosophy: A western perspective on what it is and why it matters. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
 
New researches in Islamic humanities studies
Volume 4, Issue 8 - Serial Number 8
December 2025
Pages 1-19