Magical Realism as Feminist Critique in Iranian Women's Writing: The Cases of Moniro Ravanipour and Farkhonde Aqa'i

This presentation will examine magical realism in fiction by contemporary Iranian women writers and its use as feminist social critique, primarily through the short stories of Moniro Ravanipour and Farkhonde Aqa’i. It suggests that critics have not always recognized the magical realist device in these writings for what it is -- an appeal to fantastical elements for writers to convey social commentary -- and have instead read it as misplaced fantasy for fantasy’s sake. Considering the recent dominance of women fiction writers in Iran, combined with this tendency to misread these stories, the paper then moves to investigate whether women’s writing has filtered its way into the modern anthologies to the degree expected. It addresses the role of gender in the canonization process, and offers some preliminary analysis of the representation of women writers in short story anthologies, both in English and in Persian, from 1990 to the present. In conducting this analysis, the paper looks to the contemporary theories on canonization in English literature, especially the feminist critic Joanna Russ. Russ noted in her investigation of anthologies of English poetry that 11% seems to be the magic number for the representation of women in the canon. This figure aligns strikingly with the percentage modern sociologists have discovered that a majority of people, male or female, will consider gender parity, that is, a shocking 17% female to 83% male. Finally, it concludes that a new genre for anthologizing women has emerged -- one that tends to be separate from so-called ‘mainstream’ (read: largely male) writing. This phenomenon is roughly analogous to what is occurring with other ‘hyphenated’ or Othered groups, including, for example, Kurdish writing in contemporary Iran, or diaspora literature in Persian. As such, it asks us as scholars to re-evaluate the assumptions underlying the canonization process of Persian literature and not to assume the perceived meritocracy of the process is immune from social forces. It encourages scholars to carefully evaluate their role in shaping the works of the current moment and ensuring which ones will be remembered in the future.