A comparative analysis of the novels Al-Khaba and Akhtar Dokhtar Ziba Zaibai Qajar based on feminist components

Comparative literature is a type of interdisciplinary research that studies the relationship between the literature in different nations and examines the relationship between literature, and art and humanities. Various topics have been investigated in comparative literature, one of which is intellectual movements. Feminism is considered as one of these intellectual movements. In this essay, relying on the descriptive-analytical method, a comparative study of some feminist components in the novels Al-Khaba by Almiral Tahawi and Akhtar, Dokhtar-e Zibaye Qajari by Eli Najafifar based on the comparative literature of the American school is discussed. Women-centered novels possess a number of Feminist components inclusing; gender discrimination, forced marriage, polygamy, marriage at a young age, unquestioning obedience to the wife, divorce, the place of superstitions among women, employment of women in the home environment, and further. Followed by that, harassment of women, women against women, longing, smoking among women, trying to achieve freedom, surrendering to fate, etc are aong the other noticed elements. The result of the research has indicated that Al-Khaba and Akhtar Dokhtar-e Zaizaye Qajari mostly express the classic traditional life and the pains of women experiecned in a patriarchal and misogynistic society. It also represents desperation and despair among women and the negative view of them. Both authors end their stories in a way that confronts men with the beginning of women's activism for equal rights. 
Introduction:
Comparative literature examines literary communication and its influence. The fields of research in comparative literature are wide and numerous. The most dominant fields in this respect are; research on loanwords, translation literature and the examination of translators as agents of transferring phenomena and literary works to other nations, research regarding the topics of transnational anthologies, the history of authors and their influence on the literature of other nations, the study of external sources of a work or an author, the study of literary schools and intellectual currents, the image of a nation in the literature of another nation (imagery), etc. Feminism is a French word meaning "advocacy of women's rights" and "women's liberation movement" and is as old as history (Moradkhani and Talebi, 2019: 5). Feminism is the belief in women's rights and the political, social, and economic equality of men and women, and it has been one of the most passionate theories of the 20^th century, which has always been the field of many challenges (Gholamohseinzadeh and Hosseini, 2012: 490). For more than 150 years, the world's feminist movements and thoughtful women have been fighting to confirm the meaning of women as independent and free beings and to gain rights in public and private spaces (ibid). Today, after 150 years, the feminism movement has become a way of social thinking beyond party and ideological confrontations" (Haqdar, 1380: 103). Feminism is not a single and integrated movement, but includes various and sometimes conflicting theories and types. However, in general, all feminists agree on the principle that the society they live in is male-dominated; Because so far, men have always been dominant in the cultural, social, political, and economic fields due to supporting their traditional roles (Tysen, 1387: 151). In the contemporary period, following the acquaintance of the people of the Middle East with the culture and civilization of the West, modernist thoughts and tendencies entered these countries and led to the emergence of the exclusivist current of feminism. The flow of feminism in eastern countries, like other western countries, in addition to reaching the social, political and cultural arenas, penetrated literature in general and fiction writing in particular, and led to the emergence of feminist literature. This caused many fictional works to be written in this area; therefore, from this period onwards, analysts relied on feminist literary criticism to analyze these texts (Siyadnejad and Mortezaei, 2016: 64). This research is conducted on the basis of the comparative literature of the American school and the method of the originality of similarity approach. It also aims to investigate the similarities and commonalities in the content of the two novels. In this essay, components such as gender discrimination, forced marriage, polygamy, patriarchy, women's employment inside and outside the home, women against women and efforts to achieve freedom are analyzed and evaluated in a comparative form on two selected novels. Takes.
Method:
The current research, integrating a descriptive-analytical method longside a comparative approach, investigates feminist characteristics and its implicit layers in two selected novels and expresses their common features.
Conclusion:
It seems that both authors have been able to crystallize their thoughts about women in the form of feminism by referring to issues such as forced marriage, divorce, women's employment, polygamy, obedience to the wife and patriarchy, women against women, etc.
The contemptuous view of the female sex and the superiority of the male sex over it goes back to some views arising from superstitious thoughts and some views in response to the economic and social conditions of the society.
The time in the two novels, with a slight difference, is equal to the beginning of women's equality activities in Egypt and Iran. Mrs. Tahawi and Najafi have tried to reflect all the problems of women and the most basic rights of a woman in their novel. The novel Al-Khaba and Akhtar Dokhtar-e Zaibaye Qajari mostly express the traditional classical life and the pains of women in a patriarchal and misogynistic society, and also depict the desperation and despair among women and the unpleasant view of them. Both authors wrap their stories up in a way that confronts men with the beginning of women's activism for equal rights.
Tahawi and Najafi Far have addressed the problems of women in their novels and have talked about both the wealthy and the poor sections of the society. Fatemeh, the narrator of the Al-Khaba novel, is from a relatively wealthy class, and Akhtar, the narrator of the novel, Akhtar, the beautiful Qajar girl, is nothing more than a fat-born. By examining the themes of both novels, it can be observed that the status of women in Iran and Egypt is not much different. The society narrated by the two authors is a society overshadowed by patriarchy. In both novels, men are domineering and look at women holding a negative perspective, and in both novels, the writers point to women's activity and industry, and depict their humiliated position. In their works, both authors have deeply urged to change the approach of men and society towards women and eliminate the institutionalized discrimination in them.
Among the other problems that women in these two societies have encountered, illiteracy, drowning in the world of superstitions, severe hijab, and being captured in the lap of addiction can be addressed. All these issues are present in the two novels and they are not mentioned to prevent the increase in the volume of the article. Among the two authors, Tahawi has clearly explained the concept and content of the story by using the feminist components discussed in this research, and Najafifar, except for one case which is the attempt to achieve freedom, has been able to include other feminist elements in the novel itself.