Kurdish women “bargaining with patriarchy:” The subversive woman in Ata Nahai's fiction

Abstract

Over the past two decades, Women Studies has developed within Kurdish studies. Scholars from various disciplines, including sociology, history, and folk literature, have explored this field to shed light on the experiences and roles of Kurdish women. A less explored area remains literature, particularly fiction. This study focuses on Ata Nahai, a highly acclaimed novelist from Iranian Kurdistan, born in 1960, whose main female characters deviate significantly from the stereotypes of selfless mothers and loving submissive wives. Nahais short stories and novels depict women as subversive. Their subversion does not, however, bring about their emancipation, but highlights significant issues faced by Kurdish women, such as contradictory attitudes towards their own bodies, abusing other women and behaving inconsistently with their family members.