A Critical Analysis of Women-oriented Literary Studies

The present paper studies through a sociological approach the women-oriented literary studies (research papers, books, theses, and dissertations) in the field of contemporary fiction from 1300 to 1394. An attempt has also been made to conduct a critical analysis, by examining and providing tables and charts, of research annals, their increasing trend, popular works and writers, researchers' genders, and research approaches. The findings demonstrate that social factors increased the researchers' tendency toward studying the woman-based fiction from late 1380s. Simin Daneshvar, Zoya Pirzad, and the novels Savushun and I Will Turn Off the Lights have attracted the most researchers' attention, and the number of male researches is higher than that of the female researchers. Sociological, feminist, and psychological criticisms are the primary approaches, and dealing with such issues as patriarchy, feminine identity loss, gender discrimination, violence against women the secondary approaches of the studies. The approaches used indicate that the portrayal of woman in contemporary literary studies, although having become more accurate, is still unpleasant and the values have been ignored.