From the Subjective Discourse to the Social Dominant Discourse: Reading Moniro Ravanipour’s Gypsy by Fire in the Light of New Historicism

The relationship between literature and history has been an object of inquiry for literary scholars. For them, they are not separate fields of inquiry, but intertwined ones. Their mutual intermingling results in the emergence of new historicism. As an approach in literary criticism, new historicism scrutinizes the way the novelist narrates historical events. The present study’s chief object is studying the struggle between the dominant discourse and the novelist’s subjective discourse. This article also attempts to read Moniro Ravanipour’s Gypsy by Fire in the light of new historicism. The novel revolves around a girl, Ayene, who witnesses political events from 1977 until 1981. In this novel, the author endeavors to present an alternative reading of this historical time based on her own ideological perspective. This study’s findings have revealed that the novelist seeks to confront the dominant discourse in her society through her own subjective discourse so that she can present an alternative historical narrative. In this work, the novelist depicts the historical events from 1977 until 1981 when people's Fedai guerrillas have been political actors in the political scene of Iran. In her treatment of people's Fedai guerrillas, the novelist has tried to be impartial. However, she reveals her narrative orientation after the victory of the Islamic revolution by challenging the Islamic Republic Party. In doing so, she presents a narrative that is based on her own subjective discourse.