A comparative stylistic analysis of the ideological layers in the poems of Simin Behbahani and Golrokhsar Safiava

This study examines and compares the issues of ideology in the lexical, syntactic, and rhetorical layers of the poems composed by Simin Behbahani (1927-2014), an Iranian poetess, and Golrokhsar Safiava (b. 1947), a Tajik poetess. Both, poems are analyzed with regard to the dominant ideology of their time. In Behbahani's poem, the feminist ideology is more explicit and is characterized by modern words, feminine language and new perspective. Safiava's poem, however, does not express feminine feelings explicitly; indeed, feminine themes find their way into her poetry but are not dominant. Her poetry is mostly identified with nationalism. The ideology of both poets is revealed through all the three layers of language (lexical, syntactic and rhetorical). The symbols in Behbahani's poetry cover the feminist discourse, while the symbols in Safiava's poetry are national-patriotic with the color of war and defense. Ideologies are reflected in the linguistic layers of both, but Safiava is more explicit in this case. Her ideology is more distinguished in the lexical layer. In Behbahani's poem, the ideology is mainly of syntactic and rhetorical significance and gives the poem artistic individuality. From this point of view, Safiava's is claimed to have remained Clichéd.