Rereading the worldview of the urban middle class in the 1990s, with an analysis of the novel

Fazeli, Habib Allah; Amiri, Arman

doi:10.22034/jsi.2025.2055542.1777

Rereading the worldview of the urban middle class in the 1990s, with an analysis of the novel " Nima-ye Ghayeb "

Authors

Habib allah Fazeli ¹

Arman Amiri ²

¹ Associate Professor, Department of Political Science University of Tehran

² Master of Political Science, University of Tehran

10.22034/jsi.2025.2055542.1777

Abstract

The 1990s in Iran witnessed socio-political transformations following the revolution and war, transitioning toward reforms. This study, employing Lucien Goldmann’s genetic structuralism, examines Nima-ye Ghayeb to demonstrate how its anti-authoritarian structures dialectically relate to the urban middle class’s worldview. Findings reveal that the novel, through shifting perspectives and non-linear narratives, dismantles the familiar authoritarian narration of pre-revolutionary novels while emphasizing characters like Sindokht and Farah to highlight inclinations toward individuality and gender equality. Particularly in critiquing familial and social authority, it indirectly questions culturally rooted violence. Thus, Nima-ye Ghayeb not only represents the social shifts of the 1990s but also plants seeds for concepts that flourished in subsequent decades, notably in women’s rights and democratic demands.

Keywords

Urban middle class

criticism of tradition

anti-authoritarianism

Lucien Goldman

Sociology of Literature