A comparative study of the use of taboo in contemporary Persian and Arabic stories (Relying on the works of Mustafa Mastour, Zoya Pirzad, Haifa Bitar and Hani El-Raheb)

Al Ali, Veaam; Jalali, Maryam; Taheri, Ghodrat

doi:10.30465/copl.2025.48354.4128

A comparative study of the use of taboo in contemporary Persian and Arabic stories (Relying on the works of Mustafa Mastour, Zoya Pirzad, Haifa Bitar and Hani El-Raheb)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Veaam Al Ali ¹

Maryam Jalali ²

ghodrat Taheri ³

¹ PhD student in Persian language and literature

² Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Shahid Beheshti University

³ Faculty member of Shahid Beheshti University

10.30465/copl.2025.48354.4128

Abstract

In different cultures, a halo of negations, taboos, and marginalization sometimes draws distant parts of human concepts and inner emotions, known as taboos or prohibitions. Taboo themes have various forms and dimensions, including political, religious, sexual, and social. Despite the prohibition of taboos in social interactions, the field of literature provides a platform for their direct and indirect emergence. Attention to taboos and their reflection in literary texts, regardless of breaking common norms for creative creations, has an aesthetic and cognitive aspect. To demonstrate this aspect of contemporary literary works, we have selected stories from Persian and Arabic literature; that is, two female and two male writers from two languages and cultures. The research findings indicate that the story writers have used taboos in portraying characters and choosing their language. In these works, female characters use non-standard language forms more often, while male characters use more standard forms. Syrian writers express taboos more freely, while Iranian writers are more cautious and use more rhetorical devices. Regarding taboo themes, it can also be said that Iranian and Arab writers do not break many taboos in religious and belief matters. Behavioral taboos such as mentioning alcoholic beverages and drugs are seen in all texts. In the realm of women's taboos, while all writers have addressed them, these taboos are more explicitly expressed in Arabic stories.

Keywords

Persian and Arabic story

language and taboo

gender

Mastoor

Pirzad

Bitar

AlRahab