Sociological study of Armenian female image in Iranian prose literature with the approach of imagology

Abstract:
Armenians have always played a significant role in Iranian culture and literature. Examining the confrontation between the Iranian society and the Armenians can be a place for various sociological, literary, historical, and cultural studies. In this article, we have investigated the image of Armenian women, an essential part of Armenian society, in Iranian fiction before the Islamic Revolution. First, we have introduced the knowledge of imagology and mentioned its brief history, and then, using the findings of this knowledge, we have examined the image of Armenian women in Iranian fiction. After collecting the samples, we have concluded that the face of the Armenian woman in the samples can be categorized in the form of two main images. First, the Armenian woman is a beautiful and free woman who is mainly represented as an object for marriage or pleasure, and secondly, the working and hardworking Armenian woman who have an admirable and respectable image and are in a way in front of the first category.
  Keywords:   Armenian women, Armenians, Iranian fiction, exoticism, imagology, misogyny
 
Introduction:
In Persian literary texts, the Armenian community, one of the most important religious minorities in this country, has been mentioned many times. By examining these references, it is possible to analyze the relationship of this minority with Iranians, Iranian culture, and most importantly, the literary reflection of this relationship. Examining the image of Armenian women is an important part of this type of study, which helps us to understand the relationship between Iranian society and the position of the Armenian minority in it. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the image of Armenian women appears in Iranian literature and its impact on Iranians' self-knowledge.
Research background:
Lilit' Safrastyan carried out one of the first studies about Armenians in Persian fiction in the 20th century in the articles «Armenian Image in Contemporary Iranian Literature» and «Asia Between Two Worlds», by Shahrnoush Parsipour. Must be noted, that these studies did not cover all the issues concerning Armenians in the Iranian authors’ books, and also, they were not conducted with a specific methodology.
In addition, Houri Berberyan examines the situation of Armenians before the 19th century to the first decade of the 20th century in the book Armenians and the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911 (Berberyan, 2018). In the book Armenian Christians in Iran: Ethnicity,  Religion, and Identity, James Barry also deals with issues such as the construction of society, the educational system, and the status of Armenian women in Iran today (Barry, 2019).
Methodology and Materials:
This research was conducted by examining and analyzing prose works of Iranian writers from the constitutional period to the Islamic revolution (1357-1278 Khorshidi). First, the fictional works of prominent Iranian writers of this period were studied to find the mentions of Armenian women, then the extracted materials were analyzed by the theory of imagology. According to researchers of the imagology school, to recognize ourselves better, we must evaluate ourselves in comparison with others. Brigitte Le Juez, referring to Pageaux, writes in this regard: "Studying an image, therefore, means establishing its conformity (or non-conformity) to an existing model in the culture of the group examining another" (Le Juez, 2021:11). Image theorists define the main feature of the image as arising from the difference between an "I" and the "other" and between «here» and «there». Sometimes, a culture finds in another culture features desirable for itself, but for various reasons, it is impossible to gain them, and thus the concept of «exoticism» comes into being.
 
 
Results:
          Based on the data collected in this research, in Persian fiction, most Armenian female characters are repeated in the form of several fixed stereotypes. In general, the image of Armenian women in Persian fiction can be divided into two categories: first, beautiful, free, seductive, and sexually attractive women, and second, working women or women who are active in any way in the field of work and economy.
          In the first group, what the writers are interested in is the beauty and attractiveness of Armenian women and girls, their free behavior, and the desire to marry them despite the ban. This image has its roots in the literature of previous periods and has become a macro model that may not match reality. In many cases, beauty is considered the main feature of Armenian women, and this issue reduces the depth of their personalities. This view is due to the belief that external beauty necessarily leads to bad behavior and liberation from the moral and social constraints of these women, which in turn is the result of attributing Armenians to European and Western culture. On the other hand, the beauty of Armenian women and at the same time the prohibition of marrying them has caused this minority to become an exotic domestic group. Also, writers often used Armenian characters as a means to express taboo issues in society (such as cheating on a husband).
In the second category, examples of the presence of Armenian women in Persian fiction have been presented, which show them as independent and capable women in society and economy, contrary to the existing stereotype. Although this issue may indicate the comprehensive view of the authors, the first view prevails over the second view.
According to the analyzed data, it can be said that in Iran, the Armenian community was viewed as «an internal other». In this picture, often at first sight, there is no geographical border between «here» and «there» between Iranians and Armenians, but, even though it seems that the geographical borders are the same, the imaginary borders of these two communities are always have been separated. This issue is more visible in the analysis of Iranian «me» and Armenian «other». In matters such as marriage with Armenian women, the Iranian «me» is always distinguished from the Armenian «other» and any intercourse or marriage with these women will either bring dishonor to the family or as a semi-imaginary and romantic event, such as establishing sexual relations in the novel of «Parrot» by Zakaria Hashemi is defined. In cases where marriage with an Armenian woman is mentioned, old literary clichés are used, such as the marriage in the play «Khosrow and Shirin». In these situations, the author calls Shirin of Iranian origin and thus gives formality to this marriage in the eyes of society. It is interesting that for working women like Madame Hakopian in the story «History of My Room» by Alavi, this difference is not so obvious and the conflict between «I» and «the other» is not seen in practice.