Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Zohheh Ramin ¹
• Amirhossein Effatian ²

¹ Department of English, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature, University of Tehran

² PhD Candidate of University of Tehran, Alborz Campus

Abstract

Afghanistan is a country besieged by years of instability and unrest as a result of the weak governments that came to power especially after King Zahir. Mohammad Asef Soltanzade’s “Brazen Bulls” is the story of the tragedy that befalls a country similar to Afghanistan. The story is an allegory of the atrocities committed against the civilians and the civilians who resort to extreme forms of violence to counteract the government and occupied forces’ measures. The novel has propensities for dialogical analysis as a result of the voices that represent different discourses in the present Afghanistan. This paper is an attempt to link the text of the novel to the discursive and social practices that gave rise to the emergence of such novels. It aims to show how literary products can help bring about discourses necessary for forcing effective changes in the hegemonic discourse in the long run. The methodology used in order to fulfill the purposes of the paper and generate some discussion is the critical discourse analysis endorsed by Norman Fairclough.

Keywords

• hegemonic discourse
• counter-hegemonic discourse
• critical discourse analysis
• ideology
• repressive state apparatus
• ideological state apparatuses

Main Subjects

• cultural studies