Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 PhD Student in Persian Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Abstract
Speculative fiction surpasses the rules of our world to create entirely new ones. The sub-genres of dystopian, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic fiction consider very extreme circumstances that test human values and survival. This paper compares Kāj-Zadegi and Bārān-Zād by Zoha Kazemi with Mah-Ālood by Alista Aghaei, focusing on their governance systems, societal structures, and defining characteristics. The comparison is done along four dimensions: governance, human experience, social dynamics, and environmental features.
Kāj-Zadegi emphasizes authoritarianism, strict security measures, harsh punishments, and loss of personal identity through mechanization. In contrast, Bārān-Zād is subtler in her critiques while addressing character development, empathy, and the struggle of individuals for love, justice, and survival in the face of adversity. Common to all three works are themes of societies recovering from human or natural catastrophes. Shared motifs include class relations, fear, hope, chaos, betrayal, and strange end-of-the-world creatures.
While Mah-Ālood has stressed military components, Kāj-Zadegi does not highlight religion and sovereignty, demoting militarism, whereas Bārān-Zād refers to them all. Their settings are different-Mah-Ālood on a faraway planet and Kāj-Zadegi and Bārān-Zād on Earth, but with different futures of dystopia. All three works explore how governance and societal structures adapt to and reflect the challenges of speculative worlds.
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