Representation of Iranian National Identity in Post-Islamic Revolution Novels: With Emphasis on the Document of National Identity Components

This study aims to examine how the components of Iranian national identity are represented in a selection of Persian novels written after the Islamic Revolution. The research population includes five prominent novels of this period: The Island of Bewilderment by Simin Daneshvar, Kelidar by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, The Dog and the Long Winter by Shahrnush Parsipur, and The Idrisi House and Two Views by Ghazaleh Alizadeh. These works were selected due to their narrative capacity and the prominent presence of in-text identity components. The study employs qualitative content analysis based on the “Document of Iranian National Identity Components” to analyze elements related to Iranian and Islamic cultural identity in these works. Relying on the document of Iranian national identity components and Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse approach, the research focuses on linguistic and semiotic mechanisms to examine how elements such as anti-colonialism, nationalism, defense of the homeland, and unity among subcultures are represented in narrative texts. The evidence extracted from the novels is analyzed across Fairclough’s three levels of discourse analysis—description, interpretation, and explanation—to clarify the ways in which national identity discourses are formed, transmitted, and stabilized within the narrative structures. The findings indicate that each novel, through narrative mechanisms, patterns of characterization, and representation of social actions, demonstrates the role of literature in explaining, shaping, and negotiating diverse identity discourses in contemporary Iran.