درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

This study attempts to examine Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test in the light of the ideas of Michel Foucault, specifically the notions of normalization, institutions, and surveillance that tackle the relationships among power, institutions, and literature. The analysis posits that, in the context of the 1960s, the American government took advantage of all the institutions which were supposed to guarantee the freedom of individuals to curtail their freedom. Seeking to create a normal, ordinary, and homogeneous society, these administrations have employed the police, law, prison, and other overlapping institutions that work in tandem to create circuits of institutions which guarantee to reduce  human beings to simpletons who are docile, meek, and ready to fit in place properly. The normality and ordinariness favored by the authorities are also implemented since the novel starts by depicting free individuals whose identities hinge on their being abnormal while it ends when their movement is shattered, and the protagonist is seen as a simpleton serving the forced labor sentence of the judges of both the government and normality. Freedom emerges as a mirage than truth as there seems to be no outside through which individuals can live outside the domination of controlling apparatuses.

Contrary to the traditional disciple-making efforts presented by commentators of mystical works, which aim to consolidate a fanatical attitude towards mysticism and hide any epistemological defects, these works have their own disadvantages, similar to any other knowledge system. One of these disadvantages is the categorization of "women," which, due to the continuation of the patriarchal worldview and the Mithraic origin of Iranian-Islamic mysticism, has been approached with a dogmatic and gender-oriented perspective. Therefore, within the mystical tradition, despite occasional praises given to women in Sufi works, they are generally regarded as symbols of evil passion, and the love for them is seen as figurative and lustful. In these instances, the mystical texts acknowledge their own stance, and, often in contrast to the efforts of their fanatical admirers, provide an opportunity for so-called "destructive" analyses. The present article examines the contradictions within the works of two renowned mystical poets, Attar and Rumi, specifically regarding their portrayal of "woman". By adopting a deconstructive approach, often utilizing textual evidence, it aims to highlight their patriarchal attitude. Consequently, it concludes that while researchers of mystical works have often attempted to absolve the mystic poets of their patriarchal or misogynistic gender-oriented views, the mystics themselves have not done so.