A Reading of the Novel People of Previous Life on the Approach of Ecofeminism

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Human Science of Narjes, Vali’asr University, Rafsanjan, Iran

2 Department of Persian Language and Literature, Velayat University

Abstract

In recent decades, social and cultural transformations have led to an increase the migration, a phenomenon that has also been reflected in some literary narratives. In many studies, migration is treated as a gender-neutral phenomenon; however, women’s relationships with nature and their experiences of ecosystem, leaving home, and migration differ from those of men. People of Previous Lives by Fariba Vafi is one of the most prominent narrative examples that represents migration from the perspective of women’s lived experience. Using a descriptive–analytical method and drawing on the theoretical framework of ecofeminism, this study analyzes the novel. In the novel, the female migration occurs under the coercion and thus exemplifies a form of violence rooted in patriarchal domination and constitutes a painful rupture from and feelings of nostalgia for the past, depression, homelessness and diaspora. She loses home and network of human and non-human relationships , the woman becomes trapped in the cold spaces of the host land achieves self-knowledge with the support of other migrant women. through a shift in perspective and self-reflection, a return to nature. she comes to accept a hybrid identity and a new condition in the host country. Numerous signs in the novel point—both realistically and symbolically—to the woman’s relationship with nature and natural elements. the creation of harmony between the characters’ inner states and the external environment. The symbolic equivalence of women with elements of nature—such as trees and dogs—and the comparison of women to natural illustrate symbolic forms of connection.

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Journal of Society and the Environment
Volume 2, Issue 7
February 2026
Pages 131-150

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