A New Historicist Reading of Golshiri’s My China Doll

Abstract

As a writer of wide humanist knowledge and touching worldview, Hushang Golshiri, manipulates the social and political context of his time as the backbone of his stories through which he reveals the mentality of his characters which looks complicated at times. My China Doll, as one of his great short stories, poignantly matches this argument. Drowned in the mentality of a little girl we are presented with pretty loud echoes of the particular historical, political, and cultural facts of the time. These special discourses help shaping the consciousness of his characters on the other hand. In order to analyse the story in this regard, a New Historicist approach will be rewarding as applied to the story. As New Historicists emphasize to regard a work of art as a mere cultural artefact as well as a socially constructed product, this is the general view of the story within the article. Therefore, the way it is formed by the interplay of Various social and political discourses are explored within the context reflecting the pure art of Golshiri in portraying his characters mind development during the process.