Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature

Interplay of Magical Realism and Postmodernism in Toni Morrison's Beloved and Zoya Pirzad's I Will Turn Off the Lights: A Comparative Study Based on Epistemological and Ontological Concepts

Azadeh Mehrpouyan — 2025-11-19

This study aims to explore the complex and multilayered interaction of magical realism and postmodernism in the novels Beloved by Toni Morrison and I Will Turn Off the Lights by Zoya Pirzad, regarded as two prominent examples of contemporary literature. Employing a comparative analytical approach and relevant literary theories, this research examines how these two authors utilize magical and postmodern elements to represent the complexities of identity, memory, history, and power. The findings indicate that the intersection of these two literary schools plays a significant role in creating polyphonic and polysemous narratives, enabling the authors to challenge traditional concepts of reality, time, and space. In Pirzad’s novel, there is an emphasis on depicting the everyday lives of women and their socio-cultural challenges in post-revolutionary Iran through the use of symbols and multilayered narratives. A deeper analysis reveals that such elements in both novels function not only as aesthetic devices but also as tools for critiquing power structures and discrimination. Focusing on concepts such as multiple identities, historical memory, and language as a tool of power, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the formation of social and cultural identities in complex conditions. The outcomes of this research not only expand knowledge in comparative literature and women's studies but can also serve as a model for analyzing other literary works and for a better comprehension of how social and political issues are represented in contemporary literature.

From Established Beliefs and Traditions to Innovation and Technology in Language Learning

Dan Manolescu — 2025-11-24

The present article approaches the concept of language learning from a teacher’s perspective, but also from the standpoint of a language learner. A thorough analysis of recent language research has shown that competence, accuracy, and fluency can be achieved if students understand the complexity of the learning process, and build their knowledge using traditional and/or innovative methodologies brought about by the 21^st advancement in science and technology. A quick overview of historical data makes research a rich source of information and delivers good news about new ways of language learning strategies that are made available by the computerized world of today. Motivation, creativity, and curiosity are valuable components of the current approach, to which we might add humor and music. The practical examples and the opinions presented here are corroborated by solid language research and minute study of this relatively new and unexplored realm of linguistics.

Towards a Universal Community: The Writing of the Everyday Life in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town

Xu Chenyan — 2026-01-13

Thornton Wilder’s Our Town displays the essence of daily life in a plain, delicate and anti-didactic writing style. Taking the daily triviality of the two ordinary families in Grover’s Corners as its basic narrative framework, Wilder realizes the everyday universality through objective and authentic depiction of everyday fragments in this traditional American town. Namely, Grover’s Corners is presented as a microcosm of each typical ordinary town where both the environment and characters exemplify the ordinary to emphasize the essence of daily existence itself. Accordingly, this thesis is devoted to focusing on the writing of the everyday life in terms of the setting arrangement, characterization and narrative strategies from the perspective of Henri Lefebvre’s critique of everyday life, thereby dissecting the essence of everyday life as well as its influence on individuals’ identity construction. When the duality, universality and constructiveness of daily life are represented through the depictions of the anti-utopian town’s environment, stereotypical townspeople and hybrid narratives, the fact that the American fail to get a genuine knowledge of the everyday life is also emerging. Gulped in the economic depression, the American citizens were consumed by everyday trivialities, failing to recognize the inherent beauty and sublimity within the everyday life. Consequently, the exploration of the nature and truth of the daily life as well as its hidden beauty and nobility became the driving force behind Our Town, aiming to restore courage and confidence to Americans dwelt in the shadow of the Great Depression in 1930s. Additionally, by critically specifying Wilder’s writing of everyday life, this thesis maps the multiple essence of the everyday life and townspeople’s constructed identity under the genuine knowledge of daily life, in turn underscoring Wilder’s nostalgia for traditional American values and a deeper community spirit embedded within his depiction of everyday life.