The Unity of Woman and Earth: A Remnant of Mother Goddess Worship (A Study of Contemporary Feminist Poetry within the Theoretical Framework of Conceptual Blending)

Zakeri, Azadeh; Nowruzi, Hamed; Qorbani Juybari, Kolsum

doi:10.22077/jcrl.2025.8240.1164

The Unity of Woman and Earth: A Remnant of Mother Goddess Worship (A Study of Contemporary Feminist Poetry within the Theoretical Framework of Conceptual Blending)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Azadeh Zakeri ¹

Hamed nowruzi ²

Kolsum Qorbani juybari ³

¹ the teacher of Payam Noor University

² Associate Professor of the Department of Persian Language and Literature, Birjand University

³ University of birjand, humanity sciences faculty, department of Persian language and literature

10.22077/jcrl.2025.8240.1164

Abstract

The close connection between fertility and procreation rituals with "earth" and "woman" has led to the formation of a blended concept of earth-woman, which is manifested in some myths, including the myth of the mother goddess. Due to the persistence of these myths, this blend has also been ingrained in the minds of modern humans. One of the most prominent manifestations of the role of these myths is literature, especially poetry. The aim of this article is to examine the reflection of rituals related to woman-earth in contemporary Persian poetry. To this end, the poetry of four feminist poets, whose main focus is on myths and rituals, has been selected and evaluated. This research is based on the hypothesis that the worship of the mother goddess has reached modern poetry and has remained in the form of a blend of woman and nature in contemporary poetry. Since this ritual was specific to matriarchal societies, it is natural that the worship of the mother goddess is of great importance to feminists and they refer to it in their beliefs. Similarly, women poets, especially the selected poets whose general characteristic of their poetry is a tendency towards feminism, also feel a connection to the subject and establish a direct and deeper connection with the earth. Moreover, the emergence of the belief in the blending of woman and earth is seen in two ways: sometimes the earth is blended with a woman or feminine attributes such as pregnancy, marriage, virginity, etc.,

Keywords

Mother goddess

woman

earth

contemporary literature

feminism

conceptual blending

Subjects