Representation of woman's subordination in the novel Al Hobb fi Zaman al-Naft

Subordination, as an important topic of social feminism, is widely dealt with in literary works and theories. Although feminism has different dimensions and themes, it seems that the result of all the feministic concerns is the protest at the woman's lower position in the history and the contemporary world. The feminism, with all its ups and downs, after experiencing Western literature, was followed seriously by women writers in the Arabic literature. A well-known writer in this field is Nawal el-Saadawi from Egypt. She is impressed by the position of the Egyptian woman and, specifically in the novel Al-Hobb fi Zaman-al-Naft seeks to retrieve the woman's identity. She believes that, in the light of the social rights of the woman, achieving her identity occurs only as a result of leaving her subordinate position. This approach can be viewed in various aspects of her novel. The present study aims to investigate female subordination and its results as well as provide an image of women's efforts to achieve their desired goal. So, after a brief overview is given of social feminism and Saadawi’s novel, the concept of subordination is examined using the descriptive-analytic method. The results show that, according to the theoretical foundations of the research, the concept of subordination in the present novel is affected by women’s dependence, the mental construction of men, patriarchy and male power, and the control on women's education.