An Investigation of Identitiy Crisis in Women under the Domination of ISIS

Identity is a conceptual image that a person gives to himslef to answer these questions: "Who the person is" and "How the person lives."  In other words, identity is a composition of self that indicates a person's behaviour, thoughts, and feelings. This psycho-social topic enables the person to define his/her reaction toward the world and the people around him/her. Identity is not a fixed phenomenon, it rather has different layers and aspects. This fluidity causes the mobility of identity and exposes it to danger. Finally, the danger enters the basic layers of identity and creates identity crisis. Erikson is the first person that has used the expression "identity crisis." He has classified human growth into eight levels the fifth of which is identity level. Al kafere by Ali Badr, is a social novel with a feministic approach. It's major component is the identity crisis in women who live under the dominance and control of ISIS and don’t have individual, social, and fimilial identity. The aim of this study is to let Iranian readers get familiar with the sistuation of women and the society dominated by ISIS in the novel, Al Kafere based on Erikson's theory, using a descriptive-analytical method. The findings of this study reveal that the author, with a social work and a feministic approach, opens new perspectives to subjects including the rights of women entrapped in the hands of ISIS, patriarchy, social and cultural disorder in a society dominated by ISIS. Furthermore, it illustrates the wounds and pains that have been imposed on women during the occupation of Iraq.