Beyond the Representation of Écriture Féminine and the Poetics of Everyday Life in Zoya Pirzad’s “Mismatched” (Lengeh-be-Lengeh)

Abstract

This paper explores the manifestation of écriture féminine in Zoya Pirzad’s short story “Mismatched,” drawing on the theories of Hélène Cixous. While Pirzad’s works has frequently been studied through the lenses of female representation, everyday life, and identity, the linguistic and narrative mechanisms tied to the concept of écriture féminine in this story remain under-researched. Employing qualitative textual analysis and close reading, this study demonstrates that écriture féminine operates in this text not merely at the thematic level, but through its form, rhythm, silences, everyday details, and the organization of narrative perception. The findings reveal that the “everyday” in Pirzad’s fiction is not merely a backdrop for representing women’s experiences, but functions as an arena for meaning-making, resistance against established patriarchal linguistic patterns, and the rewriting of lived female experience. Consequently, this paper argues that “Mismatched” articulates a poetics of the everyday, through which écriture féminine in contemporary Persian fiction is realized—not through extreme linguistic ruptures, but through a delicate economy of silence, rhythm, and the minutiae of daily life.