Humor in the Education of the Women in the Manuscript Ādāb al-nisvān

Abstract

The unpublished work Ᾱdāb al-Nisvān (Women’s mannerisms) is a reworked version of ‘Aqā’id al-Nisā’ (Women’s beliefs), otherwise known as Kulthūm-nana, the namesake of the main character in this work of prose. On the one hand, this work introduces a valuable resource as to the idea of the education of women in nineteenth-century Iran; and on the other hand, it is an attempt to verify the validity of claims made in Aqā’īd al-nisā’, and as such the validity of the reworked Ᾱdāb al-nisvān. One can make some connections between the two manuscripts. Ᾱdāb al-nisvān represents the folkloric aspects of women’s society. Didactic literature of this sort aims to criticize by means of ribaldry and satire. It guffaws at the religious superstitions of women—often later in years, where acting games and rites create a paradoxical framework for the intended reality. The author attempts to guide the feminine behavioral patterns by criticizing their ritual performances. This work takes an analogical approach to these manuscripts, their intent, and the theatrical genre of bāzīhā, where women highlight their societal ills in the all-woman sites available to them in their society.