THE PROBLEM OF SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT AND INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM IN AZIZAH JAFARZADEH’S “ZARRINTAJ-TAHIRA” AND DORIS LESSING’S “THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK”

Abstract

In contemporary literary studies, the relationship between the individual and society, as well as the influence of the social environment on a person’s worldview and life position, is regarded as one of the most significant research areas. This article examines the problem of social environment and individual freedom in the works of the prominent Azerbaijani writer, People’s Writer and Professor Azizah Jafarzadeh, and the Nobel Prize laureate and one of the most distinguished representatives of English prose, Doris May Lessing, particularly in her novel The Golden Notebook. In both works, the relationship between the individual and society, as well as the impact of the social environment on a person’s worldview and social position, is analyzed. In Azizah Jafarzadeh’s historical novel Zarrintaj-Tahira, the struggle of a woman against religious and social restrictions and her determination to achieve spiritual freedom are depicted. In Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, the influence of the social environment and political ideologies on individual behavior in modern Western society is presented. Furthermore, the impact of radical ideas on the protagonist’s life is artistically illustrated. The study concludes that although the idea of individual freedom is presented within different social and cultural contexts in these novels, both authors approach the relationship between society and the individual from a critical perspective.