فہمیدہ ریاض کی نظم اک اسیر شہزادی کا گائنو کریٹیکل تجزیہ (ثقافتی تناظر میں )

A Gynocritical Analysis of Fahmida Riaz’s Poem “A Captive Princess” in a Cultural Context

Abstract

This study presents a noncritical and cultural analysis of Fahmida Riaz’s poem by examining the poem as complete textual unit. Drawing upon Elaine Showalter’s theory of gynocriticism, the article foregrounds women’s expression, cultural marginalization, and symbolic resistance within patriarchal social structures. The poem constructs tradition metaphorically as a decaying architectural space that embodies rigid customs, gendered power relations, and institutionalized control over women’s identities. Through an analysis of imagery, symbolic language, and narrative silence, the study reveals how Riaz articulates female consciousness and collective trauma rooted in South Asian cultural practices. The article situates the poem within broader socio-cultural and political discourses while highlighting its continued relevance in contemporary contexts. This research contributes to Urdu. feminist criticism by identifying the poem as a resistant gynocritical text that reclaims women’s cultural agency.

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