Narges Montakhabi Bakhtvar

Narges is a doctoral candidate in Theatre Studies at the University of Victoria. She holds another PhD in English Language and Literature from her home country, Iran. This interdisciplinary academic journey has enabled her to explore her passion for literature, theatre, and philosophy across various domains, particularly postmodern art and contemporary political thought. Her current work delves into how different political inscriptions on the body, including the dichotomy between body-at-home and body-in-exile, are captured in the plays by Middle Eastern Canadian playwrights and performance artists. Specifically, her research investigates immigrant and exilic precarity, where narratives of displacement, embodiment, and ethics converge.

Areas of Research:

Politics of theatre and precarity, Middle Eastern Canadian theatre, diasporic (dis)embodiment, affect theory, phenomenology and the body 

Awards:

•  President’s Fellowship in Research-Enriched Teaching, University of Victoria, 2023
•  Jeffrey Rubinoff Art as a Source of Knowledge Graduate Scholarship, University of Victoria, 2023
• CATR Heather McCallum Scholarship, 2023

Selected Publications:

“The Body in Pain and Pleasure: The Phenomenology of Embodiment in Rosa Jamali’s Poetry.” Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies, Duke University Press, no. 19, vol. 3, 2023, pp. 337–356. https://doi.org/10.1215/15525864-10815497

 “The Body/theatre-in-Pain: (Im)possibility of Wellness in Lisa Kron’s Well.” Critical Stages/Scènes critiques, no. 27, June 2023. https://www.critical-stages.org/27/the-body-theatre-in-pain-impossibility-of-wellness-in-lisa-Lisas-well/

 “The Theatre of the Oppressed in Tehran: Dilemma of Ethics and Engagement.” Canadian Theatre Review, vol. 192, Fall 2022, pp. 22-24. https://doi.10.3138/ctr.192.005

 “Phenomenology of History and Body-Subject in Charles Olson’s Poetics.” Research in Contemporary World Literature (Academic Journal of University of Tehran), vol. 26, no. 1, 2021, pp. 319-340. https://doi.org/10.22059/jor.2018.239244.1563

 “Reflexive and Political Embodiment in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape and Catastrophe.” Journal of Dramatic Arts and Music (Academic Journal of the University of Art, Tehran), vol. 11, no. 23, 2021, pp. 21-36. https://10.30480/dam.2022.1482.1350          

 “Politics of Evasion and Tales of Abjection: Postmodern Demythologization in Angela Carter and Ghazaleh Alizadeh.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, vol. 22, no. 4, 2020. https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.3367

 “The Common and Postmodern Identity: A Sociological Study of ‘Open Theatre’ in America.” Journal of Dramatic Arts and Music (Academic Journal of University of Art, Tehran), vol. 10, no. 19, Winter and Spring 2020, pp. 21-39. https://dx.doi.org/10.30480/dam.2020.768.1182

 “Depoeticization of Poetry: A Study of Gertrude Stein’s Poetry in the Light of Maurice Blanchot’s Thought.” Research in Contemporary World Literature (Academic Journal of University of Tehran), vol. 25, no. 1, Summer and Autumn 2020, pp. 5-28. https://dx.doi.org/10.22059/jor.2017.224785.1490

 “A Comparative Study of Objectivism in Yadollah Royaee and Louis Zukofsky’s Poetry.” Journal of Comparative Literature (Academic Journal of the Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman), vol. 11, no. 21, Winter and Spring 2020, pp. 227-251. HTTPS://JCL.UK.AC.IR/ARTICLE_2541.HTML?LANG=EN#:~:TEXT=10.22103/JCL.2020.2541   

 “A Comparative Study of Postmodernism in Iranian and American Poetry.” Journal of Comparative Literature (Academic Journal of the Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman), vol. 10, no. 19, Winter and Spring 2019, pp. 241-261. https://dx.doi.org/10.22103/jcl.2019.2287

 “Language, Ethics, and Identity in Postmodern Theatre.” Critical Language and Literary Studies (Academic Journal of Shahid Beheshti University), vol. 13, no. 17, Fall and Winter 2016, pp. 245-268. https://clls.sbu.ac.ir/article_99923.html?lang=en

 “Deleuzoguattarian Schizoanalysis of Samuel Beckett’s ‘Whoroscope.’” Critical Language and Literary Studies (Academic Journal of Shahid Beheshti University), vol. 3, no. 6, Spring and Summer 2011, pp. 143-157. https://clls.sbu.ac.ir/article_99375_b377d0fc6c6efae5756adade0fe98d6c.pdf

Supervisor: Dr. Allana Lindgren