مشخصات پژوهش

The study will investigate how psycho-social trauma is expressed through body language in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire and Akbar Radi’s The Steps, focusing on a less explored aspect of trauma studies that usually emphasizes spoken language. It looks into nonverbal signals such as gestures, posture, and facial expressions, showing how these features reveal the characters' psychological and emotional challenges. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois illustrates trauma through her denial and physical actions, highlighting the pressures related to society and gender. On the other hand, The Steps reflects the emotional impact of poverty and social changes in rural Iran, using nonverbal cues to show suffering. The study takes a comparative, cross-cultural approach, emphasizing the common ways trauma is expressed through body language while also pointing out cultural differences between Western and Eastern perspectives. Previous studies have examined how psycho-social trauma is expressed through nonverbal communication in literary characters. For example, Anca Vlasopolos’ (1986) paper, Authorizing History: Victimization in A Streetcar Named Desire, uses diverse critical theories to analyze the play, shedding light on trauma and its manifestation in the characters’ body language. Using a qualitative comparative method, the study will combine Cathy Caruth’s trauma theory with Peter Anderson’s views on nonverbal communication. This method highlights how cultural and historical contexts influence the portrayal of trauma, providing a deeper understanding of the characters' mental states beyond just their words. In addition, the study will present a fresh framework that positions body language as an essential storytelling element in literature. The study will answer the following questions: 1. How is body language observed and utilized to determine psycho-social trauma in A Streetcar Named Desire and The Steps? 2.What cultural aspects are brought out in the