Contemporary Poetry of Iran
dadyar hamedi; mir jalal oddin kazzazi; gholamreza salemian
Abstract
Epic Elements in Simin Behbahani's GHAZAL AbstractThe use of epic elements is one of the features of today's ghazall. SiminBehbahani is a poet who has paid special attention to this. He uses rhetoricalelements such as exaggerations and blessings to describe the phenomena ofnature in terms of specific ...
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Epic Elements in Simin Behbahani's GHAZAL AbstractThe use of epic elements is one of the features of today's ghazall. SiminBehbahani is a poet who has paid special attention to this. He uses rhetoricalelements such as exaggerations and blessings to describe the phenomena ofnature in terms of specific epic and warfare. The simplicity of likeness inBehbahani's sonnets and the use of epic compatible pseudo-shapes reinforcesher epic tune of her sonnets; besides, the use of magnificent and magnificentpuzzles affects this. Also, Behbahani sometimes expresses the epic themes ofhis sonnets, with the proper use of reverberant weights. The poet's Irandostyhas led him to give special attention to the myths of ancient Iran. In hissonnets, the battle with the evil forces and the Divan can be seen and there arereferences to the mythical and epic characters. Sometimes myths such asRustam and Zahak have been shown in a different way from their original.Keywords: Epic, Behbahani, Ghazal.16 Persian Language and Literature, Vol. 71, Issue 238, Fall & Winter 2018- 2019IntroductionEpic is one of the earliest literary genres. Some scholars believe thatnowadays the period of epic poetry has come to an end; this claim isnot aberrant, because epic poetry is glorified on a special social baseand only if that foundation is procured, an individual endeavor or apolitical support could lead somewhere. However, some of the elementsin epic poetry are noticeable in contemporary poems and odes.Nevertheless the content of epic poetry is so vast and copious that onecannot claim that the epic and ode are the same thing. To illustrate thesematters, the best kind of poetry is Masnavi (a poetic rhym form almostlike couplets). The reason is that poets do not have to cope with thedifficulties of rhyming while composing poems in this form and are ableto recite thousands of lines, while ode is too short to entail epic stories.To describe these cases, Masnavi is the most appropriate poeticform. Because poets do not get caught up when they compose this formof poetry and compose thousands of lines but ode is so short that thereis no room for dealing with epic stories. The matters discussed in odein classical literature mostly deal with love and mysticism, so in thecategorization of literary genres, they are considered as lyric poetry.Despite this fact, from very old times the elements of epic poetry isnoticeable in ode. Epic is defined as the conflict of antagonists. Thisconflict in mysticism and in ode is depicted as an inner struggle of anindividual with himself and is the most common form of emanation ofepic in classic ode. After constitutionalism, the Iranian society hasundergone many political and social changes. Fundamental changes ineducation and some people’s familiarity with other cultures have led toapparition of newfangled values such as freedom and justice, andresulted in protest against political system. Reflections of these protestscan be seen in constitutional poets. In Pahlavi’s era, the protests weredivulged more than before and the known poets of the era, most ofwhom were modernizers, recited poetry with collectivist and opposingtendencies. Gradually the conflict between modernized poets andleaders created a new form of epic which was not that much commonin the past. Most of the modernist poets such as Nima, Shamloo andAkhavan considered poetry a social function beside their concentrationon creativity and aesthetic aspect of poetry .They used it as a means todeclare their socio-political objections; this continued to be the caseuntil the Islamic revolution. After the revolution, poets mostlyemployed classical forms, like ode, to declare the epics duringEpic Elements in Behbahani's Ghazal 17revolution and exigent war; the thorough revolutionary excitement andthe noticeable increase of the audience can be counted as the reasons.These audience, unlike the more specific audience of the modernpoetry, are more accustomed to traditional forms and as a result aremore likely among those people who connect mostly with odes. Fromnow on, epic isn’t restricted just too mystical odes or inner conflict ofthe poet. The poets of modern world watch human ideals in an outerdomain. And in accordance with the alternations of the age, they fightwith admonitions such as autocracy, injustice, enormity and invasion.Simin Behbahani is one of the contemporary poetesses whose workscarry an epic tone. The influence of her work on the literary flow ofodes is undeniable. She elicited a new look from this form byfabricating new rhymes in order to bring up new debates. Romanticismwas bold in her early works. It appeared mostly in the form of personalapprehensions like love issues which also took social deductions oncouplets. We face cases like women who turn toward degeneration orthe tears of a student who is fed up with poverty and misery. Thesepoems are thematically remonstrant but they contain an inactive andaccordant tone. She does not convey romantic sighs after writing thebook "A line of speed and fire". Instead, her odes start to deliver an epictone. Since then all her work has been in epic language, a language thatbelongs to herself.The aim of this research is to investigate the elements whichinfluenced the epic tone in Behbahani's work.FindingsBehbahani has paid attention to epic elements in many of her odes. Inorder to do that she has used factors like exaggeration, description, mythand simile.Her use of exaggeration is not simply limited to physical powers,just unlike the exaggeration in the old poems. The ability of her heroesis not simply because of facing enemies like Dragons or crossingimpracticable roads one after another. These heroes contend withcruelty and scarify themselves for ideals like equality and freedom.Based on the fact that epic is elicited from myth, she has benefitedfrom the myth of the ancient Iran in her works. For instance, characterslike Zahhak, Rostam, Simorgh and deev have a considerable presencein her work but her approach is completely different from the previousmethods. Her conceptions are sometimes so creative that the myth is18 Persian Language and Literature, Vol. 71, Issue 238, Fall & Winter 2018- 2019even depicted completely inversely. This can be related directly to thetransformation of the social ideals and values. Simplicity in applyingsimile for subjects like intrepidity, greatness, resilience and solidity inBehbahani's works has strengthened the epic tones of her odes. Thecorrect practice of Simile vehicles was also beneficial.There are also other methods to an epic tone like applying veryrhythmic rhymes. Behbahani is a master of new and rare rhymes andshe uses the meaning of some rhymes to create epic tones.ConclusionSometimes the epic elements are applied in Behbahani's work just theway they were in old literature. Depicting tools like swords, daggersand arrows in order to describe the nature is an example. In some cases,she even uses a new method in articulating epic subjects like using veryrare rhymes just to keep up with the epic tone of the poems.Glorifications that she mentions in her works are not used in orderto prove personal superiorities, but to imply epic and social purposes.Besides, Behbahani sometimes depicts myths like Rostam or Zahhakinversely. This could alone be indicative of the differences of the socialbackground of the poem compared to the old times.
