Contemporary Poetry of Iran
Allahkaram Abasi; mahboobeh khorasani; Mahmud Heydari
Abstract
AbstractEach literary work is a sign of its writer’ ideology and thoughts, and is basedon the social and political context of the community. Reza Baraheni, theauthor of the Novel “Mysteries of My Land”, as a social reformer, influencedby the atmosphere of the ruling community in Iran, ...
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AbstractEach literary work is a sign of its writer’ ideology and thoughts, and is basedon the social and political context of the community. Reza Baraheni, theauthor of the Novel “Mysteries of My Land”, as a social reformer, influencedby the atmosphere of the ruling community in Iran, especially Tabriz duringthe years from 1959 to 1979, expressed his social-political ideas with the aimof reforming society. Thus analyzing the writer’s thoughts is important fromthe point of view of post-colonial literature. The present study is done via thecontent analysis method to investigate the intellectual themes of the novel,such as tradition and modernity, social disadvantages, status of women insociety, Self and the Other, apolitism, lack of self-esteem, and subaltern andhegemony, and anti-colonialism .The research results depict that this novel,drawing on the components of post-colonial literature, illustrates themes suchas the confrontation between tradition and modernity, the male dominance ofthe traditional society, western subaltern and hegemony, moral issues, lack ofself-esteem, and identity fragmentation. But, on the contrary, relying onmythological beliefs and ideas to achieve the former identity, the novel alsopromotes the struggle against the belief in the supremacy of Western race aswell as anti-colonialism.Keywords: literary criticism, postcolonial literature, ideology, RezaBaraheni, Mysteries of My Land28 Persian Language and Literature, Vol. 71, Issue 238, Fall & Winter 2018- 2019The novel “Mysteries of My Land" can be a true reflection of thesociety, traditions, customs and reactions of the people of Tabriz duringthe above-mentioned twenty years, i.e. from 1959 to 1979. In fact, theinfluence of the westerns in Iran began almost two hundred years agoalong with Russian wars with Iran, but its peak and intensity started in1941, when and also thereafter, the British and Russians forces werepresent in the west and north of Iran. Some writers such as Al-e Ahmad,Barahani, Sa'edi, Daneshvar and Ravanipour responded to the influenceof foreigners in Iran during this period, and produced works with thethemes among which the postcolonial themes are the most strikingaspects of storytelling. Accordingly, the questions raised in this studyare as follows: What are the components of postcolonial literature inReza Baraheni's novel? What are the social and political fields affectingthis novel? How did the Iranian society, especially in Tabriz, treatedcolonialism and colonialists?Postcolonial literature, expressing liberation and freedom fromcolonialism and gaining the political and cultural independence ofpeoples under the colonial rule, extends to its own themes and differentstyles. Consequently, postcolonial theory is one of the most importantliterary theories coexisting with the postmodern era, especially sincestructuralism shaded on the field of Western culture and the "whitemyth", and introduced the West as the source of science, knowledge,and philosophy, and the birthplace of theories and methods. This typeof literature, aiming to illegitimate the power of colonialism by forceand nation-building, has completely historical implications, notifyingthe post-independence period. Therefore, the intellectual themes of thenovel of “Mysteries of My Land” by Reza Baraheni can be consideredas components of post-colonial criticism such as tradition andmodernity, social disadvantages, status of women in society, Self andthe Other, apolitism, lack of self-esteem, subaltern and hegemony, andanti-colonialism.This novel is a realist one that sometimes comes near magicalrealism. Baraheni considers events as an evolutionary process, not as aseries of distinct phenomena that are related to each other and thehistorical conditions, in a way that the contradiction and solidarity ofsocial life are introduced. Although this work can be consideredPostcolonial Criticism of the Novel "The Secrets of My Land'… 29magical realism in terms of mythical components, which is one of theroots of indigenous culture, its realism is more highlighted based on thememories and narratives of the characters.Reza Baraheni pursued another goal in the face of seeminglypolitical events and with the abundance of words in texts. In addition tohis pencils, he induces his thoughts to the reader, and, with the politicaland social goals, expresses these positions depending on the narrationof each character. Positions reflecting the writer’s ideology are politicalfrom several perspectives:a. In the opening part of the novel, which is narrated with the thirdperson narrative mode, it reflects Baraheni’s opposition with theAmericans and his convergence with the Soviet Union, as it isclearly visible in the dialogue between the interpreter and Davis,the American. In the novel, Baraheni is constantly talking aboutthe disagreements of the Americans with Iran, but there is noplace in the novel about the dispute between Iran and the SovietUnion, and in reality, Gorg (Wolf) the Alien Killer, is a"socialist nationalist" who killed a Russian Cossack, not asoldier from the Soviet Union.b. In addition to the idea of the struggle against colonialism whichcame through championship of Gorg the Alien Killer,Baraheni’s political thoughts deal with the struggle against theruling regime; that is, Baraheni discussed intellectualdisagreements with the regime of Pahlavi and their governmentofficials. The novel, from the section of the American Captainand Iranian Colonel, gradually criticizes the ruling governmentin the context of the social and economic problems.c. Another case that can introduce us to another approach toBaraheni's political thoughts in this novel is the characters’efforts to achieve revolution. He gives a glimpse of a revolutionin the great part of the novel, either by bringing in dreams anddreams, or by events and letters, which must be tolerated inorder to achieve that demonstration. Baraheni predictsrevolution in the dream of Hossein Mirza as the symbol of therhythm of miserable life of the masses. Thus, he portrays therevolution that he sees in Hossein Mirza’s dream about after the30 Persian Language and Literature, Vol. 71, Issue 238, Fall & Winter 2018- 2019demonstrations and events, attaches it to the first issue, i.e. thecolonialists’ struggle with the national spirit, and knows Gorgthe Alien Killer as its protector.In addition, in a specific style derived from Baraheni’s own ideologytowards the ruling government and the Westerners, there is a picture ofhis socialist thought, the nationality of the people, distancing from thecolonialism of the West and the achievement of freedom. This isbecause his ideology sought to signify the social and economicdisadvantages, subaltern and hegemony, and the issue of supremacy ofthe superior race and position of women in the society, which ultimatelyendowed with the spirit of anti-colonialism and identity recognition,wisdom and the mercenary of Gorg the AlienKiller, i.e. the embodimentof the Iranians’ eternal anger and hatred of the invading aliens and thedefeat of colonialism. The research results depict that this novel,drawing on the components of post-colonial literature, illustratesthemes such as the confrontation between tradition and modernity, themale dominance of the traditional society, western subaltern andhegemony, moral issues, lack of self-esteem, and identityfragmentation. But, on the contrary, relying on mythological beliefs andideas to achieve the former identity, the novel also promotes thestruggle against belief in the supremacy of Western race as well as anticolonialism.
