A few notes about protest literature in Iran.

When discussing “protest literature,” some may think that our understanding of this concept is synonymous or closely related to “commitment in literature” or, in another reading, “committed literature”; an understanding that itself has a “leftist” color and smell. Although “leftist literature” is also an example of this “protest literature.” According to the writer of this article, protest literature is not necessarily committed, but committed literature is a subset of protest literature. If we try to give a simple definition of these two terms, we must say that protest literature can be simply a protest against an issue or phenomenon without being committed to a political faction or a specific ideology. But committed literature, while protesting against certain issues or phenomena, is committed to a belief and sees itself as a solution, for example, the literature known as socialist realism is committed to Marxist ideals and, alongside protesting against certain phenomena, defends the slogans of the leftist movement as a solution. But it is a mistake to think

The beginning of protest literature is not against socialist realism or leftist literature, but it goes back to the emergence of the novel and new narrative literature and has a hand in the height of the enlightenment movement. Therefore, to examine the history of protest literature, we must go back to the 18th century, not just the 19th or 20th centuries. We know that the 18th century was the peak of a philosophical movement called the enlightenment. According to Milan Kundera, the 18th century was not only the century of philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant, etc., but also the century of novelists like Sterne. In his opinion, both the novel and philosophy, which were born from the inquisitive spirit of the West, had a common goal: the search for truth, but each with a different tool.

From this perspective, it is not surprising that the first beneficiaries of literature for their philosophical, social, and political purposes were the great figures of the Enlightenment movement. If we accept that this movement was essentially a protest against ignorance, superstition, and self-centeredness, then the literature that emerged from it must also be considered a form of protest literature. Examples of such literature can be seen in the works of Voltaire, for instance.

Simple-hearted

“Jean-Jacques Rousseau is similar to.”

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“Like a dream.”

Jacques, fate and its master.

And other works were mentioned. In all of these works, types of protests against religious prejudices, political oppression, and cultural backwardness can be seen.

It should be noted that the literary quality of many of these works may be questioned. For example, nowadays the value of novels such as…

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It is not through its literary form and tricks, but rather through the virtue of its precedence in presenting new theories in the subject of education and upbringing that this work is known; of course, the nitpicking of literary critics in this regard is very commendable, but it should not be forgotten that in this matter and in literature in general, protest has been a tool for presenting critical ideas, not a goal – whether it be of the Enlightenment or leftist literature. For Voltaire or Rousseau, writing a novel or play was an excuse to use this tool and new language to bring about social reform. In this way, the famous debate of “art for art’s sake” or “art for the people” can be traced back to this date. This dispute, of course, also reached its peak in the 19th century, and people like Tolstoy wrote books to continue it.

What is art?

They argue about it, but the writer does not currently address which side is right in this dispute and in a literary work, priority is given to form or content. Without wanting to judge, we simply mention this claim that in protest literature, the message and the internal elements of the work are more important than tricks and form of expression; even if fate favors form over content.

After the Enlightenment, when the intellectuals used literature to express their ideas, the road was also opened for others, and in the following centuries until today, various groups have promoted different types of committed literature; from religious writers who created literature known as Catholic literature, to left-wing writers who founded socialist realism, or from right-wing writers with fascist ideas to existentialist literature, Jean-Paul Sartre and his followers, all used literature as a tool to promote their own ideas and ideologies.

In the midst of this, of course, we can mention the differences between committed literature and advertising literature and separate protest literature from them, but we refrain from attempting to define the various branches of this phenomenon and suffice it to mention that in this writing, we specifically address protest literature and not any form of political, advertising, or committed literature.

After this lengthy introduction, we must now turn our attention to the history of protest literature in Iran. Just as this type of literature marks the beginning of modern fiction, protest literature in Iran emerged alongside the rise of modern fiction. It is often assumed that the Constitutional Revolution was purely a political phenomenon, but it also brought about a transformation in the language and literature of Iranian society. Undoubtedly, the new Persian fiction owes much to the Constitutional Movement. It was the constitutionalists who introduced new literary forms to express their new ideas and paved the way for the widespread popularity of novels, stories, and plays.

As mentioned, if the phenomenon of protest literature is compared to the literature of the Frankfurt School, it will be noteworthy that the roots and foundations of our new narrative literature, which is linked to the Constitutional Movement, are deeply intertwined with the core of protest. In fact, it can be said that the central theme of Constitutional literature is protest; protest against tyranny, protest against ignorance and superstition, protest against lawlessness, and so on.

Hence, new writers like Fathali Akhundzadeh write in names such as Mirza Agha Tabrizi: “The era of Golestan and Zinat al-Majalis has passed. Today, such compositions are no longer used. Today, a composition that includes the benefits of the nation and the excellence of nature for readers is drama and novel.”

It may seem that Akhoondzadeh’s words are about new literary forms, but in reality, his intention is to introduce new content that has emerged in these new forms; namely, raising awareness in a society plagued by ignorance and superstition and fighting against tyranny and selfishness.

It should be noted that at the beginning of the Constitutional Revolution, new literary genres and critical literature had a greater influence on constitutionalist writers, first from France and then from Russia. The writer of these lines believes that constitutionalist writers were more influenced by the writers of the Enlightenment movement than leftist writers, and perhaps by not falling into the trap of a specific political ideology, they left a more influential and valuable legacy behind.

The first group of writers during the Constitutional Era were those who resided outside of Iran; for example, Akhoondzadeh, who was mentioned, as well as Talbof, Mirza Habib Esfahani, Zeyn al-Abidin Maraghei, Mirza Agha Khan Kermani, Mirza Saleh Shirazi, and others.

As mentioned, the main pattern of most of these writers was the Enlightenment movement. For example, Talebov was inspired by the book…

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The work of Rousseau.

The book of Ahmad.

Ya.

Or.

The ship of the seeker.

He writes and says somewhere that Emil is a Western child and Ahmad is an Eastern example. Therefore, most intellectuals of this era, like Malikmokhan or Maragheh, were not caught up in anti-Westernism – which is a characteristic of some leftist works – but were interested in benefiting from and learning from Western culture. They had made Japan their model in acquiring Western culture and industry.

Here, there is not enough space to discuss and even mention all the protest works of the Constitutional period, and we can only briefly mention a few examples, such as the novel.

The Life Story of Hajji Baba from Isfahan.

Translation: To translate or better say, rewriting the shining works of Mirza Habib Esfahani, some writings of Dehkhoda such as “Cherand and Parand” and “Dokhoo”, writings of Mohammad Ghelizadeh and others that we have also mentioned some of them.

It should be emphasized that in this writing, my focus has been on literary fiction, but it should not be forgotten that in addition to literary fiction, protest poetry and music have also been influential. For example, pieces such as “From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland, the Tulip Blooms” by Aref Ghazvini, or “The Bird of Dawn” by Malek al-Shoara Bahar and music by Morteza Neydavoud, or “Oh Iran” by Hossein Golgolab with music by Rouhollah Khaleghi, are much more familiar to Iranians of that time and even now, and are counted as a necessity for introduction. In general, it is evident that arts such as cinema, music, and later poetry, have always been more attractive and therefore more popular among Iranian audiences than novels or stories, and the passage of time has not affected this preference; to the extent that later works such as “Bahaaran

I am content with mentioning some of the most famous poets of the Constitutional Era who wrote protest poems; including Abolqasem Lahuti, Mirzadeh Eshqi, Farrokh Yazdi, Aref Ghazvini, and others. After the Constitutional Era, we must also mention poets such as Nima, Ehtejaj, Mohammad Zaheri, Manouchehr Nistani, Nasrat Rahmani, Gholamhossein Matin, Jafar Koushabadi, Siavash Kasraei, Ra’adi Azarkhashi, Ahwaz Thalith, Ahmad Shamloo, and others.

Let’s return to the history and examples of protest literature in Iran. If we want to categorize Iranian fiction literature and below it, protest literature, perhaps we can use a classification similar to the one used by Hassan Mirabdini, a contemporary unknown researcher in his book.

One hundred years of storytelling in Iran.

(1) He reached out and said:

Protest literature from the Constitutional Revolution until 1300 (solar calendar) that we have discussed, then from 1300 to 1320 when the literature and art of protest were greatly suppressed by the powerful reign of Reza Shah, then from 1320 to 1332 when with the fall of Reza Shah until the coup of 28 Mordad we witnessed the emergence of more propagandistic and idealistic literature and the imitation of leftist models, from 1332 to 1342 when Mirabdini considered it a period of defeat and escape, from 1342 to 1357 a period of awakening and self-discovery, and finally from 1357 until now, which is the period of the establishment of the Islamic Republic, and of course in the forty years since then, we have witnessed subcategories of narrative literature such as commissioned and government literature, war literature, literature of migration, literature in exile, etc. We will try to mention the most

We spoke about literature during the Constitutional period and its susceptibility to the patterns of enlightenment. Therefore, it should be noted that the literary works of this period were mostly in the form of pseudo-novels, pseudo-stories, and pseudo-plays; meaning that since the intention and goal was to convey a message and bring about social or political reform, these works may not be as acceptable in a more technical and specialized literary criticism. However, this does not diminish the value of these works, but as an example, if…

The book of Ahmad.

It is valuable because of its social and political role in the constitutional movement, not because of its technical features; just like a book.

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Rousseau, who is considered worthless in the realm of novels, is the reason why our new literary fiction does not begin with a story for technical reasons.

The book of Ahmad.

The determination of the new Persian literature of storytelling is not only through the stories of Jamalzadeh and Hedayat. Interestingly, the beginning of the new Persian storytelling literature has been marked by protest. Jamalzadeh originally wrote stories with the intention of protesting against ignorance and self-centeredness, or even translated protest works such as Schiller’s plays. Hedayat, who, like Jamalzadeh, was more focused on enlightenment thinkers rather than leftists, criticized religious superstitions and addressed them in works such as…

The legend of creation.

And.

Marble ball.

Voltaire used skepticism, criticism, and satire in a similar way. However, this period is also considered a period of suffocation, and as a result, protest works have a limited chance of being published and distributed; including TikTok stories by Jamalzadeh, Hedayat, Bozorg Alavi, and Mohammad Masoud. Iranian literature during this period is mostly known for its absurd or blind alley literature; introverted literature that, due to suffocation, is more mythological and allegorical.

With the outbreak of World War II and the fall of Reza Shah, new developments arise. Through the translation of American literature, including the works of Hemingway and later Upton Sinclair, Sinclair Lewis, Steinbeck, and others, Iranian fiction emerges from the space of buffoonery and takes on protest aspects. Writers like Ibrahim Golestan and Sadegh Choubak, who were themselves translators of American literature, become influential in presenting a new model; in fact, it is worth reflecting on how Choubak, a writer himself, becomes a translator.

Tangsir.

Considered one of the most controversial novels in the history of Iranian literature, the translator is known for translating critical and social works of English literature, particularly American. Interestingly, we have similar experiences in German literature as well. With the fall of Nazism and the beginning of translating English and American literature, German literature is freed from the influence of romanticism and its philosophical and theological tendencies, and turns towards a critical realism with a more accessible language.

Barry; On the other hand, the influence of the Tudeh Party and the leftist movement also manifests itself in a form of protest literature, albeit with its own ideological limitations. The Tudeh Party, especially since 1951, has been trying to promote socialist realism in the literary arena through the publication of “Kabutar-e-Solh” magazine. This type of literature, which was plagued by sloganeering and party propaganda, suffered from the same problems as enlightenment literature and the stories of writers like Ehsan Tabari or Bahauddin Tavakkul did not achieve much success; even Nima Youshij, who was very successful in protest poetry, did not have the same impact when it came to writing stories. The most successful protest works during this period were written by those who were not affiliated with any party or were able to distance themselves from party sloganeering and ideological dogmatism; such as Hedayat in his book.

Haji Agha.

Or the story.

Tomorrow.

Oh great Alavi!

His eyes.

Or the story.

Gilhemard.

Or in the garden.

Azar, the last month of autumn.

O Al-Ahmad Dar.

School principal.

And so on…

The influence of leftist thought may have started from Iranian workers who were working in the oil industry of the Caucasus and were familiar with leftist literature. It first manifested itself in poetry, to the extent that even the poets of the Spring of Poetry had written some poems called “worker’s poetry”. In the midst of this, the Congress of Iranian Writers in 1325 (1946) was a significant event. This congress was a foundation for the formation of the Iranian Writers Association in 1347 (1968). In any case, the influence of the leftist movement was very evident in this congress. “Ali Asghar Hekmat, who was a statesman of the Pahlavi era, mentioned socialist and worker’s literature in his speech in 1325 and Abu al-Qasim Halat, Lotfali Sooratgar, Parviz Natel-Khanlari, Nima, and others recited poems that reflected social and political issues in Iran as well as

The mentioned congress was an effort to commit literature to realistic and social orientations. After the coup of August 28, which caused a wave of frustration among intellectuals, protest literature did not disappear. During the period between August 28 and the Islamic Revolution, many writers produced works that can be considered protest literature; perhaps mixed with frustration, fear, and anxiety. In this period, writers such as Gholamhossein Sa’adi, Alahmad, Samad Behranghi, Ahmad Mahmoud, Fereydoun Tankaboni, Jamal Mirsadeghi, Simin Daneshvar, Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, Ali Ashraf Darvishian, Mansour Yaghouti, and others were among the prominent writers who addressed the theme of protest in their works. Of course, if the names of many writers are not mentioned in this list, it does not mean that none of their works addressed the theme of protest. For example, it can be argued that…

Prince of Concealment.

Golshiri also comes as a protest, but in such cases, the issue of protest has been overshadowed by the content or form of the work.

After the Islamic Revolution, with the rapid passage of “Spring of Freedom” and the consolidation of the foundations of the new ideological government, censorship and surveillance became much more severe and widespread than the previous regime, leaving little room for dissenting works. Alongside strict censorship, the government also granted favors and subsidies to its own writers and made efforts to create more commissioned and ideological literature, suppressing independent and protest literature in general and in a particular way. However, sometimes works managed to slip through the censorship and were considered part of critical literature. For example, works by Reza Barahani, Nasim Khaksar, Amir Hassan Cheheltan, and Ismail Fasih (in…).

Winter

62.

“Shahriar Mandanipour, Judge Rabihavi and others..”

Among these, what is remarkable is the emergence of meaningful female writers in literary society. While the number of female writers before the revolution was not even comparable to the number of fingers on one hand, after the revolution, there was a significant increase in the number of female writers. It is evident that a large portion of women’s literature is considered a natural form of protest, even if this protest is directed towards the patriarchal structure of society rather than the government system. Although most of the works of female writers lack depth and focus less on larger issues, they have been successful in protesting against the traditional and patriarchal status of women in society. If we accept that the progress of a society or culture is determined by the status of women in that society, then we must acknowledge that Iranian society has made significant strides towards development. A critical view of traditional and patriarchal society can be seen in the works of writers such as Shahla Parsipur, Ghazaleh Alizadeh, Moniro

The Last Game of the Lady.

“Mehsa Mohabbali is in.”

Don’t worry.

“Shahrnoush Parsipour is in.”

Dog and Winter.

Tall.

And so on…

It should be noted that women have not only been pioneers in literature, but also in recent political movements. For example, women’s campaigns such as “Mothers for Peace” have been much more successful than political parties with resources; and the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, which has now turned into a modern civil revolution, has focused on women’s issues and women play a key role in it.

At the end, it must be regretted that we are still not witnessing any significant literature influenced by the Green Movement in the past decade and the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement currently. Although we have seen influential works in music and poetry such as “For…” by Shervin Hajipour and rap songs by Tomaj Salehi, unfortunately we do not have any novels or notable stories that address recent events. It may be argued that it takes time to create literature inspired by recent movements, but even when we look at the Green Movement, we do not find a proper reflection of the protest movement that has been going on for twelve years in fictional literature. The writer concludes with the hope that this void in Persian fictional literature will soon be filled.

Notes:

1- Mirabdini, Hassan, One Hundred Years of Storytelling in Iran, Tehran: Nashr-e Cheshmeh, First Edition of Second Edition, 1377.

2- Mazani, Veshar, Kar Ava: A Look at the Book of Life Songs, Journal of Protest Art and Literature, Issue 3, Spring 1386.