Outline of the Book

Abstract

This book focusses on depictions of the 1979 Revolution and Iran-Iraq War in Persian poetry, and how the Persian poetic tradition was used to feed politics, to spur people to action, to express the ideology of the Islamic Republic, and also in opposition, to assert the human and individual nature of experience. It does not claim to be comprehensive regarding either the state-sponsored poets or the responses from oppositional and diasporic poets. It aims to reveal enough about the ways poets and both classical and contemporary poetry functioned in the first decades of the Revolution to encourage other scholars to launch investigations on this fascinating topic. There are several leitmotifs in this book, the most important being martyrdom, which is part and parcel of Persian culture.While there are ample martyrological paradigms in Shiite Islam, Persian secular culture also has its narrative of martyrdom. One example is Prince Siyāvash, a pre-Islamic hero, whose death is interpreted as martyrdom. Siyāvash is admired for his faithfulness, innocence and altruism. His problems start when his stepmother, Sūdāba, is attracted to him, but Siyāvash rejects her sexual advances. She accuses him of sexual transgression, which forces Siyāvash to prove his innocence by riding through fire, a Zoroastrian tradition. Siyāvash leaves Persia and chooses exile in Turan, the arch-enemy of Persia. He is first hospitably received by Persia’s arch-enemy, Afrāsiyāb, but after a series of events Siyāvash is killed.1 The notion of martyrdom is also used in metaphors. One recurrent metaphor is the moth and the candle flame. In several interpretations, the moth stands for the lover who is ready to offer his soul to be united with the fire. The fire is the light, a window on the world of non-existence, where the lover lives with the beloved forever. Such a death is the ultimate way of showing one’s devotion and dedication. As we will see in this book, many Iranian soldiers compared themselves to moths running towards the enemy’s fire. Some poets even state that the candle itself is a lover as it is gradually burning up while giving light to others. It gives up its substance, made of beeswax, because that has been separated from its essence, the honey. As poetry has been a national icon of Iran and is still a marker of identity for Iranians, the first chapter investigates how poetry is related to politics, and why it is so essential for Iranians in voicing their ideas. The introductory chapter is devoted to the role of poetry, specifically the relationship between it and politics.