Contextualization is one of the important and influential factors in the creation and strengthening of literary works, and there have been many transformations in poetic contexts during various periods of Persian poetry. The Islamic Revolution and the events afterwards, especially the Imposed War, deeply influenced the revolutionary poets and developed new atmospheres in Persian poetry. These contexts, which originated from the Holy Qur’an, divine beliefs, the incident of Karbala, awaiting the reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (aj), martyrdom, social concepts and other issues of contemporary religious society, form the structure of the poetry and thought of revolutionary poets like Tahereh Saffarzadeh.
Revolutionary Poets and their Poetic Context
As one of the greatest events of the century, which has been the focus of the world’s attention, the Islamic Revolution of Iran by creating new atmospheres and contexts, provided the basis for the development of the literature appropriate to the new context and its needs, and as a political, intellectual and social current, made a significant impact on the content of literary works, especially poetry. The literature of the Revolution is a reflection of the beliefs, attitudes, thoughts and lofty ideals that have helped our great nation pass through the most difficult moments, incidents and events; the clear and sparkling current that has originated from the Holy Qur’an and deep divine beliefs, inspired by the thirst of Karbala and made a loving and proud nation sophisticated, patient, great and victorious. The real manifestation of this literature could be seen in the works of some poets such as Saffarzadeh.
Saffarzadeh’s Poetry and the General Atmospheres Governing It:
Tahereh Saffarzadeh is one of the prominent and successful poets, whose works had a special significance in contemporary Persian literature, and reached perfection in religious aspects. Her long presence in contemporary scientific and literary circles and the various works she produced have attracted the attention of people even critics. Saffarzadeh became famous among the Iranian people with the poem “Farzand-e Qarn,” which was published in her first book of poetry that describes the condition of the child of a mother who lives an aristocratic life and portrays the decline of Western culture. As a result of her efforts, Saffarzadeh was able to come up with new definitions and ideas in the field of art including poetry. The first example of this type of her poems brought her considerable fame, credit and respect among the poets and writers of different countries thereby creating mutual literary relations between her and the poets and artists of other countries. “The Red Umbrella” is the name of a small collection of English poems written by Saffarzadeh, which was published by the University of Iowa in 1986. Many of the poems in this book have been translated into various Eastern and Western languages.
Due to research and literary studies, Saffarzadeh achieved her own special style in poetry, called “Resonant Poetry.” Since the themes of Saffarzadeh’s poems were mainly religious resistance and political satire, the government took a stand against them. For this reason, being accused of composing poems covering “religious resistance” in 1976 she was expelled from the university, and hence spent most of her time studying the Qur’an. However, in 1977, only in two months, 30,000 copies of her collection “Safar-e Panjom,” which included resistance poems with religious themes, were published three times. She seeks the liberation of the community from the oppressors; as she says: “The poet must be a barrier against the deviation from fairness and the invasion of the ignorance and tyranny and confront them with the logic of thought.”
“Who are you/you are a poet of truth/and you have always/disgraced the oppression.”
Tahereh Saffarzadeh has published eleven poetry collections and five collections of selected poems which have been translated into various languages. Rahgozar Mahtab, Chatr-e Sorkh, Tanin dar Delta, Sadd va Bazouvan, Safar-e Panjom, Beyaat ba Bidari, Mardan-e Monhani, Didar-e Sobh, Roushangaran-e Raah, Dar Pishvaz-e Solh are among the global manifestations of her poetry. Furthermore, some of her collections of selected poems include Harakat va Dirouz, A Selection of Persian and English Poems, Andisheh dar Hedayat, Haft Safar and Tanin-e Bidari.
In Saffarzadeh’s poetic works, one may easily recognize her long journey from the neoclassical poetic attitude to the modern poetic vision. Her first collections of poets, which are related to the years before the Revolution, reflect her intellectualism and humanism. In these works, some mythological and religious elements and motifs as well as bitter social satires are observed; however, as a result of the distinction of her artistic attitude, her collections of poems written after the Revolution are different from the previous ones. In the first collection, she is mostly concerned with aesthetics and formalism; yet, in “Beyaat ba Bidari” and “Didar-e Sobh,” the poet is immersed in the content, regardless of the form and poetic aesthetics.
The second period of Saffarzadeh’s literary life began in 1978 with the publication of the collections “Beyaat ba Bidari” and “Didar-e Sobh.” In “Safar-e Panjom” Saffarzadeh shows that there will be deep and extensive changes in her later works. In the second stage of her poetry, mostly the public is addressed. In this period, the poet achieves an independent style and efficient and coherent language while adopting simplicity. Moreover, she becomes more concerned with the content. According to Zarqani, Saffarzadeh in this stage, “employs a very simple and rhetorical language and slogans.”
In the third period of her poetic life, Saffarzadeh tries to be logical and calm. She is neither emotional like in the first period, nor does she show the excitement and fervour of the second period. In fact, the third stage of the poet’s literary life should be considered the period of her literary perfection; since the poet goes through the trial-and-error stage (the first period) and after employing complexity and narrative expression in her poetry (the second period), she begins conveying the message via using a simple and intimate language.
Analysis of Poetic Contexts and their Constructive Components in Saffarzadeh’s Post-revolution Poems:
Beyaat ba Bidari
“Beyaat ba Bidari” is a collection of poems the first and last of which were written in 1978 and 1979 respectively; that is, in two turbulent and decisive years in the history of Iran, in which one of the most prominent events in the history of Iran took place. The Islamic Revolution changed the poet’s spirit and thinking in a manner that she felt it was her duty to participate in this great movement and play her part.
This collection contains eighteen poems, the main theme of which is politics. In addition to this general atmosphere, which is the natural result of the current situation, there are other contexts that cover various themes including criticism and protest, social romantic, sadness and despair, emotions, awaiting and hope, which often have a political orientation. In accordance with this political and revolutionary atmosphere, the poet borrows to a great extent from related terms such as the path, martyr and martyrdom, awakening, sound, night, death, coffin, grave, blood, bullet, etc.; in other words, the range of vocabulary used in this book is quite impressive.
The long poem “Safar-e Bidaran” written in January 1979, is one of the best examples of the poems in this book, which reflects Saffarzadeh’s political and social worldview:
“I always talk about awakening/As long as the arms of love are under our heads,/we should be awake/and should be afraid of sleeping/and skipping/the coming of the night/And this is the message of jihad.”
The simple and normal language of this work makes a significant impact on the readers. This poem, like Saffarzadeh’s other long poems, is a conflation of various contexts including religion, despair, and protest; however, imagination is one of the important elements employed in this work:
“And in the street/it is raining/The rain of bullets/bullets are falling like the rain/bullets are falling like the rain/The call for ‘Qom’ (rise up) is coming down like the rain.”
The appropriate and beautiful use of the Qur’anic expression “the call for ‘Qom’ (rise up) is coming down like the rain,” where the word “Qom” which refers to verse 2 of Surah Mudassar, “raise up and warn,” has greatly contributed to creating the context of this poem. In this poem, Saffarzadeh has made the reader engaged in the atmosphere of the poem with a fluid imagination thereby creating visual poetry. In this poem, the use of tools such as description, language and expressions appropriate to the context, as well as historical and religious indications are the most important elements and characteristics of the narrative and context.
In late 1978, Saffarzadeh adopted an attitude in line with the Islamic Revolution in the collection Beyaat ba Bidari making the readers recognize the current situation of the society. Consequently, an atmosphere was being shaped which was full of hope and passion that created an epical spirit with her correct use of words and rich religious culture.
The poem “Abadi Dedan” is one of the political poems in this collection, which has a protesting and critical context the most important constituent element of which is the emotional and poetic relationship that is well established between the message of the poem and its language:
“Foreign architect/Iranian constructor/The tower and building of the castle of thieves/overlooking the people who were robbed/overlooking the shelter.”
This context is a hesitant and unstable one brought to the mind of the reader through a wide range of opposite and synonymous words. On the other hand, the critical tone of the poet, which is rooted in using these terms, is another element involved in creating the atmosphere of the poem. The most popular poem in this collection is the one titled “Entezar” which has been part of the textbooks for years. The title of this poem shows its content and theme and thus the context:
“I am always waiting for you/without being stagnant/I am always waiting for you.”
The element of repetition is one of the factors that contribute to creating a special context in this short poem; as the central idea of “Entezar (Awaiting)” is strengthened by repeating the sentence “I am waiting for you” five times. In addition, using the adverb “always” has also contributed to strengthening this notion.
Didar-e Sobh:
“Didar-e Sobh” is a selection of poems that were published in 1989 covering the issues related to the post-revolution events and the Eight-Year War from 1981 to 1988. Saffarzadeh sometimes takes the role of a narrator in this collection and narrates events. Therefore, the narrative element has a prominent place in this collection. This collection contains 38 poems mostly in the mystical and religious contexts. Other contexts that the reader would find in this collection include sadness, protest, despair, epic, surreal, sacrifice, martyrdom and education.
“Banou-ye Ma” is one of the most beautiful religious poems of Saffarzadeh in this collection. The lively and dynamic atmosphere of this poem, in addition to the poet’s use of elements and words, combinations and religious indications, is rooted in enjoying a visual expression during which she connects man, nature and religion to living and dynamic visual words thereby leading to an evolution in the poetic vocabulary:
“The lady was sitting/on a high hill/The sun/was coming out of the plain.”
A collection of mystical and surreal words in this poem sometimes gives it a mystical atmosphere:
“Who is my host towards whom I am going/so romantically/I am the guest of my eternal owner/a guest of my everlasting owner.”
In the poem “Az Maabar-e Sokout va Shekanjeh,” the poet, while referring to the oppression of the Irish people during the struggles for freedom and also the oppression of the Iranian nation during the Sacred Defence as well as the Palestinian refugees, criticizes the organizations that apparently defend human rights yet practically remain silent:
“And the bomb/has skillfully/removed the signs of torture/from the bodies of the martyrs/that the leaders of the defence/defenders in international arena/in the absence of evidence and documents/for making a judgment/have nothing to say.”
In addition to this critical spirit that has created an atmosphere to show objection, we see another context within this poem i.e., sacrifice and martyrdom:
“And teenagers/away from the fence of analysis/became young men overnight/became warriors.”
The passionate tone and rich language used in this poem have created an epical atmosphere. In addition to this epical tone, imagery is also one of the other components of this context, and the atmosphere of War and martyrdom is visible in this poetic work. For example, in the poem “Pishvaz,” a series of emotional and delicate terms such as heavenly land, flight, light, high blue, etc. have created a romantic atmosphere:
“In the heavenly land of the war front/no one thinks about himself/no one thinks about death and wealth....”
One of the most important concepts in which Saffarzadeh believes is the concept of awaiting the saviour, which has led to the creation of poems in the context of awaiting. In this collection, such a notion can be seen in poems like Pishvaz, Dar Entezar-e Kalam and Jomeh-ye Didar. For instance, in “Jomeh-ye Didar” we read:
“That best person of time/That best person of the earth/He is standing in prayer/On a piece of mat.../From the heavenly base of the cellar/He will overcome/the noise of the moon.”
Dar Pishvaz-e Solh:
This collection for the first time was published by Neyestan Publishing House as the first volume of “Gozideh-ye Adabiyat-e Mo’aser” and contains poems that were composed between 1990 and 1996 with a classical style and often have romantic themes.
The poems in this collection mostly employ meanings and pure conceptualism. They seem like slogans, and the slogan is an expression of the epic. In this collection, in comparison to the previous collections, Saffarzadeh has shifted away from imagery style and would prefer to use direct and plain language.
This collection contains eight poems all of which except one are long; therefore, it can be concluded that the element of narration is the most basic component of developing a context in these poems. This collection is full of religious concepts and beliefs which in turn influence the context of the poem as well:
“The vast world/millions of people/are merely creatures/stuck/because/they have not worshipped and obeyed/the Creator.”
The long poem “Ali (a)” is about Imam Ali (a) and the story of the caliphate. Narration and allusion are the main elements of the atmosphere of this poem:
“In the funeral and burial of light/with the hands of the light/The darkness of ignorance/under the roof of Saqifah/and with the presence of the followers of the egos/quicky/began dealing with the inheritance share of the caliphate.”
In addition to these two elements, a series of words and descriptive compounds used in the poem has also made a great contribution to developing its context.
The spirit of hope lies in the concept of awaiting the reappearance of the saviour is one of the religious contexts that Saffarzadeh illustrates a lot in her poetry due to having a revolutionary view and being influenced by religious and cultural orientations. She has always been a committed poet and while believing in the reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (aj) and seeking the establishment of peace all other the world, expresses her strong desire for the occurrence of this event:
“I wish/we were awake and knowledgeable and brave/and deserve knowing you/and communicating with the instinct.”
For Saffarzadeh, moving would lead to progress and staying leads to stagnation. Therefore, she believed that real awaiting rejects inactiveness and stagnation, and we should be equipped and dynamic.
Roushangaran-e Raah:
This collection includes 44 poems written by Saffarzadeh from 1999 to 2003 and were published in 2005. Due to covering Qur’anic studies and the translation of the Holy Qur’an and Islamic prayers, this collection has a completely religious orientation and except for a few poems such as Gardeshgaran-e Jahani-ye Bam, Dar Asr-e Fetneh, Namomkenha, a translation of one of her English poems titled “The Conformity of Nations Along the Streets” and a few others, other poems are biographies of the infallible Imams (a) and their moral virtues.
These Qur’anic and religious influences have caused the overall context and atmosphere of this collection to be religious; therefore, the terms originating from the religious culture, such as justice, idol-breaker, Bab al-Hawaij, Kawthar Aal-e Aaba, Tohid-e Ahl-e Resalat, Imam Hadi (a), Istighathah, Rahman, Sajdah, Laylat al-Mabit and so on are frequently used in this collection. Moreover, criticism, emotion, frustration and despair can also be found in this relatively large collection.
“And the evening of Ashura/is on the way/And the heart of Zaynab says/O the oppressive stranger/We/the righteous/are going to face the evening.”
Almost three-fourths of the poems in this collection have a completely religious atmosphere due to the poet’s extensive use of Islamic beliefs and ideas. Even in the poems that mostly cover the theme of political protest, religion plays an important role.
The poem “Rayaneh dar Khatar-e Virus” has a critical context in this collection and the poet shows her hatred of and distaste for modernity by presenting two opposite images. On the one hand, she talks about what man has made which she believes would lead to his distance from his pure instinct, and also by using the words rayaneh (computer), virus, and houshmand (intelligent), she takes the reader to a modern environment; on the other hand, by referring to some components of the system of creation, she tries to drive the readers into an atmosphere where they would be able to contemplate more. Then, with complete determination and while using a Qur’anic phrase, she tries to lead the reader toward this atmosphere:
“From the years engraved in the unseen/God’s computer/has remained intact/The sun, the moon and the stars/and successive seasons/all are intact/So that the intelligent would see/and say loudly/‘This is the proof of my Lord.’”
Az Jelvehha-ye Jahani:
Saffarzadeh’s last book of poetry was presented for the first time at the 20th Tehran Book Fair in May 2017. This collection contains 20 poems, 19 of which were written between 2013 and 2015. Most of the poems in this collection have a critical, educational and religious context ad convey the message of hope and awaiting the saviour.
The long poem “Dasiseh-ye Angour” criticizes the unjust rulers in a religious atmosphere. An image of the allusion and referring to the characters who have a religious background are among the main factors in developing the context of this poem, and characters such as Mamoun, Ibn Muljam, Shimr, Harun al-Rashid and Abolhasan (a) are the important parts of these allusions:
“The constant grudge/belongs to Mamoun/the ruler of the devils/evil-doer more than his peers/Ibn Muljam and Shimr.”
In this poem, narration and employing special terms and compositions are among the elements that serve the context, and on the other hand, the biting and sarcastic tone, combined with humiliation, is evident in stimulating the audience’s feelings of hatred and disgust in a critical atmosphere:
“The dwarf was very jealous/of the tallness and greatness/of the attraction of light/of the grace and divine knowledge/of the radiant miracles of the Imam.”
Repeating the sentence “The constant grudge/belongs to Mamoun/” at the beginning and end of this poem, has made it coherent.
Another critical poem of this collection, from which the title of the collection is also taken, is the poem “Az Jelvehha-ye Jahani.” A poem that features containing new words and combinations from the world of politics that one may rarely find in poetry. The poet’s disenchantment with modernity and a new concept called “globalization” which is the politics dominating powers employed for dominating the Third World, has given a critical and dark atmosphere to this poem. Also, compositions such as world dominators, veto power, globalization, universal, colonialism, cosmopolitanism, exploitation, genocide, global export, new global order and global tourists are among these terms.
The poem “Darougheh” is one of the other poems in this collection which indicates suffocation and insecurity. The central element of this short poem is the word “Darougheh (town headman)” with its very negative meaning, which its repetition throughout the poem has emphasized the context:
“Daroughehha/keep the captives’ thoughts/in homes that are like a prison/and under their sharp gaze.”
Another important context that is prevailed in Saffarzadeh’s works, in addition to this collection, is the concept of awaiting the saviour and hoping for his reappearance. She promises the reader the reappearance of the saviour who, by God’s command, influences the souls and thoughts of friends and enemies and eliminates corruption.
Reference: Proceedings of the 8th Conference on the Persian Language and Literature. February 2016.
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