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Exclusionary Poetics: Approaches to the Afghan “Other” in Contemporary Iranian Literary Discourse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Wali Ahmadi
Wali Ahmadi*
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
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Iranian Studies , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 407 - 429
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Copyright © 2004 The International Society for Iranian Studies

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Footnotes

The author wishes to thank Professors Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak and Houchang Chehabi for searchingly commenting on an earlier draft of this article. Some of the ideas presented here are the result of many productive discussions with Professors Amin Banani and Hossein Ziai.

References

1 Clinton, Jerome, “Nuktah-yi chand dar barah-i vaz ‘-i kununi-i tarikh-i adabi dar Iran,” Iran Namah 12 (1372/1994): 35–50Google Scholar. Throughout this article, all translations from the original Persian are the author's.

2 A number of influential contemporary studies have attempted to analyze the relations between cultural production and national ideals and identity. Focusing on the productivist and aesthetic character of the emergence of the national form, Anderson's, Benedict Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (London and New York, 1983)Google Scholar pioneered a whole array of works in this area of research, such as Bhabha's, Homi edited volume Nation and Narration (London and New York, 1990)Google Scholar and Location of Culture (London and New York, 1994)Google Scholar. In a controversial article, Fredric Jameson goes so far as to insist that texts are necessarily allegorical and ought to be read (especially in the context of non-Western languages) as “national allegories.” See “Third World Literature in the Era of Multinational Capitalism,” Social Text 15 (1986): 65–88Google Scholar.

3 Tavakoli-Targhi, Mohamad, Refashioning Iran: Orientalism, Occidentalism and Historiography (New York, 2001), 9CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Emphasis in original.

4 Analogously, Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet suggests that there was a concurrent “widespread identification with Persian language and literature, even though this was not coterminous with Iran's borders.” See “Cultures of Iranianness: The Evolving Polemic of Iranian Nationalism,” in Iran and the Surrounding World, ed. Keddie, Nikki R. and Matthee, Rudi (Seattle and London, 2002), 163Google Scholar. See also Karimi-Hakkak, Ahmad, “Language Reform Movement and Its Language: The Case of Persian,” in The Politics of Language Purism, ed. Jernudd, Bjorn H. and Shapiro, Michael J. (Berlin and New York, 1989), 81–104Google Scholar.

5 For an insightful discussion of this topic see Tavakoli-Targhi, Refashioning Iran. Calling for a “reexamination of the Eurocentric definition of modernity” Tavakoli-Targhi challenges “[the] conventional Enlightenment story [that] treats modernity as a peculiarly European development and as a byproduct of ‘Occidental rationalism’” (2). He shows that the “narrative emplotment” of an Iranian identity with Persian as its crucial constitutive component well served the cultural aims of the advocates of nationalist pedagogy and literary institutions. For a somewhat analogous study of important theoretical value, see Jusdanis, Gregory, Belated Modernity and Aesthetic Culture: Inventing National Literature (Minneapolis, 1991)Google Scholar.

6 The cultural politics of the Persian language has been discussed in Bert G Fragner, Die “Persophonie”: Regionalität, Identität und Sprachkontakt in der Geschichte Asiens (Berlin, n.d.). (The author wishes to thank Professor Houchang Chehabi for bringing this particular source to his attention.)

7 See, for instance, Matini, Jalal, “Iran dar ayyinah-i digaran,” Iranshenasi 1 (1368/1989): 3–31Google Scholar. For critiques of Iran-centric historiography see Tavakoli-Targhi, Refashioning Iran, esp. chapters 5 and 6. See also Manafzadah, Ali-Reza, “Tarikh-i pur-iftikhar: kand va kav-i dar didgah-ha-yi rushanfikri-i ma nisbat bah tarikh-i guzashtah,” Nigah-i Naw 36 (1377/1998): 119–143Google Scholar.

8 Chana Kronfield has usefully argued that the historical and theoretical discourse on literary modernism in the international scene “is always tacitly based on…a ‘selective modeling’ of literary production, a modeling that both constitutes and serves its own cultural prototypes.” See On the Margins of Modernism: Decentering Literary Dynamics (Berkeley, 1996), 3Google Scholar.

9 Moretti, Franco, “Conjectures on World Literature,” New Left Review 1 (2000): 56Google Scholar.

10 Even some sensible accounts of modern and contemporary Persian literature do not seem to escape this core-periphery paradigmatic explanation. Mahdi Akhavan-Sales's revealing epilogue in his collection of poetry Az in Avesta (Tehran, 1344/1966): 109–129 is one such example.

11 None of the “standard” accounts of modern Persian literature treats the works of non-Iranian poets or writers of fiction. In contrast, they seem to idealize and even canonize certain currents within contemporary literary production in Iran. See, among several others, Baraheni, Reza, Tala dar mis: dar shi‘r va sha‘iri, 3 vols. (rev. ed., Tehran, 1371/1992)Google Scholar; Baraheni, Reza, Qissa-nivisi (rev. ed. Tehran, 1368/1990)Google Scholar; Huquqi, Muhammad, Shi‘r-i naw: az aghaz ta imruz, 1301–1370, 2 vols. (Tehran, 1377/1998)Google Scholar; Langrudi, Shams, Tarikh-i tahlili-i shi‘r-i naw, 4 vols. (Tehran, 1370/1992)Google Scholar; and Mir-‘Abidini, Hasan, Sad sal dastan-nivisi-i Iran, 3 vols. (rev. ed., Tehran, 1377/1999)Google Scholar.

12 Danishnamah-i adab-i Farsi, gen. ed. Anushah, Hasan, vol. 3 (Tehran, 1378/1999)Google Scholar.

13 Yahaqqi, Muhammad Ja‘far, Juybar-i lahzah-ha: adabiyyat-i mu‘asir-i Farsi, nazm va nasr (Tehran, 1378/2000)Google Scholar. An earlier edition of this book appeared as Chun sabuy-i tishnah: adabiyyat-i mu‘asir-i Farsi (Tehran, 1374/1995). No changes or alterations are made in the updated text so far as literature in Afghanistan is concerned.

14 Pahlavan, Changiz, ed., Nimuna-ha-i shi‘r-i imruz-i Afghanistan (Tehran, 1371/1993)Google Scholar.

15 Khafi, Mahmud, ed., Dastan-ha-i imruz-i Afghanistan (Mashhad, 1376/1998)Google Scholar.

16 Calinescu, Matei, Five Faces of Modernity (Durham, 1987), 13Google Scholar.

17 See, for example, Parsinejad, Iraj, A History of Literary Criticism in Iran, 1866–1951 (Bethesda, 2003)Google Scholar. For a concise yet significant discussion of later developments in Persian literary critical discourse, see Karimi-Hakkak, Ahmad, “Naqd-i adabi dar Iran-i mu‘asir: farziyah-ha, faza-ha, va faravardah-ha,” Iran Namah 12 (1372/1994): 3–34Google Scholar. See also Mukhbir, ‘Abbas, “Naqd-i adabi dar Iran: az mashrutiyyat ta imruz,” Nigah-i Naw 37 (1377/1999): 105–138Google Scholar.

18 Karimi-Hakkak, Ahmad, Recasting Persian Poetry: Scenarios of Poetic Modernity in Iran (Salt Lake City, 1995): 2Google Scholar.

19 Hamidah Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” in Danishnamah, vol. 3, 579.

20 M. Isma‘ilpur, “Tarzi,” in Danishnamah, vol. 3, 631; Yahaqqi, Juybar- Lahzah-ha, 365–366. For a comprehensive collection of Tarzi's work see Maqallat-i Mahmud Tarzi dar Siraj al-Akhbar al-Afghaniyya, ed. Farhadi, Ravan (Kabul, 1355/1977)Google Scholar.

21 Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” 579.

22 Yahaqqi, Juybar- lahzah-ha, 364.

23 Yahaqqi, Juybar-i lahzah-ha, 365.

24 Husayn Barzgar, “Aman Allah Khan Muhammadzai,” in Danishnamah, vol. 3, 114–122.

25 Isma‘ilpur, “Dastan-nivisi dar Afghanistan,” 382.

26 Isma‘ilpur, “Dastan-nivisi dar Afghanistan,” 382.

27 Yahaqqi, Juybar-i lahzah-ha, 366.

28 Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” 579.

29 Isma‘ilpur, “Dastan-nivisi dar Afghanistan,” 383–84; Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” 580.

30 Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” 580; Yahaqqi Juybar-i lahzah-ha, 367–368.

31 Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” 580. The fact that many contemporary Iranian literary critics consider these poets more as “traditionalist” than new voices within the project of “New Poetry” signify the inherent instability and heterogeneity of literary critical discourse in Iran. See, for instance, Muhammad Huqquqi's categorization of the production of “new poetry” in Iran according to periods and particular poets in the introduction to Shi‘r-i naw: az aghaz ta imruz, 1301–1350 (Tehran, 1357/1978), 1–61.

32 Yahaqqi Juybar-i lahzah-ha, 378.

33 Yahaqqi Juybar-i lahzah-ha, 385; emphasis added.

34 Yahaqqi Juybar-i lahzah-ha, 385.

35 Yahaqqi Juybar-i lahzah-ha, 379.

36 Yahaqqi Juybar-i lahzah-ha, 379.

37 Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” 582.

38 Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” 582.

39 Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” 582.

40 Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” 583.

41 Hujjati, “Shi‘r-i naw dar Afghanistan,” 581.

42 Isma‘ilpur, “Dastan-nivisi dar Afghanistan,” 387.

43 Isma‘ilpur, “Dastan-nivisi dar Afghanistan,” 388.

44 Isma‘ilpur, “Dastan-nivisi dar Afghanistan,” 388.

45 Isma‘ilpur, “Dastan-nivisi dar Afghanistan,” 390.

46 Pahlavan, Changiz, “Kushish-i digar bara-i payvand-ha-i tazah,” in Nimunah-ha-i shi‘r-i imruz-i Afghanistan, ed. Pahlavan, Changiz (Tehran, 1371/1993)Google Scholar, twenty-five. Letter numbering in original.

47 Pahlavan, “Kushish-i digar bara-i payvand-ha-i tazah,” twelve.

48 Pahlavan, “Kushish-i digar bara-i payvand-ha-i tazah,” twenty-two.

49 Pahlavan, “Kushish-i digar bara-i payvand-ha-i tazah,” twelve. Emphasis added.

50 Pahlavan, “Kushish-i digar bara-i payvand-ha-i tazah,” twenty-three.

51 Khafi, Mahmud, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan (Mashhad, 1376/1998). 11Google Scholar.

52 Khafi, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan. 11.

53 Khafi, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan. 11.

54 Khafi, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan, 11.

55 Khafi, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan. 12.

56 Khafi, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan. 12–13.

57 Khafi, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan. 13.

58 Khafi, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan, 13.

59 Khafi, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan, 14. Emphasis added.

60 Khafi, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan, 14.

61 Khafi, ed., Dastan-ha- imruz- Afghanistan, 14.

62 Berman, Marshall, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air (New York, 1982), 232Google Scholar.

63 Tarzi, Mahmud, “Adab dar fan: divanchah-i ghazaliyat,” in Parakandah (Kabul, 1294/1915 [1333 H]), 118Google Scholar.

64 Tarzi, Maqalat-i Mahmud Tarzi dar Siraj al-Akhbar-i Afghaniyah, 721–27.

65 In their highly politically charged poems, two of Tarzi's associates, ‘Abd al-Hadi Dawi and ‘Abd al-Rahman Ludin, did not spare the ruling establishment and even the person of the king from criticism. In the summer of 1918, ‘Abd al-Rahman Ludin was implicated in an unsuccessful attempt on the life of the king, Amir Habib Allah. For a comprehensive study of the reception of liberal ideas among Persian-speaking intellectuals during the past two centuries, see Ha'iri, ‘Abd al-Hadi, Azadiha-i siyasi va ijtima‘i az didgah-i andishah garan (Mashhad, 1374/1995)Google Scholar.

66 See Khalili, Khalil Allah, Kuliyat-i ash‘ar, ed. Khurasani, ‘Abd al-Hayy (Tehran, 1378/2000)Google Scholar.

67 Bakhtari, Wasef, “Va aftab namimirad,” in Va aftab namimirad: majmu‘ah-i shi‘r (Kabul, 1362/1984), 55–58Google Scholar.

68 Bakhtari, Wasef, “Dar sukut-i shammatah-ha,” in Dibachah-i dar farjam (Peshawar, 1375/1997), 39–40Google Scholar.

69 See Ahmadi, Wali, “Intertextual Influence and Intracultural Contacts: History and Memory in the Poetry of Akhavan-Sales and Wasef Bakhtari,” in Essays on Nima Yushij: Animating Modernism in Persian Poetry, ed. Karimi-Hakkak, Ahmad and Talattof, Kamran (Leiden, 2004), 221–35Google Scholar. See also Ahmadi, Wali, “Daramad-i bar khanish-i shi‘r-i Wasef Bakhtari,” Naqd va Arman (Critique & Vision) VII–VIII (1998), 87–102Google Scholar.

70 Guillén, Claudio, Literature as System: Essays Toward the Theory of Literary History (Princeton, 1971), 38Google Scholar.

71 Guillén, Literature as System, 38–39.

72 See Bloom, Harold, The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry (New York, 1975)Google Scholar.

73 See, for instance, Clayton, Jay and Rothstein, Eric, eds., Influence and Intertextuality in Literary History (Madison, 1991)Google Scholar. For a recent collection of highly useful excerpts from the works of major theorists of intertextuality, see Rabau, Sophie, ed., L'Intertextualité (Paris, 2002)Google Scholar.

74 Zaryab, Rahnavard, Naqsh-ha va pindar-ha (Kabul, [1349] 1366/1987)Google Scholar.

75 Zaryab, Rahnavard, “Yasaman-ha sukhtand,” Zhivandun 8, no. 1 (1369/1991), 16–27Google Scholar.

76 It should be pointed out that recently a handful of works by Afghan writers of fiction have been the subject of detailed comments and studies, mostly by Afghan immigrant critics in Iran. These exceptions include Asef Sultanzadah's collection of short stories Dar guriz gum mishavim (Tehran, 1379/2001) and Rahimi's, Atiq novella Khakistar va khak (Paris, 1378/1999; Tehran, 1381/2003)Google Scholar.