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Hushang Golshiri and Post‐Pahlavi Concerns of the Iranian Writer of Fiction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Mohammad R. Ghanoonparvar
Mohammad R. Ghanoonparvar*
Affiliation:
The University of Texas at Austin
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Extract

Most Iranian writers view Pahlavi rule over Iran (1921-1979) as a period of secular dictatorship. Many writers during the Pahlavi era responded to what they perceived to be an atmosphere politically repressive and restrictive on their artistic and social activities through the production of a significant amount of fiction, essays, and poetry which may, on the whole, be described as a literature of protest.

Hence, a major concern of Iranian writers since the first days of Reza Shah Pahlavi's rule has been how they could deal with government-imposed censorship of literary works and restrictions on social liberties.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 2-4: Sociology of the Iranian Writer , Spring Autumn 1985 , pp. 349 - 373
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1985

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References

Notes

1. On the social content of modernist Persian literature, see: Michael C. Hillmann, comp. and ed., Literature and Society in Iran--Iranian Studies 15 (1982); Kamshad, Hassan, Modern Persian Prose Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966)Google Scholar; Ghanoonparvar, M. R., Prophets of Doom: Literature as a Sociopolitical Phenomenon in Modern Iran (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984)Google Scholar; and Ricks, Thomas M., ed. Critical Perspectives on Modern Persian Literature (Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1984)Google Scholar.

2. On the effects of the imposition of these restrictions, see Gholamhosayn Sa'edi, "Ru dar Ru'i ba Khodkoshi--ye Farhangi" [Confrontation with Cultural Suicide], Alefba. No. 3 [New Series] (Summer 1982): 1-7.

3. Shazdeh Ehteiab was made into a successful film by Bahman Farmanara in 1974, which certainly contributed to the popularity of this novel. This work is available in Minoo R. Buffington's English translation, Prince Ehtejab, Major Voices in Contemporary Persian Literature--Literature East and West 20 (1976): 250-300. Golshiri also collaborated with Farmanara in writing the script for another film entitled Sayyeh'ha-ye Boland-ye Bad, in 1978.

4. Wellek, and Austin Warren, René, Theory of Literature. 3rd ed. (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1970), pp. 95-98Google Scholar.

5. As Rita Offer points out in "Literature in Pre-Revolutionary Iran: Golshiri's Prose Fiction" (Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1983), p. 280: "Out of the total 21 short stories and long stories/novels by Golshiri, five have as narrator or main character a story writer; a further eight have an intellectual, of whom four are specified as having literary interests although it is not clear whether they write fiction."

6. Hushang Golshiri, "Si Sal Romannevisi," Jone-e Esfahan, No. 5 (Summer 1967): 188.

7. See Hillmann's, Michael C. preface to Iranian Society; An Anthology of Writings by Jalal Al-e Ahmad (Lexington, KY: Mazda Publishers, 1982), p. viiGoogle Scholar.

8. Golshiri, "Si Sal Romannevisi," p. 189.

9. "Goft-o Gu ba Hushang Golshiri," Ayandegan (August 6, 1979 [15 Mordad 1358]), pp. 6 and 10.

10. Personal correspondence with the author in summer 1984. Also see Golshiri's, introductory essay, "Vajizeh'i dar Kar-e In Daftar," Hasht Dastan az Nevisandegan-e Jadid-e Iran (Tehran: Asfar, 1984), pp. vii-xiiiGoogle Scholar.

11. Golshiri, "Vajizeh'i dar Kar-e In Daftar," p. vii.

12. Idem, "Mesl-e Hamisheh," Mesl-e Hamisheh, p. 22. "Mesl-e Hamisheh" first appeared in Jone-e Esfahan, No. 5 (Summer 1967), pp. 15-39.

13. Idem, "Posht-e Saqehha-ye Nazok-e Tajir" in Mesl-e Hamisheh, pp. 85-88.

14. Idem, '"Arusak-e Chini-ye Man," Namazkhaneh-ye Kuchek-ye Man, pp. 63-75.

15. Idem, "Ma'sum-e 1," Namazkhaneh-ye Kuchek-ye Man, pp. 79-87.

16. Idem, "Ma'sum-e 2," Namazkhaneh-ye Kuchek-ye Man, pp. 89-102.

17. Idem, "Ma'sum-e 3," Namazkhaneh-ye Kuchek-ye Man, pp. 103-116.

18. See Partow Nuri-Ala' 's review, "Darbareh-ye Barreh-ye Gomshodeh-ye Ra'i" in Nameh-ye Kanun-e Nevisandegan-e Iran 2 (Autumn 1979): 233.

19. Personal correspondence with the author, summer 1984.

20. For a translation of this story, see "The Man Who Killed His Passions," trans. Jerome W. Clinton, in The Literary Review 18, No. 1 (Fall 1984): 38-52.

21. Offer, "Literature in Pre-Revolutionary Iran," p. 237.

22. The belief in the appearance of a messianic savior has often been linked with the "revolutionary" ideas of Shi'ism. See, for instance, Sachedina, Abdulaziz A., Islamic Messianism: The Idea of the Mahdi in Twelver Shi'ism (Albany: State University of New York, 1981)Google Scholar. In this sense, Golshiri's novel may be read as an exploration into the roots of the sentiments which led to the Islamic Revolution. Also, the use of the archaic language and the style of narration, which parody Shi'ite texts on hadith, for example, intimate this notion.

23. Jobbehkhaneh consists of four short stories: "Jobbehkhaneh," "Be Khoda Man Fahesheh Nistam," "Bakhtak," and "Sabz Mesl-e Tuti, Siyah Mesl-e Kalagh." According to the author in his introductory note, these stories were written or published during the years 1974-1977. "Nasim" appears in the journal Alefba, No. 4 (Autumn 1983): 120-126. "Bar Ma Cheh Rafteh Ast, Barbad?" appears in Alefba, No. 5 (Winter 1982-85): 125-136. "Fathnameh-ye Moghan" was published in Kargah-e Qesseh, No. 1 (Fall 1981): 1-6.

24. Golshiri, Jobbehkhaneh, p. 7. Also see Partow Nuri-Ala"s critical review of the short story, "Jobbehkhaneh-ye Hushang Golshiri," Ketab-e Cheraq, No. 5 (Fall 1984): 163-170. The reviewer states that Golshiri has completely failed in what he advocates in his introduction as the language of signification.

25. Personal correspondence with the author in summer 1984.

26. Kargah-e Qesseh, No. 1 (Fall 1981): 3.

27. Ibid., p. 4.

28. Golshiri, Hushang, "Javanmargi dar Nasr-e Mo'aser-e Farsi" in Dah Shab: Shabha-ye Sha'eran va Nevisandegan dar Anjoman-e Farhangi-ye Iran va Alman, comp. Naser Mo'azzen (Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1978), pp. 346-356Google Scholar.

29. Ibid., p. 348.

30. Ibid., pp. 346-347.

31. On the use of enigmatic symbolism and similar devices, see Ghanoonparvar, "Literary Ambiguity," Prophets of Doom, pp. 149-179. In addition to political censorship common during the Pahlavi period, a strict moral code is now being enforced by the censorship bureau which forbids the use of the slightest reference to sex or obscenities in literature. In fact, the appointment of Ali Musavi-Garmarudi, a minor poet and staunch supporter of the Islamic regime, as the chief censor for the Ministry of Islamic Guidance has apparently made it more difficult for writers to have their manuscripts approved because of his familiarity with literary conventions such as symbols and allegories.

32. "Goftogu ba Hushang Golshiri," p. 6.

33. See Golshiri's comments in "Vajizeh'i dar Kar-e In Daftar," p. ix, particularly in regard to the reluctance of publishers to invest in the publication of short-story collections.