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Simin Behbahani's Poetic Conversations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Rivanne Sandler
Rivanne Sandler*
Affiliation:
Emerita in the Department of Near & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Toronto
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Abstract

From the beginning of her career, Simin Behbahani stresses her intention to reflect contemporary concerns in her poetry. She has continued to use the traditional form of ghazal and to affirm the ghazal's capacity to reflect the contemporary environment. Behbahani tells us how she changed the structure of the ghazal to suit her poetic needs. This paper focuses on the poetic conversation as a feature of Behbahani's poetic style which leads her poetry firmly into present time. Early female poets in Iran made use of poetic conversation to bring attention to a changing social system and, especially, issues of concern to women. Behbahani refines and perfects the technique of poetic conversation. Her poetic conversations range from a single-voiced complaint to complex commentary involving more than one perspective. In particular, a character identified only as “you” at times represents society or a companion, and may even bring the poet face-to-face with herself. This character widens the scope of the poetic drama. Behbahani's poetic conversations convey a femininity that is complex and a sensibility that is modern.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 41 , Issue 1: Simin Behbahani , February 2008 , pp. 47 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2008

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References

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