Contemporary Persian Literature

Abstract Love has long held a unique and indispensable place in the cultural and intellectual life of Iranians, standing as one of the most fundamental and multifaceted concepts in Persian literary history. Yet the representation of love in Persian literary tradition has never been static or timeless. On the contrary, it has continually been shaped and reshaped by the historical, social, and philosophical undercurrents of each era, giving rise to new literary configurations over time. What makes these transformations particularly significant is their gradual, process-driven nature. Adopting an analytical approach informed by the theories of Bakhtin and Saussure—and emphasizing the procedural nature of literary evolution—this study investigates the initial signs of transformation in Persian love poetry during the modern era, beginning with the Qajar period. By examining the early encounters with Western thought, it reveals how these intellectual interactions shaped contemporary love poetry and gradually culminated in the works of Ahmad Shamlu. The findings of this study indicate that Shamlu was not the initiator of this transformation but rather its continuation and culmination. Drawing on the intellectual and literary heritage of his predecessors, Shamlu crafted a form of love poetry that meaningfully departed—both in content and expression—from classical traditions as well as the works of his contemporaries. In doing so, he established a defining and influential model for contemporary Persian love poetry.

Abstract This study examines how time, space, and the human interact in representing the lived experiences of the protagonist in Rahesh, a novel by Reza Mirzakhani, based on the combined model of the threshold chronotope and the transhuman–space chain. The significance of this research lies in introducing an innovative approach that integrates these two models to analyze temporal–spatial–human connections in contemporary literary texts—an approach applicable not only in narratological studies but also in interdisciplinary analyses of identity, bio-environment, and urban transformation. Adopting a socio-semiotic perspective and employing a descriptive–analytical method, the study purposefully analyzes selected passages from the novel. The findings reveal that the combined model, by emphasizing threshold situations and transmaterial connections, not only enriches the narrative’s semantic and conceptual layers but also illuminates the transformation of characters’ identities within the dynamic interplay of time and space. The results further indicate that crossing from threshold to post-threshold moments deepens lived experiences and generates new meanings within the narrative.

Abstract In the course of Persian poetry, we sometimes encounter viewpoints that, in their contradictions or coexistence, open new doors for those who encounter them. The viewpoints raised about Bahar's poems - which have a different aspect in terms of characters and literary positions - are one of these areas that require a comprehensive analysis. In general, a group of critics absolutely reject Bahar and his poems, while a group accepts his poetry in their own era with certain conditions, and another group considers him the initiator of a new style in Persian poetry. In this study, based on these views, the main themes of Bahar's poetry are expressed in five categories: lyrical, didactic, epic, critical, and narrative, with mention of content subgroups. The views of the critics were first categorized into two areas: formalisms and contentisms, and then subgroups were created for each case. The type of approach of the critics was also divided into three categories: extreme, moderate, and extreme. The results of the research show that Bahar's poems emerged under the conditions of his personality, politics, literary mentality, and social environment. The method of this research was carried out by quantitative-qualitative analysis and by presenting charts and tables. The aim of this research was to achieve a correct and final understanding of the position of Bahar poetry in Persian literature.

Abstract Loneliness and isolation are modern-day sensibilities whose consequences are very different from the achievements of isolation, seclusion, and seclusion in the classical era. For this reason, this concept is being rethought and redefined in the modern era. Hortolanus and his colleagues are among the theorists who have defined this concept in the modern world with its components and evaluated it in the field. The definition of loneliness in this framework is a mental and cognitive state that is linked to other concepts such as intimacy, a sense of belonging, and emptiness. The present study aims to examine and analyze the three novels ", An Madaran, In Dokhtaran " (2018), "Atash" (2018), and "Rehesh" (2017) based on this approach with an analytical-descriptive method. Accordingly, first, narrative data based on the central components of the concepts of loneliness and isolation were separated, and then the manifestation of loneliness, types, and contexts of the emergence of lonely and isolated characters in the narrative were analyzed. The main characters of these novels are each a type of loner, the most important manifestation of which is emotional loneliness, especially in the family. Also, the impact of the structure of society and culture on this loneliness is a special emphasis in these novels, and thus social loneliness and environmental isolation are a prominent feature in the narratives and characterization. The difference between the religious beliefs of the characters and the practical and realized manifestation of religion in society and the lifestyle narrated in the novel has also caused loneliness and isolation to be more prominent for the characters and they are more aware and sensitive to it.

Abstract Abstract
The sociology of women has increasingly sought to explore women's ideals and aspirations within patriarchal societies. One of the central concerns in this field is the redefinition of the female utopia within cultural and social structures. Drawing on Anthony Giddens’s theory of structuration and Paulo Freire’s concept of critical consciousness, this study provides a sociological and comparative analysis of women’s utopian visions in two novels: My Share by Parinoush Saniee and The Lonely Girl by Edna O’Brien. The research employs a descriptive–analytical method based on library sources. The findings reveal that both authors portray women’s gradual transformation from passivity to awareness; however, the path toward liberation differs in each context. Masoumeh, in traditional Iranian society, seeks her utopia through access to basic civil rights, while Kate (Kathleen), in Catholic Ireland, strives for personal independence and self-realization. Consequently, the female utopia emerges not as a pre-defined social model but as a dynamic process of self-awareness and reconstitution within patriarchal systems.

Abstract In addition to its political and social impact on Iranian history, the Constitutional Era marks an important period in the simplification of Persian prose and literary texts. The press of that time, especially the newspaper Sur-e Esrafil and its satirical column Charand Parand, played a significant role in this transformation.
This article examines the function of grammatically incongruous combinations in Dehkhoda’s writings within the Charand Parand series in Sur-e Esrafil.
These satirical texts are rich in linguistic innovation, one of the most notable aspects being the creative use of grammatically incongruous combinations. These are structures that, while inconsistent with the syntactic or semantic norms of standard Persian, are employed deliberately within a humorous framework to enhance the critical, ironic, and satirical tones of the work.
This article presents and analyzes examples of such combinations that deviate from standard language in terms of syntax, semantics, or both.
It demonstrates how these linguistic deviations, which often reflect elements of colloquial speech, serve as effective tools for conveying social and political satire.
By disrupting conventional linguistic logic, these combinations surprise the reader and provoke laughter or reflection.
Moreover, the study shows that the use of these combinations contributed to the simplification of prose and helped bridge the gap between written and spoken language, making them a transformative element in the evolution of modern Persian prose.

Abstract Mahnoud Dowlatabadi’s novel Missing Soluch, which narrates the life of a rural family, provides a rich ground for the psychological analysis of its characters. This research, using a descriptive-analytical method and drawing on Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology theory, examines the motivations and behaviors of the story’s main characters. According to this theory, humans are influenced by feelings of inferiority and the striving for superiority, shaping a unique lifestyle. Concepts such as the inferiority complex, striving for superiority, social interest, and birth order serve as the analytical framework of this study.

The findings indicate that Mergan, Abbas, and Abrau are prominent examples of Adler’s theory in practice. Mergan, with her sense of responsibility and self-sacrifice, strives to keep the family together under harsh conditions, reflecting high social interest and a cooperative lifestyle. In contrast, Abbas, as the firstborn, driven by feelings of deprivation and inferiority, leans toward dominance and superiority-seeking. Abrau, the second-born, takes a different path, marked by competitiveness and efforts to compensate for his shortcomings.

This study highlights the decisive role of birth order, childhood experiences, and family relationships in personality formation and demonstrates how these factors influence decision-making and individual destinies.

Abstract When facing the world around him in his daily life, man first encounters the objects around him with a natural approach; But Husserl, in order to reach a philosophical point of view, tried to turn the attention from the Phenomenon to the Phenomena, and therefore, he invited to turn from the natural approach to the phenomenological approach. His strategy for this change of perspective is that the subject of knowledge, by suspending his presuppositions, focuses only on the matters of the object that appear to him and describes the phenomena from a subjective point of view. The poet is actually a perceiver who, by suspending the usual and everyday view of the objects of her lived world, describes them from a subjective point of view, and the poem is actually the same description of the poet's lived world from her perspective. In this research, the sonnet "Familiar Dream" by Qeisar Aminpour was reread in an analytical-descriptive way and based on the components of Husserl's phenomenology. And we came to the conclusion that in this sonnet, Qeisar by using the most important components of Husserl's phenomenology, such as "Intentionality", "Epoche", "Ego" or "phenomenological self", "Noesis" and "Noema", described "You" phenomenologically.

Abstract Alamtaj Qaim Maqami was a poet from the Qaim Maqam Farahani family during the constitutional period, and his primary education was organized in his father's house. At the age of sixteen, she got married to a forty-year-old man from Bakhtiari's fighting men. As much as this man had his heart in fighting, warfare, hunting, epics and mountains, Alamtaj had his heart in art, literature and romanticism that was boiling from his inherent gem. This personality difference led to a family quarrel and finally to separation. This husband and wife, both in the history and literature of the constitutional period, have had significant importance, which in the opinion of the author of this article, that importance has not been highlighted as it should and exposed to the gaze of historians and literary critics; Especially the literature of women's awakening has not happened. The author of this article, with the method of historical analysis and analysis of the content of Alamtaj's poem attributed to Jaleh, found the role of both personalities in the constitutional period, both from the historical and literary point of view, very significant and to prove his claim, by rereading Jaleh's poems, has turned.

Abstract Music is one of the factors that characterize poetic language, which includes two internal and external aspects. The external aspect of music, namely prosodic meter, rhyme, and radif, underwent changes in contemporary poetry with the emergence of ghazal writers such as Simin Behbahani and Hossein Manzavi. These changes have continued until now and, after going through ups and downs, reached relative stability in the last years of the fourteenth century. The analysis and study of music in the ghazals of the poets of the nineties, especially the anonymous poets, yields significant results, which is the main subject and goal of this research. For this purpose, the library research method is used and the music of the ghazals is studied.
The study of prosodic meters and the frequency of their use, the method of using rhyme, mid-rhyme, radif and its types, the use of new and difficult radifs, departure from meter, rhyme, and radif, and the strengths and weaknesses in the music of ghazals of this period are the issues that have been addressed in this research.
The results of this study show that despite the experimentation of poets in innovative meters in the 1990s, traditional and ancient meters continue to be more popular than new meters. Meters that are less flexible and musical have been eliminated from the realm of Persian ghazals over the years, and among the innovative meters, those that have made minor changes to the ancient meters have remained stable.

Abstract Pezeksezzad’s novel Hafez Nashnidepand is a multilayered text that challenges the established structures of history, power, and narrative through the use of paradoxical techniques. This study, based on Linda Hutchen’s theory of paradox, attempts to examine the three main components of paradoxicality in this novel: the destruction of power displays, the inversion of history, and the displacement of narrative elements. The results of the study show that Pezeksezzad, by using ironic language, caricatures of characters, and creating semantic contradictions, has removed history from its linear and definitive narrative and transformed it into an arena of rewritten contradictions. Furthermore, the display of power in this novel is formed both on the basis of real actions and through symbolic displays and performances, which in turn leads to the collapse of the legitimacy of the rulers. Also, disproportionalization of narrative elements, such as the presence of disparate characters in a parliament or changing the function of social places, breaks the narrative coherence and highlights the contradiction in the text. The research method is based on the qualitative analysis of the novel based on Hutchen's theory of contradiction, and the research findings indicate that Pezekzzad, with his complex humor, has removed history and power from their absolute position and exposes them to a critical reading

Abstract The present study, with a sociological critical approach, analyzes Mehdi Akhavan-Sales's poem "Winter" as a literary document of the socio-political crises in Iran in the 1951 and 1961. The main issue of the article is the dominance of formal and structural readings in previous studies and the lack of attention to the causal links between the text and its historical-social context. Therefore, the following essay attempts to show, through a layered analysis, how "Winter" depicts the fragility of human relations, the collapse of collective trust, and the mechanisms of isolation in an atmosphere of tyranny, and at the same time has the capacity to become a call for hidden solidarity. The theoretical framework of the research is based on Hippolyte Tain's triad: race, milieu, and historical moment, which is integrated with contemporary sociological theories to enrich the explanation, including: Durkheim's anomie and crisis of social cohesion in explaining abnormality and broken bonds; Foucault's panopticon surveillance and internalization of power in analyzing self-censorship and pervasive fear; Bourdieu's social capital in explaining the decline of support networks and trust; Merton's adaptation, especially withdrawal, in explaining social withdrawal; Scott's everyday resistance in understanding small actions as a problem of cultural resistance, and Ulrich Beck's idea of social risk in interpreting the limited horizon of the future. The research method is qualitative and analytical-interpretive, and the data were collected from the text of the poem and historical and research sources. The results show that, with the help of the metaphor of "winter" and using symbolic images and a specific poetic language, the Akhavan-Sales creatively depicted the challenges and the deplorable social and cultural situation of Iranian society in the 1951 and 1961, and at the same time, while expressing the post-coup suffocation, it considered the possibility of rebuilding social bonds through everyday resistance.