Iranian Poetry and the Issue of the People

Dariush Memar is a prolific poet who is very active in publishing his own poetry, collaborating with the Butimar publishing house, and writing critiques and opinions on contemporary poetry. This year at the Tehran Book Fair, we will see two of his books: a new poetry collection titled "The Book of Meaninglessness," which he says will conclude his trilogy, and a critique and examination of social poetry titled "The Issue of the People." This week's program "A Distant View, A Close View" is dedicated to an interview with the author of these books. I start the conversation with the book "The Issue of the People," which examines the foundations of collectivism in today's Iranian poetry. This book looks at what is known as social poetry in post-modernist poetry. Dariush Memar: The initial idea for writing the book on collectivism in Iranian poetry formed for me about three or four years ago. I believe one of the most important issues in today's Iranian poetry is understanding the relationship between the poet and the people, meaning the issue of the people for the poet and recognizing how to cross this boundary in a way that does not strip poetry of its dignity and subject matter. Naturally, with this perspective and motivation, I began writing multiple articles for this book. Some of the articles were published in the "Experience" magazine over the past year and a half, but I also wrote several articles specifically for this book. Ultimately, the result was the book "The Issue of the People," which begins with an article of the same title. In that article, I initially addressed how the roots of collectivism in Iranian poetry have formed since the Constitutional Revolution and what various forms of collectivism we have had in Iranian poetry, depending on what approaches, aesthetic behaviors, and influences and impacts in the social sphere they have been subject to. Is this the same issue that has been referred to in recent decades of poetry, namely since September 1941, as committed poetry or poetry that has social commitment, which has always been controversial? No. The issue of the people addresses what impact various forms of collectivism in Iranian poetry have had and what their definitions are. One of the issues is the type of poetry you mentioned. My classification of collectivist poets in this book has been as follows: Romantic collectivists, humanistic collectivists, ideological-revolutionary collectivists, and aesthetic collectivists in contemporary poetry. One part of this movement includes ideological and revolutionary collectivists, which we encounter in both the 1950s and 1960s. I have also referred to the characteristics of this type of poetry. That is, how this type of poetry was at one time considered a value, at another time as an artistic stigma, and at another time as a newly emerging and personal value. I mean the issue of collectivism in Iranian poetry. In the 1950s, revolutionary poets were introduced as valuable collectivist poets. In the 1960s, this type of collectivism became a stigma that poets distanced themselves from. However, from the mid-1970s, social poetry gradually regained attention in its new form as an intrinsic and personal value in the poetry of Iranian poets. In the book "The Issue of the People," have you primarily tried to narrate what in post-modernist poetry is referred to as populist or collectivist poetry, or does your book also contain some form of value judgment? In the book "The Issue of the People," I have not narrated poetry whose issue is the issue of the people. Rather, I have narrated poetry that some thought was not about the people. My effort has been to clarify this point and provide a different definition of collectivist poetry. Throughout this book, you have tried to present examples of works that you believe fall within the framework of collectivist poetry, especially in the section dedicated to poets of the 1970s and 1980s. Was all the capacity of social poetry in Iran contained in the few poets you briefly addressed here or not? Specifically, I have addressed this topic in two articles. One in the article "The Room is Dark" and another in an article that specifically addresses the poets of the 1970s. Naturally, the names I have mentioned here do not encompass all the capacity of social poetry in Iran. The capacity of social poetry in Iran seems to be much broader than this and could even include more prominent poets. Although the names I have mentioned are prominent figures in Iranian poetry—at least in terms of the reflection their works have had in the literary community—these are poets whose works I have followed more closely. As a poet and critic, I have written many critiques about Iranian poetry over the past seventeen to eighteen years. These were poets whose works I have followed more closely and referenced as examples in my book. In the final section of this book, you have dedicated a chapter to Bijan Elahi. In a book that addresses the foundations of collectivism in today's Iranian poetry, seeing Bijan Elahi's name might seem somewhat unconventional since his poetry is more formalist. What is the reason for dedicating a section specifically to Bijan Elahi? This had two reasons. As I mentioned, I acknowledge a form of aesthetic collectivism and formalist collectivism in my classifications. I have defined this collectivism and provided examples of it. However, my focus on Bijan Elahi's poetry was not solely from this perspective. Of course, I had the motivation to tell Bijan Elahi's admirers that contrary to what is promoted, there are also collectivist motivations in Bijan Elahi's poetry. The publication of Bijan Elahi's poetry demonstrated this. But the second reason I addressed Bijan Elahi's poetry in this book is that he has placed part of the values of Bijan Elahi's poetry in comparison with modern Persian poetry. You have also published another book simultaneously; a new poetry collection titled "The Book of Meaninglessness," which will also be available to enthusiasts at the Tehran Book Fair. To conclude this interview, I would like you to read a piece from this collection for the listeners of this program.