THE POETICISM

The Beginning of Modern Persian Novel Writing Wasn’t a Beginning—It Was a Breaking. “There was no novel. Only silence. Until someone dared to write life as it felt —not as it was allowed.” Before the Persian novel arrived, Iran had poetry. Timeless, mystical, lyrical poetry—rooted in Sufism, storytelling, and resistance. But narrative fiction, as a structured form of prose with characters, conflict, and realism, did not emerge until Persian literature collided with colonialism, translation, and modernity. The novel was not a natural extension of Persian literary history. It was an interruption. A disruption. A brave act of narrative rebellion . 🏛️ From Shahnameh to Short Sentences: Why the Novel Took So Long For centuries, Persian literature revolved around poetry —from Ferdowsi and Rumi to Hafez and Sa’adi. Even historical and philosophical writings were infused with verse. The rhythmic, allegorical style of classical Persian simply didn’t leave much space for prose fiction....

Why Every Text Is a Time Machine (Not Just a Story)? 📖 Introduction: Have you ever read a novel and thought— “Why did people think like this back then?” Or watched a period film and realized— “Wait, this says more about now than then.” That’s exactly what New Historicism helps us understand. It’s not just a literary theory—it’s a way of reading stories like you’re an archaeologist, digging through layers of history, power, and culture. New Historicism is a significant approach to literary study that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, particularly within American academia. It is considered a relatively new term in literary studies and theory, although similar practices have been described under other names, such as the "historical method". Since the 1990s, New Historicism has largely displaced deconstruction as a prevailing mode of avant-garde critical theory and practice. At its core, New Historicism positions itself in direct opposition to formalism , including th...

“He didn’t hate the West. He hated what we were willing to trade for it—our soul.” In a century where writers chased publication, Jalal Al-e-Ahmad chased fire. His fire was truth, wrapped in prose so raw it could blister regimes. He didn’t want to entertain. He wanted to interrupt —your thoughts, your identity, your borrowed desires. In modern Iran, his name is inked into debates like a bruise. But in the West, he’s barely understood. This is not a biography. This is a resurrection. I. 🔍 A Boy Torn Between Belief and Books Born in 1923 in Tehran to a conservative cleric’s family, Jalal was expected to become a religious scholar. But something rebelled in him early: a hunger for truth that couldn’t be satisfied by memorized verses alone. He studied theology briefly. Then literature. Then philosophy. Then reality . His intellectual coming-of-age occurred in the boiling crucible of early 20th-century Iran—a country trying to modernize without direction, democratize without founda...

Modern Persian literature, as distinct from its classical tradition, began to emerge significantly in the 19th century , marking a profound transformation in literary expression and purpose. This shift was catalyzed by increasing contact with the West and significant internal socio-political changes, moving Persian literary arts from centuries of established conventions towards more innovative and socially engaged forms. Historically, Persian literature had a rich and continuous tradition, with its written language remaining essentially the same from the 14th century up to the 19th century. Classical Persian poetry, often characterized by its conventional nature and focus on form over ideas, saw little allusion to modern inventions or new forms of literary expression until the mid-19th century. However, the 19th and early 20th centuries ushered in a literary renaissance , challenging the conservative nature of traditional Persian literature. Several key factors drove this modernizat...

Bozorg Alavi  (1904-1997), Iranian writer, novelist and political activist Bozorg Alavi (born Seyyed Mojtaba Alavi, 1907-1997) was an influential Iranian writer, novelist, and political intellectual . His contributions to Iranian Literature are considered profound. Here's a detailed overview of his life, works, and impact: Early Life and Education Born in Tehran, Iran, as the third of six children. His family had strong ties to Iranian political reform; his father, Seyyed Abol Hassan Alavi, participated in the 1906 Constitutional Revolution and later co-published the progressive newsletter Kaveh in Germany. His paternal grandfather, Seyyed Mohammad Sarraf, was a leading constitutionalist and member of the first Majles. In 1922, Alavi was sent to Berlin with his older brother Mortezā for his secondary and university education. Upon returning to Iran in 1927, he taught German in Shiraz and later in Tehran. Political Activities and Imprisonment During his time in Iran,...

Modern Persian literature, as distinct from its classical tradition, began to emerge significantly in the 19th century , marking a profound transformation in literary expression and purpose. This shift was catalyzed by increasing contact with the West and significant internal socio-political changes, moving Persian literary arts from centuries of established conventions towards more innovative and socially engaged forms. Historically, Persian literature had a rich and continuous tradition, with its written language remaining essentially the same from the 14th century up to the 19th century. Classical Persian poetry, often characterized by its conventional nature and focus on form over ideas, saw little allusion to modern inventions or new forms of literary expression until the mid-19th century. However, the 19th and early 20th centuries ushered in a literary renaissance , challenging the conservative nature of traditional Persian literature. Several key factors drove this modernizat...

Viktor Shklovsky taught that art must “make objects unfamiliar ,” shaking us from the automaton of perception. In cinema, this defamiliarization (ostransenie) can turn even the most familiar love story into something new and startling. When a couple’s first kiss or a simple song lyric is framed as if seen for the very first time, we pause and feel its strangeness. Such is the power at work in Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara (2025) and John H. Lee’s A Moment to Remember (2004): two romantic dramas that use memory, time, and silence to estrange the everyday. Both revolve around a young wife’s early-onset Alzheimer’s and her husband’s devotion, but each film’s tone, editing, and narrative rhythm make us truly re-perceive love, loss, and memory. In these films, the director’s craft — from lingering silences to abrupt emotional beats — breaks our cinematic habits and makes the familiar pulse with fresh intensity. “The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of things as they are perceived and...