The Rebellion of Forms in Modern Persian Poetry: Politics of Poetic Experimentation

An analysis of the aesthetic, cultural and political aspects of alternative poetic movements and individual poets in three periods: the Constitutional Revolution (1900–1920), the post-constitutional era (1920–1940), and the ascendency of modernism (1940–1960). Farshad Sonboldel shines new light on the history of modern Persian poetry by re-imagining the roles that the aesthetic experimentations of alternative poets played in different phases of the literary revolution in modern Persian poetry. Dominant narratives portray modern Persian poetry as a gradual, rational, and moderate change in the classical regime of aesthetics as well as a response to – and reflection of – cultural and socio-political changes within Iranian society. They also disregard the significance of radical experiments by alternative poets and undervalue the part they played in the initiation and progress of the so-called "literary revolution." These mainstream narratives minimize the socio-political engagement of literary works with the direct reflection of the social reality, and thus neglect the way many alternative poems struggle with socio-political issues through deconstructing the old and constructing new aesthetic systems. Each chapter of The Rebellion of Forms in Modern Persian Poetry is centred around poems chosen for their potential to showcase notable experiments of pioneer movements and individuals in each given period. Examining the formal and thematic aspects of these poems, this book reformulates the story of modern Persian poetry and unravels the relationship between radical aesthetic changes in the practice of poetry and resistance against political and cultural domination in society.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements A Note on Transliteration Introduction - Methodology and Key Theories - Study Framework - Research Contribution - A Note on Originality and Authenticity of the Alternative Movements 1. The Politics of Literature and the Forms of Literary Deviation in Constitutional Poetry - Resistance and Transformation in Pre-Constitutional Poetry - Residual Forces of the Bazgasht-e Adabi Movement - Mohammad Taqi Malek al-Sho'ara Bahar: Cohabitation of the Old and the New 2. Constitutional Poetry and the Performative Arts - The Politics of Singing - Theatrocracy in Mirzadeh Eshqi's Dramatic Poetry 3. The Left Wing of the Poetic Revolution and Constructive Misreading of the Literary Tradition - The Ra'fat Era: From Deconstruction to Construction - Major Lahuti: Persian Socialist Realism and the Aesthetic Revolution - Remodelling the Poetic Forms: Prosodic Metres and Rhyme Schemes - Charpareh: A Collective Drive to Poetic Modernity 4. Modernism and High Modernism - Modernism, Experimentalism and Avant-garde - Nima Yushij: Self-Revision and Conscious Misreading of Oneself 5. Experimentalism in Persian Poetry between the 1930s and 1950s - Mohammad Moqaddam, a Prose Poet: Introducing Free Verse into Persian Poetry - Zabih Behruz: A Wanderer Poet in the City of Drama - Shin Partow: A Bridge between Nimaic and Experimental Poetry 6. Avant-garde Poetry between the 1940s and 1950s - Tondar Kia: Poet of Cabarets - Moods and Moments - Kia: Ragpicker in Modern Tehran - Non-Organicity - A Dialogue with Dadaism - Hushang Irani: Slaughterer of the Nightingale - Irani's Violet Scream - A Different Way of Socio-political Engagement Conclusion - Prospects for Further Research Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Farshad Sonboldel is the World History and Cultures Librarian at the University of California, San Diego, USA. He is also the editor-in-chief for MELA Notes (Journal of the Middle East Librarians' Association), deputy editor for the Journal of Iranian Studies, and an award-winning poet, writer, literary critic, and researcher in Persian. He has published four books in Persian, two selections of poems titled Metropolis (2015) and She'r-e Boland-e Sharayet (2019), a research monograph, Gozaresh-e Nahib-e Jonbesh-e Adabi-e Shahin: Tondar Kia (2016) about the works of an avant-garde Persian poet in the first half of the 20th century, and an edited volume on the current trends of the literary criticism in Persian literature titled Naqd-e Irad (2021).

Review :
In this deeply researched volume, Farshad Sonboldel introduces us to a range of unknown and understudied Persian poets who have long merited more attention from scholars of world poetry. His skillful translations bring Persian poetry to life, and his nuanced exegeses give Mirzadeh Eshqi, Mohammad Moqaddam, Zabih Behruz, Shin Partow, Tondar Kia, Hushang Irani, and many other poets their rightful place in Persian literary history. Sonboldel helps us appreciate anew the profundity of the aesthetic revolution in contemporary Persian poetry. The Rebellion of Forms challenges the prejudices harbored by many mainstream literary critics vis-à-vis some of the most innovative (and provocative) wordsmiths of 20th-century Iran.