Childhood Experience as an Element of the Artistic World in the Poetry of Nima Yooshij (1897–1960) and Golchin Gilani (1910–1972)

Abstract

This article is aimed at studying the childhood component in the works of Nima Yushij and his younger coeval Golchin Gilani (1910–1972). Both authors stayed at the origins of Iran’s “new poetry” (“še‘r-e now”), which demonstrated a break with the rules of normative poetics. This study addresses two interrelated aspects of the analysis. First, the matter is focused on the strategy of displaying memories of childhood, which form a frame of axes in the author's artistic world. Secondly, the artistic solutions of Nima Yooshij, embodied in his poems for children at the meaning and formal organization aspects, contributed to the formation of “new poetry” tools, since these poems could serve as a kind of creative laboratory for the poet. The article touches upon the little-studied area of scientific consideration of the "new poetry" in Iran, especially: the origins of the childhood theme in traditional Persian-language poetry; the role and functions of the childhood theme in the construction of the author's individual artistic world in the "new poetry"; figurative image fabric of children's feelings by the material of the early “new poetry” works in Persian. The childhood theme in the lyrics of the two authors is tightly connected with the theme of love for a homeland. The idyllic description of the homeland’s beautiful nature serves as a "portal" to the ideal world, and the author's landscape, imbued with the personal vision of the lyrical hero, is one of the methods for individualizing the artistic world in the "new poetry" poems.

References

1. Averintsev S.S., Andreev M.L., Gasparov M.L., Grintser P.A., Mikhailov A.V. Kategorii poetiki v smene literaturnykh epoch. Istoricheskaya poetika [Poetical categories through the shift of literature epochs]. Literaturnye epokhi i tipy khudozhestvennogo soznaniya. Sb. statei. [Literature epochs and types of of artistic conscience. Collected articiles]. Moscow, 1994. pp. 3–38. (In Russ.)

2. Badi Zh. Nima-Yushidzh — otets novoi poezii v Irane [Nima Yooshij — the father of New Poetry in Iran]. Problemy teorii literatury i estetiki v stranakh Vostoka [Problems of Literature Theory and Esthetics in Oriental Countries]. Moscow, 1964. P. 319–339. (In Russ.)

3. Broitman S.N. Liricheskii sub”ekt [Lyrical subject]. Vvedenie v literaturovedenie: ucheb. posobie [Introduction to the Literature Science: textbook]. Moscow, 2004. P. 310–322. (In Russ.)

4. Isakova I.N. O sub”ektnoi organizatsii i sisteme personazhei v lirike [Organization of subjects and system of personages in lyric]. Poetika literaturnogo proizvedeniya: sbornik statei v chest’ 70-letiya L.V. Chernets [Poetics of a Literary Work: collected articles in honour of the 70th Anniversary of L.V. Chernets] / Ed. G.I. Romanovoi. Moscow, 2010. P. 76–91. (In Russ.)

5. Isakova I.N. Literaturnyi personazh kak sistema nominatsii [Literary personage as system of nominations]. Moscow, 2011. 519 p. (In Russ.)

6. Klyashtorina V.B. «Novaya poeziya» v Irane [‘New Poetry’ in Iran]. Moscow, 1975. 255 p. (In Russ.)

7. Klyashtorina V.B. «Shagi tikhoi vody»: dve volny vesternizatsii v persidskoi poezii XX veka [“Steps of Quiet Water”: two waves of westernization in Persian poetry of XX century]. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie [New Literature Revue]. No. 4 (62). Moscow, 2003. Available at: https://magazines.gorky.media/nlo/2003/4/shagi-tihoj-vody-dve-volny-vesternizaczii-v-persidskoj-poezii-xx-veka.html (date of visit: 19.03.2023, in Russ.)

8. Kuznetsov A.A. Istoki temy detstva v novoi poezii Irana: Nima Yushidzh (1897–1960) i Golchin Gilyani (1910–1972) [Origins of Childhood theme in new poetry of Iran: Nima Yooshij (1897–1960) and Golchin Gilani (1910–1972)]. Materialy Mezhdunarodnogo molodezhnogo nauchnogo foruma Lomonosov-2022. Vostokovedenie. Tezisy dokladov nauchnoi konferentsii [Materials of International Scientific Conference Lomonosov-2022. Oriental Science. Thesis of Scientific Conference Reports]. Moscow, 2022. Available at: https://lomonosov-msu.ru/archive/Lomonosov_2022/data/section_5_26873.htm (date of visit: 19.03.2023, in Russ.)

9. Kuznetsov A.A. Obraz maloi rodiny v rannei poezii Nima Yushidzha (1897–1960): k probleme iranskoi identichnosti [Image of Homeland in early poetry of Nima Yooshij (1897–1960): problem of Iranian identity]. Etno-sotsiokul’turnye protsessy v stranakh Azii i Afriki: problema identichnosti: Sbornik materialov Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii molodykh uchenykh [Etno-sociocultural processes in the Asian and African States: problem of identity. Collected materials of International Practical Scientific Conference of young researches]. Moscow, 2020. pp. 188–191. (In Russ.)

10. Kuznetsov A.A. Transformatsiya klassicheskoi temy v «novoi poezii» (še‘r-e now): dikhotomiya «goroda i derevni» v «Povesti o poblekshem» Nima Yushidzha (1897–1960) [Transformation of classical theme in New Poetry: opposition of city and village in Nima Yooshij’s (1897–1960) ‘Pale Story’]. Materialy Mezhdunarodnogo molodezhnogo nauchnogo foruma «Lomonosov-2020» [Materials of International Scientific Conference Lomonosov-2020] / Ed. I.A. Aleshkovskii, A.V. Andriyanov, E.A. Antipov. 2d ed. Moscow, 2020. Available at: https://lomonosov-msu.ru/archive/Lomonosov_2020_2/data/section_3_21344.htm (date of visit: 19.03.2023, in Russ.)

11. Rashid ad-Din Vatvat. Sady volshebstva v tonkostyakh poezii (Khada’ik as-sikhr fi daka’ik ash-shi‘r) [Gardens of magic in poetic subtleties] / Comment., ed, and trans. N.Yu. Chalisovoi Moscow, 1985. (In Russ.)

12. Reisner M.L. Istolkovanie doislamskikh kalendarnykh prazdnikov v persidskoi klassicheskoi lirike X-XII v. (na primere nouruza) [Interpretation of pre-islamic calendar fests in Persian classic lyric of the X-XII centuries (by the example of Nowruz)]. Fol’klor i mifologiya Vostoka v sravnitel’no-tipologicheskom osveshchenii [Folklore and mythology of the Orient in terms of comparative typological coverage]. Moscow, 1999. P. 258–277. (In Russ.)

13. Reisner M.L. Ptitsy v mistiko-simvolicheskikh kasydakh Sanai i Khakani (XII v.) (k probleme stanovleniya simvolicheskogo yazyka v klassicheskoi persidskoi kasyde) [Birds in mystic-symbolic Sana’i and Xaqani’s qasidas (XII cent.)]. Issledovaniya po iranskoi filologi [Researches on Iranian Phylology]. Vol. 1. Moscow, 1997. P. 121–143. (In Russ.)

14. Reisner M.L., Ardashnikova A.N. Persidskaya literatura IX-XVIII vekov [Persian Literature of the IX-XVIII centuries]. Vol. 2. Moscow, 2021. 384 p. (In Russ.)

15. Reisner M.L., Kuznetsov A.A. Genezis obraza Feniksa v persidskoi poezii i ego interpretatsiya v odnoimennom stikhotvorenii Nima Yushidzha (1897–1960) [Genesis of Phoenix Image in Persian Poetry and its interpretation in Nima Yooshij’s same-nammed poem]. Orientalistica. 2022. No. 5(2). P. 372–375. (In Russ.)

16. Shams-i Kais ar-Razi. Svod pravil persidskoi poezii (al-Mu‘dzham fi ma‘aiir ash‘ar al-‘adzham) [Complex of Persian Poetry rules] / Comment., ed, and trans. N.Yu. Chalisovoi. M., 1997. (In Russ.)

17. Puromrani R.-M. Kudakānehā-ye Nimā Yušij [Poems for children of Nima Yooshij]. Ketābmāh-e kudak va nowjavān [Monthly for children and teens]. No. 77. Tehran, 2004. URL: http://ensani.ir/fa/article/journal-number/32862/%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%87%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%AF%DA%A9%D9%88%D9%86%D9%88%D8%AC%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%81%D9%86%D8%AF1382%D8%B4%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-77 (date of visit: 19.03.2023, in Pers.)

18. Khogugi M. Še‘r-e now: az āğāz tā emruz [New Poetry: from the beginning to nowadays]. Vol. 1. Tehran, 1377 (1998). 606 p. (In Pers.)

19. Yooshij Nima. Majmu‘e-ye kāmel-e aš‘ār [Complete collection of works] / Ed. Sirus Takhbaz. Tehran, 1371 (1992). 902 p. (In Pers.)