In our community, alike others, what
female authors write are a part of the general current of contemporary
literary works. All the dos and don’ts which limit the domain of
contemporary literature are binding for the women’s writings too.
Interestingly, female authors are after finding ways to be innovative in
the form and text of writings, like their male counterparts. But in a
society like ours, the fact is women are more socially restricted
compared to men and have lesser opportunities for developing their
literary potential. What distinguishes their works from men’s, is their
feminine outlook toward emotional and social issues and their focus on
details in shaping the structure of their stories. Especially, in the
post-revolutionary era, Iranian women were humans facing
historical-cultural upheavals as the result of Islamic Revolution and
the imposed war. In order to confront isolation, they wrote
narrative-like works, discussing today life with lesser dependence on
the outside world’s excitements.
Women’s Literature can be studied in two dimensions:
1- Stories those male authors write about women and men’s special perspective toward female champions.
2- Stories written by women.
I want to discuss the 2nd case. We have to see when our female authors
started writing their stories? What stages have they gone through and
what is their stance now? Women have created a variety of works. They
have written several novels and stories, proving their serious presence
in the literary world. The further attraction of these stories is partly
due to the fact that women’s world is less known than men’s universe.
In our stories, issues are mainly considered from the men’s point of
view and women have rarely had an independent presence. In my opinion,
the historical roots, legal and family compulsory measures and numerous
traditions finally force women to acquiesce to society’s expectations
and believe and justify them, such that no opportunity arises for a
twist in their pre-determined fate.
Female authors who write stories beyond the accepted boundaries set for
feminine tendencies and feelings face numerous problems, because they
are forced to present contentious and controversial issues. The
refreshing aspect of women’s literature is that the efforts made to
discover one’s own identity as a woman, are highly important. This, in
turn, results in creation of a new outlook toward the world. With
insistence on the social role of women and their inner characteristics, a
women’s image different to their image in the works of male authors is
depicted. Especially, during the past decade, female writers are paying
attention to the troubled identity of women in the current social
developments. In order to reach their inner-self, they slam the paternal
and masculine society which has imprisoned women in a world of dos and
don’ts.
Women’s story writing can be classified in two stages, prior to the victory of Islamic Revolution:
1- Primary Steps:
During the years 1931-1960, there were 15 female authors. Up to 1960,
there were 270 active male authors in the field of literary stories.
This means there was one female writer for every 18 male authors.
Story writing in Iran was going through its initial stages until 1931.
Few men were writing stories. Moreover, the name of no female
storywriter was registered in that era. During the years 1931-1941,
there were two female story writers: Irandokht Nami wrote the story of
the “Unlucky Girl” (1931) and Zahra Khanlari wrote “Parvin and Parviz”
(1933) and “Zhaleh or Girls’ Leader” (1936). In this era, Fatemeh Sayyah
was active in literary criticism. She was the first female Iranian
university professor at Tehran University.
During 1941-1950, which was a politically and socially active decade,
one can only refer to the name of Simin Daneshvar (Born in 1921) with
her literary work “Extinguished Flame”, which wasn’t one of her
blockbusters.
But during 1951-1960, we see the names of eight female writers, such as the following:
Malekeh Baqai Kermani (1914-?): Her father was a lawmaker. She studied
in Tehran and Paris. She was one of the activists longing for
fulfillment of women’s rights. In fact, she wrote several books on
Iranian women’s living conditions, such as “What Do Women Say?” or the
“Bitter Kiss” (1957), which has a nervous and tense atmosphere, to it.
She spent her late years in the U.S. and published the collection of
stories “Broken Wings” in 1983 in Los Angeles. Her works were the
initial stories, which had focused on women’s issues of concern from a
woman’s outlook.
Behin Dokht Darai (Born in 1921): She had a doctorate in Persian
Literature. After publication of the story “Herman” (1956) about
mother’s kindness, she started researching on classical literary works
such as “Shahnameh”.
Mahin Tavalli (Born in 1930): The spouse of the eminent Poet Fereydoun
Tavalli. She published several short stories in “Sokhan” magazine in the
form of a collection of stories “Pearly Pin” (1959). After an interval
lasting several decades, she published the collection of stories “Broken
Fiddle”.
Keyvan-Dokht Keyvani (Born in 1934): English language translator, who
published books “The Teenage Years” (1951) and the Novel “Passing over
Water Surface”, in addition to wartime memoirs under the name of
“Incomplete Notes”. She also translated the History of Arab Literature
written by Nicholson.
Maryam Savoji (1919-?): She wrote legal texts and was an attorney. She
was the first woman that brought up the topic of Women’s Rights in 1956
on air at Iran Radio Station. She was a poet and wrote the story “The
Girl and the Angel”.
Another writer named “Mahsima” wrote the book “Destiny’s Chains” (1957) on the family and social status of aristocrat women.
My research on the history of Contemporary Literature shows women have had a lesser role in story writing during 1931-1960.
In fact, the social, family, educational and vocational limitations had
prevented women’s creative talents from flourishing. For instance, one
can name Fakhr-Afaq Parsaay (1896-?) who secretly went to school. When
her father discovered this secret, he didn’t allow her to sit at the
final examinations. However, she studied Persian, Arabic and French at
home. She later published “Jahan-e-Zanan” (Women’s World) magazine and
taught French in Mashhad. She was threatened several times for the
articles she wrote and was finally deported to Qom. But she didn’t sit
idle and continued her activities for fulfillment of the women’s rights.
During this period, women were either so busy doing house chores that
they didn’t find time to develop their sublime talents, or, they still
hadn’t realized the notion of story writing. Even the ones who wrote
stories in this era used nicknames such as Irandokht, Mahsima or
Shahrzad. In such an atmosphere, women were not encouraged to publish
their works, because no facilities were available. In this period, women
were struggling to gain their initial rights. They didn’t find the
opportunity to gain access to literary centers and circles, because
women’s participation in the Literary Movement depended on the status
they gained within the society.
The pioneering women faced numerous threats and oppositions if they
gained access to minimum facilities and opportunities. They established
girls’ schools and women’s associations in big cities and published
magazines just for women. For instance, Zandokht Shirazi published
“Iranian Girls” magazine, hoping to awaken Iranian women. She also
published articles in the “Women’s Universe” magazine, which were
important for Iranian women. They were several female poets too. In the
field of story writing, one can refer to Fakhroddoleh, Nasereddin Shah’s
daughter. When Nasereddin Shah’s story teller, Naqibolmamalek, narrated
Amir Arsalan’s story to the king, Fakhroddoleh hid behind the curtain
and wrote whatever she heard. In fact, although this story was rooted in
the story teller’s imagination, however, it was considered as the work
of Fakhroddoleh, too.
During the years we are referring to, women attached to distinguished
families found opportunities to write. For instance one can mention
Fatemeh Sayyah in literary criticism, Zahra Khanlari and Simin
Daneshvar. These women were from the first generation of women who found
the opportunity to go on further education. Even some of them studied
in European countries. They had an income. They were relieved from doing
the house chores and were brought up in culturally-rich families. All
these factors provided them with the opportunity to develop the needed
literary skills. However, with the exception of Simin Daneshvar, the
rest didn’t take story writing seriously. Some of them like Khanlari
wrote stories for fun, and later lectured at the university and
researched in classical literature.
The works written in this era aren’t valuable literary books. These
works are more important historical-wise and because they mark the
appearance of several female story writers. Otherwise the female writers
haven’t created masterpieces and were mainly following the viewpoints
and methods of male writers. Meanwhile, Fatemeh Sayyah wrote articles on
women’s status in European art and literature in several magazines. She
was looking for the reasons behind the spiritual weakness and absence
of literary creativity in female writers. For this purpose, she also
paid attention to social conditions, biological factors, and traditional
and religious obstacles, too.
Despite the naïve and inexperienced nature of female writers’ first
stories, these works are somehow important because they show women’s
writing traditions. In fact, knowing these traditions can boost the ego
of contemporary writers.
2- Paving the Way:
During the years 1961-1970, we witness the flourishing of contemporary
literature and arts. Over 25 female writers started writing their books
in this period. There are almost 130 male writers throughout this
period. So, there is one female writer for every 5 male writers. The
statistical gap between male and female authors drop and women gradually
find their special literary stance. An increase in the number of female
writers can be the sign of changing laws, customs and traditions. In
this era, women go on further education, house chores are less
troubling, and women have jobs they can rely on for providing their
financial needs. All these elements, led to women’s ease of mind for
writing. Moreover, they gained the right to choose their husbands, which
had a profound impact on their potentials as creative writers.
In this period, female writers registered the suffering and oppression
women felt and provided an insight into the inner senses of women. For
the first time, women are not described in the opinion of men, but from a
new angle. Story writing forges ahead from a casual work into a
disciplined art. In fact, better stories were written in this decade.
The writers of this era pave the way for the future storywriters.
Few female writers in this period published their articles and stories
in popular magazines. For instance, Khatereh Parvaneh wrote for “Tehran
Mosavvar”. Meymanat Dana and Zhila Sazegar wrote for “Ettelaat Banovan”
and Farideh Golbou published her stories in “Zan-e-Rouz” magazine. The
sentimental story that Qodsi Nasiri wrote under the name of “Orphans”
(1968) was re-published several times. This novel is the story of a kid
who runs away from home due to her maltreatment by her step mother.
These writers are accustomed to writing love stories and educational
narrations.
But for the first time ever, we come across a group of writers who
follow up story writing persistently. In other words, they created a new
style for female writers. Some of these authors become first-rate
Iranian storywriters. Simin Daneshvar is one of these writers, who
started her activities two decades ago and published her major novel
“Sovashoun” (1969) in this period. We should mention the names of female
writers such as Mahshid Amir-Shahi, Goli Taraqi, Mihan Bahrami and
Mehri Yalfani, in this decade. Amir-Shahi, Taraqi and Bahrami studied in
Europe and the U.S. They later started writing stories and lecturing at
the university, after their return to Iran. Amir-Shahi explains
satirical personal adventures in her stories such as “Sar Bibi Khanoum”
(1968) “After the Last Day” (1969) and “The First Singular Person”
(1971). A part of her stories are emotional descriptions of the years of
childhood. In some other works, she refers to women’s fears and
aspirations.
Taraqi (Born in 1939) wrote the novel I am also Che-Guara (1969) and the
novel “Winter Dream” (1973) about humans who are dreaming about getting
rid of their degrading life style. But since they can’t make a
decision, they lump it. The critical, social and philosophical
viewpoints are dominant in her stories. Meanwhile, Amir-Shahi’s stories
are more feminine. In her second stage in writing, Taraqi experiences
such an atmosphere in her works such as “Scattered Memories” (1993) and
“Two Worlds” (2002). These tales are either about the nostalgia rooted
in the childhood years or the difficulties of living overseas.
Bahrami’s stories such as “Zanbaq-e-Nachin” (1962) and “Animal” (1985)
have a more realistic atmosphere to it. She describes rich women’s life
style in old Tehran. Bahrami is less prolific compared to the two
above-mentioned writers and doesn’t pay attention to their stylistic
experiences.
Unlike Bahrami, Yalfani (Born in 1936) immigrates overseas. She
published the tales of “Good Days” (1966) and the novel “Prior to
Autumn” (1980) in Iran, but her feminine outlook is further shown in her
recent books.
Other than the above-mentioned authors, one can refer to ones who
weren’t story writers, as such. For instance, Tahereh Safazadeh, was the
poet who wrote “Bitter Bonds” (1961), or Nour-ul-Hoda Manganeh, a
feminist who published the well-know “Bibi” magazine. She studied
psychology in Beirut and published several poems. She also wrote “A Part
of My Memoirs“(1965), which delineated the fate of an Iranian woman.
Moreover, we can name Alice Arzoumanian, who describes the anxieties of
puberty in the novel “Hameh Az Yek”. The adventure mentions a Christian
family, showing the life of a girl from childhood to adulthood.
Meanwhile, the two periods of 1971-1980 and 1981-1990 are similar
statistically. This means, in both periods, 28 female authors have
started writing. However during 1971-1980, 198 male writers wrote their
first books. Therefore there were 7 male authors for every one female
writer. But, in the next decade, 140 male authors start their career,
while the number of female writers hasn’t changed much. Hence, there
were five male authors for every one female writer in 1981-1990.
During this 20-year period, several journalists wrote stories too. But
their impact wasn’t that significant. There were Minoo Banakar from
Etellaat Haftegi weekly, Azar Midokht Daneshjou and Shohreh Vakili from
Sepid va Siah magazine and Shokouh Mirzadegi from Ferdowsi magazine.
Mirzadegi published her most important novel “An Alien in Me” (1993)
after her immigration to Europe.
There are also other women who write stories for the fun of it. Their
works can be recalled as narrations or memoirs, such as the Painter
Mansoureh Husseini (Born in 1937), who wrote the novel “Muddy Boots”,
with a simple and poetic style.
Persian Language & Literature
The History of Female Storywriters
By: Hassan Mirabedini, 2005
http://www.iranchamber.com
