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Esma¨Il Fasih and His War Novel, the Winter of 1983

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Esma¨Il Fasih and His War Novel, the Winter of 1983 Persica 24, 51-80. doi: 10.2143/PERS.24.0.3005373 © 2013 by Persica. All rights reserved. ESMA¨IL FASIH AND HIS WAR NOVEL, THE WINTER OF 1983 Saeedeh Shahnapour INTRODUCTION With the inception of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) came a new chapter in Persian litera- ture from a thematic standpoint. This period has been characterised as “the War Lite- rature” (Adabiyyat-e Jang), “the Literature of Holy Defense” (Adabiyyat-e Defa¨ Moqad- das) and “the Literature of Perseverance and Resistance” (Adabiyyat-e Paydari va Moqavemat), and focuses on the war and the issues stemming from it. Persian authors during this time opted to write long and short stories, as well as novels and memoirs about the event. Many of these writers reveal the profound impact of the conflict in their work, regardless of literary perspectives. Alternatively, others chose to combine more traditional, amorous and domestic melodramas with the aspects of the war to create their war novels.1 Martyrdom (shahadat), captivity (esarat), self-sacrifice (janbazi), bombardments (bom- baran) and “shellshock” syndrome (mouj-gereftegi) rank among the most prominent motifs described in this section of Persian fiction. The main goal of these writers was to inspire people to join the front lines and augment sentiments of military spirit. Esm¨ail Fasih (1935-2009) is considered to be one of the best Persian War novelists of the late twentieth century. With twenty-one published novels, five collections of short stories and eleven translations, he is the most prolific writer of his generation. Fasih wrote both before and after the Islamic Revolution (1978-79). His post-revolutionary works number more than those in the pre-revolutionary period. Most of his post-revolutionary novels engage with the theme of war and its related aspects. Sorayya dar Eghma (Sorayya in a Coma, 1984), Asir-e Zaman (The Captive of Time, 1994), Zemestan-e shast o do (The Winter of 1983, 1986), Bade-ye Kohan (Old Wine, 1994), Koshte-ye Eshq (Killed for Love, 1997) and Name-yi be Donya (A Letter to the World, 2000) are Fasih’s war novels. He also authored a collection of short stories titled Namadha-ye Dasht-e Moshavash (The Symbols of Turbulent Desert, 1990), which also depict war. Among these works, The Winter of 1983 has acquired a sublime place in Persian fiction, because it is only the second novel written about the Iran-Iraq War, the first being Ahmad Mahmud’s Zamin-e 1 Hassan Anushe, “Adabiyyat-e Jang,” in Daneshnama -e Adab-e Farsi dar Afghanistan, Vol. 2, Tehran, Sazman-e Chap va Entesharat-e Daneshnameh, 1378/1999, pp. 48-51. 996575.indb6575.indb 5511 224/02/144/02/14 111:121:12 52 S. SHAHNAPOUR Sukhte (The Scorched Earth, 1982). This article is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on Fasih’s life and on his work as an author, as well as on the position of his works in modern Persian literature. I intend to give a short as well as an insightful- intro- duction regarding his works. The second part deals with analysing Fasih’s well-known war novel Zemestan-e shast o do, particularly its use of narratological tools and theories. It is important to do this in order to get a coherent account of the novel as well as to offer an intuitive approach about the Iran-Iraq War and its impact on Iranians lives. FASIH’S LIFE Fasih was born on the 21st of February 1935 in Bazarche-ye Darkhungah, which lies in the southern precincts of Tehran. His family and friends called him Naser (or Nazi). His father Arbab Hassan, an illiterate grocery store owner, died when Fasih was only two years old. Fasih was the youngest child in the family. He grew up in overcrowded home along with his nine other siblings.2 In 1941, at the age of six, Fasih started his schooling at ¨Onsori Elementary School. During this period, he demonstrated an interest in novels and stories. He continued his education at Rahnema High School in 1947 where he earned his diploma.3 This period in Fasih’s life coincided with the coup d’état on the 28th Mordad 1332 (17 August 1953), which resulted in the fall of Mossadeq’s nationalist government and the entrance of the Eisenhower Administration in Iran, the latter leading to American influence in the region until the Islamic Revolution in 1979.4 For nearly two years between 1954 and 1956, Fasih taught in one of Tehran’s schools. Under Mossadeq’s regime, the government had announced that whoever wanted to be exempt from conscription would be required to pay 100 Tomans, the Iranian currency at the time. After paying this sum and obtaining his exemption certificate, Fasih intended to go abroad to continue his educa- tion. Because of his low teaching income, however, Fasih was forced to apply to one of the cheaper colleges in the United States.5 By 1956, 22-year old Fasih had left Iran and eventually ended up at Montana State College in Bozeman, Montana. He studied Chemistry there for four years. In order to pay his expenses, Fasih worked in the laboratory of the University in his free time. In his third year, he was accepted at the University of Montana in Missoula to study English Litera- ture. Missoula enjoyed a reputation as an important centre for American writers, and gave Fasih direct access to American fiction. The overall influence of this experience on his work is hard to deny. Whilst in Missoula, he wrote his first short story Khale Turi (Auntie Turi), which was published by the University press.6 He placed second in his class, earning 2 ¨Emad Badi¨, Asl-e Asar-e Fasih, Tehran, Alborz, 1379/2000, p. 1. 3 Badi¨, “Negahi be Zendegi-ye Esm¨ail Fasih,” in Kelk 55-56, 1373/1994, pp. 198-203. 4 Esm¨ail Fasih, “A Day in the Life of a Contemporary Iranian Writer,” in Third World Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 3, 1987, pp. 825-47. 5 “Fasih-Esma’il,” in Mehr-e Hormoz, no. 4, 1388/2009, at http://sibegazzade.com/main/?p=224 (accessed 23 September 2011). 6 Saeed Kamali Dehqan, “Fasih be Revayat-e Fasih,” in E¨temad, no. 2016, 2 August 2009; Ali Ferdowsi, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, under Esma'il Fasih. 996575.indb6575.indb 5522 224/02/144/02/14 111:121:12 ESMA¨IL FASIH AND HIS WAR NOVEL, THE WINTER OF 1983 53 him a 100-dollar award. One of his professors once said of Fasih, “I think we have a writer on our hand,” a phrase that left a lasting impression on him.7 In 1960, Fasih earned his B.S. in Chemistry and B.A. in English Literature. Imme- diately after he moved to San Francisco, California, where he fell in love and married a Norwegian named Annabel Campbell. They lived in San Francisco only for a year, since Fasih was offered a good job in Washington, where he and his pregnant wife would then move. Sadly, however, his wife and child died due to complications in 1962. Fasih was devastated. This tragedy made America so unbearable for him that he came home to Iran shortly thereafter.8 Upon returning, Fasih became a translator at the Franklin Publishing Institute in Tehran, which was under the management of a talented translator, theatre critic and author named Najaf Daryabandari.9 He meanwhile became acquainted with a number of Iranian writers, such as Sadeq Chubak and Gholam Hussein Sa¨edi. In 1963, Fasih concurrently took on a job at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in Ahvaz, south Iran. He started there as a teacher in the Industrial Vocational High School (Honarestan-e Sana¨ti). During his stay in Ahvaz, a period regarded as the years of solitude and gloom for the writer, Fasih started writing. In 1964, a year after moving to Ahvaz, Fasih married Parichehr ¨Edalat, in Ahvaz. They had two children: a daughter, Salumeh (b. 1965) and a son Shahriyar (b. 1970).10 In 1968, the Oil Company sent Fasih to the University of Michigan as a researcher. After a year, he completed a M.A. degree in English Literature. Subsequent to his homecoming in 1969, his company transferred him to Abadan to teach at the Institute of Technology (A.I.T), a post he held until the siege of Abadan at the start of Iraq’s invasion of Iran in 1980. As a result, he was forced to retire as an Assistant Professor. He went back to Teh- ran and settled in Ekbatan, which is located in one of the city’s western precincts.11 After his compulsory retirement, Fasih devoted the remaining years of his life almost entirely to writing. Besides fiction, he also wrote some reports for the National Iranian Oil Company.12 On the 5th of July 2009, he was admitted to the National Iranian Oil Company Hospital in Tehran due to brain haemorrhaging and passed away ten days later on the 15th of July at the age of seventy-five. Fasih was buried in the artists’ section of Behesht-e Zahra cemetery.13 7 “Fasih-Esma’il,” in Aftab 1, Aban1384/October- November 2005, at http://aftab.ir/articles/art_ culture/literature_verse/c5c1130073769p1.php (accessed 23 September 2011). 8 Ferdowsi, in Encyclopaedia Iranica under Esm¨ail Fasih, at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ fasih-esmail, (accessed 22 September 2011). 9 Najaf Daryabandari, “Daryabandari Darbare-ye Fasih: Part-o Pala Miguyand ke Mesl-e Hemingway Minevisad,” at http://sibegazzade.com/main/?p=1120 (accessed 22 September 2011); Dehqan, “Realism-e Irani, Teragedy-e Amricayi: Revayat-i az Ruzegar-e Esm¨ail Fasih,” in Sharvand-e Emruz, Ordibehesht 1386/April-May 2007, at http://sibegazzade.com/main/?p=98 (accessed 23 September 2011).
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