Durham E-Theses Forugh farrokhzad Persian poetness and feminist Bharier, Mehri How to cite: Bharier, Mehri (1978) Forugh farrokhzad Persian poetness and feminist, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/9817/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk FORUGH FARROKHZAD PERSIAN F03STKSS AND FEMINIST by Mehri Bharier Subaiiitod for the degree of tyaqtej? of Literature In. Persia;? Studies. University of Durhame April 1978. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. )'-ORl)Gll FARROKHZAD; PEKSIAH POETESS AND FEMINIST by T'ehri Bharier ABSTRACT OF THESIS Th:'.s thesis is the first evaluation of the life and work of Forugh Farrokhzacl, a Persian poetess and feminist who died tragically at the age of 32. The first part starts by relating the circumstances surrouniing her death and goes on to describe her family background, childhood, education, marriage; and divorce. It then gives an account of her publications as well as other artistic activities in films and the theatre. The. second part assesses her relationship to the movements for women's advancement in Iran. It covers the historical link between poetesses and feminists and also describes the activities of various critics of the role of women together with the work of varioas womens1 organizations. After examining the work of other Persian poetesses who had taken up the subject of women, Forugh*s own views and writings on femi5!ism are analysed and compared with them. Trm third part evaluates Forugh'3 place in the history of Persian literature and, in particular, examines the style of her poetry. It begins by describing tha main forms of classical Persian poetry, and then the reasons for the intro• duction and spread of various modern styles of poetry. Examples are given of work which clearly influenced Forugh, and this is extended to cover religious teachings and foreign writers and poets. Forugh's own views on poetry are then recounted, followed by a survey of the changing style of her work. This part ends with some critiques of her"poetry by Persian poets and intellectuals. In addition to bringing together and assessing infor• mation on Forugh, on poetry and on feminism in Iran, the thesis .includes original or new translations of all or part of o:T Forugh's poenr-: as well as o:" the york of 20 otinr writers. CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION J, Note on Transliteration 5 I. THE DEATH AND LIFE OF FORDGH 2 Forugh's Death 8 Forugh's First Birth 17 Forugh's Education 23 Forugh's Marriage and Divorce 30 The Last Eight Years 51 Notes to Chapter One 56 Appendix - A Poem by Kamyar Shapur 61 II. FCRUGH AND FEMINISM 62 l ersian Women in History 64" The Status of Women, 1900-50 70 The Status of Women, The 1950s 75 Poets, Politicians and Feminisa 78 'Ae Women's Movement 85 feminist Poetesses 93 1'orugh on Feminism 112 (inclusion 126 Notes to Chapter Two 129 III. THE POETRY OF FORUGH 133 Classical Persian Poetry 135 The Spread of Modern Poetry 1^6 Poets Contemporary with Forugh 157 Influence of Foreign Writers 172 Influence of Religion 175 Forugh's Views on Poetry 185 The Style of Forugh's Poetry 201 Some Criticisms of Forugh 210 Notes to Chapter Three 216 IV. AN ASSESSMENT OF FORUGH, FEMINIST AND POETESS 223 The Way She Lived 225 The Time in Which She Lived 228 Her Literary Contribution 229 Conclusion 230 APPENDICES 232 BIBLT^GRAPJ-iy 252 INTRODUCTION It is now 1978, eleven years aftar the death of Forugh Farrokh:r.ad. She is still an enigma :Ln the eyes of many, and I hope that this thesis will help people to understand . better her life and her work. The tiiesis starts, in Chapter 1, with an account of her sudden and tragic death and her life and background. Chapter 2 assesses her relationship to the women's movement :'.n Iran, and Chapter 3 evaluates her contribution to Persian poetry. To the best of my knowledge this is the first full study of the life anc. work of Forugh. In addition, the thesis contains my own translations of all or part of 23 of Forugh's poems, most of which have never before been translated, together with nev or original translations of joems by Ilisa, Naderpur, Shamlu, Shahriar, Parvin E'tesami, Mahasti, Zhaleh, 3shqi, 3ehbehar.i, Saffarzadeh, Dowlatabadi, I*uran Farrokhzad (Forugh's sister), Kamyar Shapur (her son) and extracts of poems by. many others. The thesis combines three of my own interests: Persian literature, the advancement of women in Iran,and the story of Forugh. On each of these topics it would, of course, have been possible to delve much deeper. Indeed, I hope to be able to do this in my future researches. However, in this thesis I have tried to strike an appropriate balance between the three topics in-order to put Forugh's life and work in the proper context. '••In the translations I have put particular emphasis on trying capture Forugh' s feelings rather than presenting literal Persian literature is part of my heritage. I recall, when I u-is a child in Tehran, sitting iround the 'korsi' with my nother and father on Shab-e YaTda (midwinter's eve), and reciting verses from Hafez and Sa'di. My parents, both ver r knowledgeable about Persian .'Literature and music, instilled in me an appreciation for which I shall always be grate:?ul. I kept up this interest and was further stimulated during the period I spent as a teacher in the Department of Persian at Durham University by Mr. F.R.C. 3agley, the head of the department. Mr. 3agley has also supervised this thesis,and his comments, advice and criticisms have bee:i extremely valuable in my wor!<. I also appreciate the comments of Dr. Jalii Dustkhwah, his iisiting colleague at Durham. Women's advancement in Iran has recently been fairly rapid. I myself was fortunate to be able to attend Tehran University, where I studied English, a:id to be part of the first group of girl students in Iran to participate in activities which girls in the United States and Europe had been allowed to pursue for many years. These included educ• ational tours, camping and the organisation of seminars. Since T married, I have travelled in many countries and have lived in Great Britain and the United States. I have therefore been able to make personal comparisons between the status of women in different parts of the world. To me, Forugh Farrokhzad was something of a puzzle when I first heard about her and read her poems in the 'i950s. I was unable to decide for myself whother sho was * A low, square wooden table with room for a charcoal burner in the middle, and u;.?ua!!"|y surrounded and covered -with blankets to preserve the hoat. "People nit on mattresses around it with their feat under tho b?npkfttn to keep warm. someone to be admired or despised, evun though I had lived through many of the problems which shs faced. When Forugh died, I happened to be living in Tehran, and reports about her accident and burial further increased my curiosity about hur. Unfortunately, it was noc until my husband had completud his own studies and research and my two daughters were at school that I was able to satisfy this curiosity. During my research for this thesis I made two special visits to Iran. There I interviewed a veteran feminist leader, Mrs. :3adr ol-Moluk 3and3d, the poetesses Parvin 3amdad and Tahereh Saffarzadeh, the short-story writer and film director SbrShim GolestSn, the pcets Nader NSderpur and Mehdi AkhavTui-e'Sales, the writer Processor Mohit Tabataba1 i, and a friend of the Farrokhza"d family^ "islam Kazemiehj as v/ell as Parviz Shapur, Forugh's husband, ard Mrs. Turan Vaziri Tabar, her mother. These interviews were particularly use• ful in helping ne get a feel for Forujh's work in various fields as well as an idea of her character arid upbringing. I am grateful to all these people for giving me the benefit of their knowledge and memories, for arranging these in• terviews and providing moral support for my work, I would like to give special thanks to Professor Manuchehr Agah, Dr. Hushang Saedlu, Mr. Farhad Massoudi,and Mrs. Parvin fakdaman, as well as my very good friends Mrs. Pari MalSyeri and Sharif and Lisa Adib-Soltani, all of whom made great efforts on my bohalf in the midst of their busy lives. All the writing for this thesis Jias been done in Vienna, Virginia (near Washington D.C., U.S.A. )t where I now live. I have mace extensive use of the Library of Congress and I would like to thank Messrs.