Copyright by Farkhondeh Shayesteh 2011 The Dissertation Committee for Farkhondeh Shayesteh certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: In Search of Identity: Hushang Golshiri’s Ayenehha-ye Dardar and Other Works of Fiction Committee: M. R. Ghanoonparvar, Supervisor Michael C. Hillmann Elizabeth Richmond-Garza Faegheh Shirazi Katherine Arens In Search of Identity: Hushang Golshiri’s Ayenehha-ye Dardar and Other Works of Fiction by Farkhondeh Shayesteh, B.A.; M.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2011 In Search of Identity: Hushang Golshiri’s Ayenehha-ye Dardar and Other Works of Fiction Farkhondeh Shayesteh, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Supervisor: M. R. Ghanoonparvar This dissertation examines representations of identity in the fiction works of Iranian author Hushang Golshiri. An extensive, theoretically grounded examination of Golshiri’s attention to five different aspects of identity in his novel Ayenehha-ye Dardar is the focal point of the research presented herein. This examination is supported by an exploration of these same aspects of identity in his other long works of fiction and in numerous short stories from several collections he produced. A brief biography of Golshiri’s life which is focused on his literary activities at different points in his life is included. An annotated bibliography of Golshiri’s major publications is also provided, as is a plot summary of Ayenehha-ye Dardar. iv Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction ....................................................................................1 Golshiri’s Life and Works ..............................................................................3 A Brief Biographical/Bibliographical Sketch of Golshiri ..............................4 Persian Identity and Persian Literature.........................................................10 Review of Literature on Golshiri ..................................................................27 An Annotated Bibliography of Golshiri’s Work ..........................................36 Chapter Two: Identity Representations in Golshiri’s Works Other than Ayenehha-ye Dardar.....................................................................................56 Existence and Identity...................................................................................58 Linguistic/Literary Identity...........................................................................72 Cultural Identity............................................................................................87 Political Identity..........................................................................................102 Indeterminate Nature of Identity.................................................................112 v Chapter Three: Identity Representations in Ayenehha-ye Dardar....................122 Plot Summary of Ayenehha-ye Dardar.......................................................122 Existence and Identity.................................................................................132 Linguistic/Literary Identity.........................................................................139 Cultural Identity..........................................................................................161 Political Identity..........................................................................................167 Indeterminate Nature of Identity.................................................................188 Chapter Four: Conclusion.................................................................................214 Appendix – Ayenehha-ye Dardar cover, a mirror with doors .............................218 Select Bibliography..............................................................................................219 Select Bibliography of Golshiri’s Works.............................................................241 vi ﻣﮭﻤﺘﺮﯾﻦ ﻣﺴﺌﻠﮫ در ﺣﻘﯿﻘﺖ اﯾﻦ اﺳﺖ ﻛﮫ ﻣﻦ، اﯾﻦ اﻧﺴﺎن اﯾﺮاﻧﯽ ﺷﺮﻗﯽ، ﭼﮫ ﻛﺎرهام؟ ﻛﮫ ھﺴﺘﻢ؟ و ﻛﺠﺎی اﯾﻦ ﺗﺎرﯾﺦ ﺑﺸﺮی اﯾﺴﺘﺎدهام؟ و ﭼﮫ ﺳﮭﻤﯽ دارم؟ – ھﻮﺷﻨﮓ ﮔﻠﺸﯿﺮی For me, as an Iranian and Eastern human being, the most important questions indeed are: What am I? Who am I? Where do I stand in human history? And what is my part? – Hushang Golshiri 1 Chapter One: Introduction Hushang Golshiri was a creative writer of fiction and literary critic who experimented with Western literary techniques combined with elements from classical and medieval Persian literature in developing his writing style. Though Golshiri’s focus was often on the craft of writing itself, there is an obvious socially and politically aware subtext to many of his stories. The protagonists in many of his works are intellectuals who are painfully aware of the problems within their country and society, and they either want to change their world somehow or are struggling to survive within a world they find gloomy and disconsolate. In some of his longer works such as Ayenehha-ye Dardar [Mirrors with Doors],1 the main character/narrator is struggling with self-knowledge and his own identity as an Iranian writer as he is trying to decide how to live and what to do with the rest of his life. Ayenehha-ye Dardar, in particular, accentuates such identity concerns by placing the examination within expatriate communities whose members face conflicting linguistic and social cues regarding their identities. 1 There are other translations of the title Ayenehha-ye Dardar. For example, Khorrami in his article in Encyclopedia Iranica translated the title as Mirrors with Cover Doors while Moayyad in the introduction of Black Parrot, Green Crow (2003) translated it as Mirrors in Doors. I, however, have translated the title of the novel as Mirrors with Doors, which is the closest to a literal translation and also comes closest to describing the actual items from which the title is taken. A picture of a mirror with doors [ayeneh-ye dardar] from the cover of the novel is provided as an appendix at the end of this dissertation. 1 This dissertation presents an exploratory analysis of representations of identity in Golshiri’s work, particularly his novel Ayenehha-ye Dardar, leveraging the extant research on Golshiri’s writing and life, including Golshiri’s own assessments of his work. Golshiri’s entire body of work – including his novels and collections of short stories, stories published in journals such as Jong-e Esfahan, and interviews conducted with Golshiri – was examined as a part of the research for this manuscript. An initial translation of Ayenehha-ye Dardar has also been completed and a summary of the novel is presented here. The full translation will be polished and refined for future publication. The remainder of this dissertation is structured as follows. The rest of Chapter One presents a short biography of Golshiri including the works he produced/published during different periods of his life. A review of literature focused on identity issues in modern Persian literature and on Golshiri’s literary works is also presented. Chapter Two illustrates Golshiri’s concerns with different aspects of identity with examples from many of his short stories and novels. Chapter Three presents a detailed summary of the novel Ayenehha-ye Dardar and follows that with a detailed examination of Golshiri’s treatment of identity in Ayenehha-ye Dardar. This chapter leverages supporting theory and critical opinion regarding identity in general, and diasporic/immigrant/exhilic identity in particular, and examines the five different elements of identity distinguished in this dissertation, presenting specific examples from Ayenehha-ye Dardar for illustration. 2 Chapter Four concludes the dissertation with a summary of the arguments presented and the contributions of this research. GOLSHIRI’S LIFE AND WORKS This section reviews Golshiri’s life from his birth in 1938 until his death in 2000. The primary focus is on his adult years and the literary artifacts he produced during his life. The short biographical sketch is supplemented by an annotated bibliography of Golshiri’s literary production at the end of the chapter. No attempt has been made to organize the works thematically. In both sections, events and major works are presented in chronological order.2 A review of literature examining explorations of Persian identity and a review of literature analyzing Golshiri’s works are also included. 2 For more detailed examination of Golshiri’s life and how it impacted the subjects of his writing, see the collection of interviews in Hushang Golshiri by Maryam Taheri-Majd (2004), and also the article “Golshiri, Hushang” by Hasan Mir’abedini in Encyclopædia Iranica. A brief but very interesting interview/autobiographical sketch of Golshiri’s life appears as a preface to Minoo Buffington’s translation of Shazdeh Ehtejab, in Hillmann, Michael C., Ed. Major Voices in Contemporary Persian Literature. Austin, Texas: Literature East & West, 1976: 245-250. See also the introduction and “Goftoguha” in Bagh dar Bagh, Vol. II, 2001 and also “Dar Ahval-e In Nimeh-ye Roshan” [About This Bright Side], the preface in Dark Side of the Moon (2001), written by Golshiri in 1991. See also “Negahi be Hayat-e Khod” [A Glance at My Own Life] by Golshiri in Hamkhani-ye Kateban [Harmony of Writers], 2001. 3 A BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL/BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GOLSHIRI Hushang Golshiri was born in March