After the 1979 Revolution, Iranian women's literature began to focus more on gender hierarchy and women's suffering expressed through figurative language, transcending the existing male-dominated literary discourse. In these works, women's personal and private experiences become public. Women's pre-revolutionary works, influenced by the dominant literary discourse, did not give rise to a feminist literary movement because they emphasized socio-political issues more than specific gender issues. In other words, women's literary paradigms before and after the revolution represent different discourses, and the Iranian Revolution of 1979 appears to be the major historical event that separates the two and may be primarily responsible for the shift.

 

This shift in women's literary discourse has been explained extensively in my article published in 1987 and in two chapters of a book published in 1999. (1) What follows is a summary of these works, as well as a more specific look at the discourse on sexuality in recent years. The rise of the discourse of sexuality (with all its limitations and chaos) is not only a result of the development of global mass communication networks, but also of a strong, indigenous Iranian post-revolutionary feminist movement. I have since reached the conclusion that the feminist literary movement, and, in general, the discourse on sexuality is directly related to the broader exigencies of the discourse on modernity. The distinction between social and gender issues, however, is not my invention. Others have also drawn upon such analytical distinctions in discussing women’s fiction. For example, Tierney-Tello explains how women’s writings in several South American countries question socio-political, gender-based, and codified forms of authority. (2) 

 

Literary works by women prior to the Revolution, like those of men at that period, were produced within the context of the oppositional literary movement. Borrowing heavily from various forms of socialist ideology and Marxist literary criticism, this opposition was epitomized in "committed literature." That is, women's literature in that period as was an integral component of the committed literature. Women writers, skillfully following the standards of the literary establishment, wrote Socialist Realist, romantic, and didactic novels and poetry. (3) 

 

Simin Daneshvar (born 1921), one of the best-known fiction writers of modern Persian literature, established her reputation by publishing three collections of short stories and the best-selling novel, Savushun (1969). Savushun and several short stories, such as "Beh Ki Salam Konam" (To Whom Can I Say Hello, 1974) and "Suratkhaneh" (The Playhouse, 1961) were favorably reviewed and reprinted several times. (4)

 

Savushun is about the life experience of a woman named Zari. (5) She is married to Yusof, a political activist involved in a resistance movement against the Allied forces. The novel ends as Zari is reassured of the righteousness of her new path. She is consoled by Yusof's friend, "Do not cry sister. A tree will grow in your house and others in your city, and even more in your land. And the wind will convey the message from tree to tree, 'Did you see the dawn on your way?'" (6) With this abrupt tendency toward courageous political activism, her personal conflicts, her long search for a purpose beyond her home comes to an end. (7)

 

The dominant form of Socialist Realism appears in the way the author juxtaposes segments of the novel to address such problems as social inequality, political repression, and the dichotomy between family and the Socialist movement. The writing seeks to explain the problems of social oppression, foreign domination, and men's need to defend their homeland. Women's specific problems appear occasionally, only as subordinate to the more serious issue of national emancipation. Even before she joins the movement, Zari herself values the men's struggle above her own as she performs her wifely and motherly duties. Yusof's ideas reflect the national aspirations of that time, and his death is a metaphor for the defeat of nationalism. Zari, who sympathizes with and later joins the resistance movement, represents the hope that the struggle will continue. The novel forces a patriarchal notion of the revolution upon the story, a notion that associates the revolution with the territory of the father. Even when Zari is ready to fully engage in the movement, her role does not transcend that of the traditional sister or wife who dares to publicly mourn the loss of her man. (8) Using Herrmann's terminology, the dominant language system permeates and shapes the relationship between the author and her themes and characters.        

 

Some of Daneshvar's pre-revolutionary writings "give a view of the causes leading to the plight of traditional oriental women." (9) In depicting these women, however, she allows class and foreign oppression to overshadow male domination. The interaction between rich and poor is often portrayed as a disunity arising from social inequality. Her works, Savushun, To Whom Can I Say Hello, Playhouse, and The Accident, all demonstrate her commitment to explain the root causes of these social problems. (10) They advocate committed literature and publicize revolutionary political activism, criticize Western cultural infiltration, and overlook the role of patriarchy. Her characters seek to be recognized as advocates of humanism and assure the members of committed literature that, although gender issues are personally important, they will not hinder their greater collective quest for political change. The author herself achieved a prominent position in the community of writers when she was elected the first president of the organization of committed writers, Kanun-e Nevisandegan-e Iran (Iranian Writers’ Association.) (11)

 

The work of Forugh Farrokhzad (1935-1967), one of Iran's most acclaimed and iconoclastic poets, has been widely considered to be the true voice of Iranian women. Farrokhzad's writing can be categorized into two general groups. Her collections, Asir (Captive, 1955), Divar (The Wall, 1956), and Osiyan (Rebellion, 1957), contain sensual depictions of love, passion, and suffering. Her last two works, Tavalodi Digar (Another Birth, 1964) and Iman Biyavarim Beh Aghaz-e Fasl-e Sard (Let Us Believe in the Beginning of a Cold Season, published posthumously), are mostly concerned with social conditions of the time, addressing human suffering and inequality. (12) Generally, when she is conveying her personal experiences in such poems as "Shi'r-e Safar" (“Leaving: The Poem”) or social concerns, as in “Kasi Keh Mesl-e Hich Kas Nist" (“One Like No Other”), Farrokhzad has a distinctive feminine, provocative, and genuinely honest expression. The last two works, however, clearly reflect the social themes of the dominant committed literature.

 

In her early poems, Farrokhzad genuinely divulges her feminine sensibilities. Love repeatedly becomes a determining factor in her relationship with men. In "Revolt," she exhibits her dislike for the man she does not love, "You man, selfish creature/ don't say my poetry is shameful." (13) In another poem, she writes confidently in a confession to her lover, "You made me a poet, O man.” (14) Through this duality, she splits her aesthetic efforts between describing what is imposed upon her in an unhappy marriage and depicting her wish to break down the walls of her private life, associate freely with the man she loves, and join the community of committed artists. The elegy, "Leaving: The Poem," displays Farrokhzad’s personal approach towards gender relations and her quarrels with men and is perhaps a reflection of her own romantic experience after her first marriage failed.

 

Farrokhzad's poetic counter-culturalism could, however, only go so far. Finally, she adheres to the traditional themes that a woman should sacrifice herself for her love– that is, her man. The notions underlying her poetic expression often display a close affinity with the cultural context of male domination. This return to the existing framework of literary discourse becomes paramount in Farrokhzad's later works. “One Like No Other" explicitly demonstrates Farrokhzad's commitment to the Socialist movement. Here, she imagines the arrival of a savior, "Someone's coming, I dreamed/ dreaming of a red star." (15) She uses metaphors such as warmth, lightness, day, tomorrow, water, rain, and flight to refer to the movement, to imply hope, and to hint at a better future. (16)

 

In terms of poetic dynamics, innovative style, and mastery of poetic expression, Simin Behbahani (born 1927) is on par with Farrokhzad. (17) She is a prolific poet whose pre-revolutionary works alone exceed five volumes. (18) In her works, as in those of other female authors, social themes and the struggle to promote the leftist cause echo the pre-revolutionary literary movement. "The important and interesting part of my work," says Behbahani, "has been to explain people's pain and dissatisfaction. I confess that since I have presented my poems for public judgment, I have been encouraged by critics and have been welcomed by the people, especially those from deprived and oppressed classes." (19)

 

To summarize, pre-revolutionary women's literature, as exemplified by the works of Daneshvar, Farrokhzad, and Behbahani, displays a remarkable sensitivity towards social issues, while issues related specifically to women were treated as secondary. The logic underpinning their works was that of committed literature, in which the narrative was to provide explanations of the existing social problems and solutions in figurative and symbolic language. This work does not take issue with the argument as to whether these authors were themselves feminists. In all likelihood, each had, in her own way, observed and experienced existing gender prejudice and discrimination in her social environment. Further, pioneering the women's literary movement, publicly expressing views, and expanding women's social space are all tantamount to the realization of feminist objectives. Yet they were still confined within the literary framework set by the male-dominated, socially-conscious committed literature trend. Their discourse was lacking in originality and necessarily implied a male solution. This rational context was transformed in the post-revolutionary period, and women writers began to produce increasingly independent literary expressions.

 

In 1979, a secular authoritarian state was replaced with a religious regime whose central objective was a total reorganization of society according to the rules of Shi’a Islam. Many of the social reforms undertaken by the Pahlavis were undone by the ruling clerics. The new regime not only rolled back family law created under the old regime but also imposed gender segregation and mandatory veiling. Since then, gender segregation has been actively promoted by the state and gender has become a major criterion according to which social roles are defined. In the post-revolutionary period, the state discourse also transformed social as well as literary movements, including women's literature. This new political conditioning of literary movements is reflected in a shift in the themes, characterizations, and figurative language of women writers. Ironically, the emergence of these unprecedented literary works by women is associated with the “Islamitization” of the country through the "cultural revolution" which directly undermined women's freedom. In other words, the 1979 Revolution, the subsequent socio-political changes, and the compulsory dress code provided the context for and explain the shift in women's literature and subsequently the creation of a new chapter.

In their writings, symbols and metaphors turn into an ideological representation which does nothing short of usher in a new era. Feminist terminology such as "denunciation of treating women as sex objects," "struggle against male dominated culture," "advocating equality with men," "freedom," and "male-female interactions" proliferated in women's writing. Previously silenced voices, hidden talents, and marginalized literature rose to the surface. Major post-revolutionary writers who represent this new literary movement include Shahrnoush Parsipour and Moniru Ravanipur. Feminist themes began to take center stage in the works of even Daneshvar and Behbahani in this period.

 

Although Shahrnoush Parsipour (born 1946) started publishing before the Revolution, she became a well-known writer in the 1980s. Two of her works, Tuba va Mana-ye Shab (Touba and the Meaning of the Night, 1989),and Zanan Bedun-e Mardan (Women Without Men, 1990), were both popular and controversial and brought her fame. In these works, Parsipur is concerned with the condition of women. Her female characters speak of women's sexual oppression throughout history, express their acceptance of their sexuality, ridicule chastity, and articulate resistance to the male-dominated culture.   

 

Women Without Men, a novel composed of interwoven stories about several women, offers an intricate, multi-voice narrative and portrays gender relations in the context of a challenge to traditional notions about virginity. Various women all make their way to a garden where they can live as women without men. (20) Regarding one of the women, we read:

 

Zarrinkulah left her breakfast there, at least for the moment. She angrily went back to the bedroom, lay down on the bed and opened her legs. Then the customer came. It was a man without a head. Zarrinkulah didn't dare scream. The headless customer did his business and left. From that day on, all of the customers were headless. Zarrinkulah didn't dare say anything about it. (21)

In another section of the novel, two other women, Munis and Faizah, have a discussion about the hymen before their journey to the garden begins:

 

“Virginity is a curtain, my mother says. If a girl jumps down from a height she’ll damage her virginity. It’s a curtain, it can be torn.”

“What are you talking about? It’s a hole. However, it’s narrow, and then becomes wide."

“Oh!”

Munis turned pale. Faizah looked at her and asked, “Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing. But it must be a curtain.”

“No. I read about it in a book. I read a lot. It’s a hole." (22)

 

Feminist themes also abound in the works of Moniru Ravanipur (born 1954), a leading post-revolutionary woman writer, whose books, like Shahrnoush Parsipour's, enjoy wide circulation and frequent reprinting. Her assertive themes have given her a prominent position among post-revolutionary literary activists. Ravanipur explicitly addresses issues related to women's social conditions and gender relations by emphasizing the importance of women's activities in literary endeavors. In an interview, she states, "No one takes us seriously before we publish. Until then we are lonely women... and then they say, 'Oh, a woman is writing!' As if they are saying a disabled person is writing. And then everybody wants to help as if a blind person is crossing the street. Yes! A woman is writing, someone who was supposed to keep her mouth shut." (23) Ravanipur asserts, "Life, of course, is not just shouting." "My life," she continues, "also involves struggle and resistance for the sake of the women of my country. From now on, my heroines will face suffering and struggle as well as good fortune and happiness because life is not just suffering." (24) Promoting the image of the women who "shout" their "suffering," Ravanipur adheres to a feminist notion of literature which offers that women should not be portrayed as helpless victims but, rather, as rebels. Addressing women's oppression and struggle, she delves into the issues of gender relations. 

 

Ravanipur's "Qese-ye Ghamangiz-e Eshq" (The Sad Story of Love), from the collection Sangha-ye Shaytan (Devil's Stone), explores these gender issues through an unusual combination of sporadic yet compelling narrative and deep insight into the conflict between female and male characters. (25) Ravanipur's Del-e Fulad (Heart of Steel, 1990) relates the story of a young woman writer, Afsanah, a victim of an abusive relationship in which her husband even uses her as a gambling pawn. She leaves this patriarchal marriage in search of a new life and an opportunity to write an historical story, her own version of history. (26) 

 

The new discourse produced by post-revolutionary women authors may have been affected by generational factors. Many of these authors are younger than the ones mentioned in the pre-revolutionary period. The new generation may have also been influenced by feminist ideas in the West since the late sixties or the rise of feminist movements in other parts of the Middle East. (27) These factors, while important, do not minimize the significance of the political circumstances of literary movements during the periods covered in this study. The Pahlavi regime's dictatorial policies, as well as a “top-down” approach to the promotion of "feminism," structured literary discourse in a way that addressed social rather than gender issues. However, the Islamic Republic's unequivocal attack on what it considered the influence of "Western decadence" on women and the implementation of gender-specific policies provided a new discursive context for literary production. This argument is further supported when one considers that themes regarding the situation of women and feminist consciousness dominate in post-revolutionary women's literature, even in the later works of Simin Behbahani and Simin Daneshvar. In their post-revolutionary writings, the personal and the self have gained a new level of significance. Neither of these two women remained loyal to the old forms and themes. Indeed, the wave of younger women writers has joined the established writers to critically depict the traditional, patriarchal aspects of Iranian culture.

 

Literary creativity is conditioned by socio-political processes. Women's literary discourse before the revolution was produced in the context of the Pahlavis' interventionist policies and colored by the dominant ideology of the opposition. In this period, "imperialist intervention," "political repression," and "inequality" constituted the seminal ideas underpinning oppositional discourse. These concerns gave rise to a committed literary movement which took it upon itself to educate the reader about the social problems derived from the ruling political system. The works of women writers were part of the committed literature that emerged in opposition to the discourse of the state. Women began to participate in literary activities, inserting the female in predominantly male-dominated literature. (28) However, the dominant discourse forced an emphasis on class and revolutionary aspirations and the use of established images, metaphors, structures, and figurative language of their time.

 

In the post-revolutionary literary movement, on the other hand, the discourse of the ruling clerics stressed religion as the most important organizing principle of society. Much of the modernization by the Pahlavis in regard to women was undone as the new regime began to impose its own view of womanhood on society. The veil thus became the symbolic significance of the new regime's gender policy. The new rulers increased social and religious pressures to implement their objectives, especially that of veiling. Consequently, intellectual women in the opposition began to speak out on all aspects of gender issues beginning with organized resistance against mandatory veiling, while simultaneously breaking away from the left which remained indifferent to their cause.

 

The veil provided a fresh outlook on the past and a point of initiation for new feminine thought. In their works, women have made their voices explicit; women, who have to wear veils in public, unveil themselves in their books. They now collectively, as advocates of a feminist discourse, disclose sexual oppression and uncover the imperfections of the patriarchal social structures of the country. They began to explore gender issues ranging from women's history to sexuality. This struggle does not occur in isolation either. Other women provide these authors with a loyal readership. The sheer fascination of readers with these themes results in frequent printings and praise that in turn contribute to the rise and diffusion of women's discourse. As a result, a practical feminist consciousness, a value system, and a set of attitudes and behavior emerged among these women which eventually shaped a new literary movement.

 

The cultural, class, and regional experiences of women authors have resulted in the presentation of a variety of thoughts from Parsipur's quintessential radicalism in Women Without Men to Ravanipur's mystical feminism in "The Sad Story of Love." These authors interconnect the myriad forms of gender issues in their own way, and yet collectively emphasize unity and integration as opposed to the state's oratorical emphasis on motherhood and nurture. At the center of this collective effort, these authors break away from previously established patterns and weave new styles and forms of narrative. These authors put into words the compelling, psychological forces of tales of their oppression. They crystallize their own figurative language and symbols and employ rhetorical devices in new ways to extend their presence in a traditionally male domain. Their narratives thus control and make meaning manifest in various innovative ways – through plot, character, theme, symbol, irony, and so on.          

 

Shahin Hannaneh's interviews with artists' wives Posht-e Daricheh-ha: Goftegu Ba Hamsaran-e Honarmandan (Behind the Windows: A Conversation with Artists' Spouses, 1992) resembles Daneshvar's post-revolutionary memoirs whose narratives would hardly have been welcomed by a pre-revolutionary audience for whom Al-e Ahmad, for example, had been a literary and political icon.Yet, Women's memoirs and autobiographies, especially those of women married to famous men, became popular genres in Iran in the decades after the 1979 Revolution. A wave of younger women writers joined these established writers to depict critically the traditional, patriarchal aspects of Iranian culture. In recent years, these young authors seem to have moved the course of literary activity to a new level of cultural significance. They have expanded the novel readership with works such as those by Farideh Gulbu, Nasrin Samini, and many other new comers have set records in the number of printings and reprintings of their books.

 

The foregoing analysis also supports the contention that the Iranian women writer’s experience indicates that literary production is often a discontinuous process and that because of changes in social context, the history of modern Persian literature may be perceived in terms of a number of episodic literary movements. It also shows that state ideology and political opposition play a determinative role in literary production. Literature, in other words, goes beyond the aesthetics of self-expression to serve as a powerful social and collective reaction to prevailing social conditions.

 

In both periods, women and their sexuality have been the function of a set of political, social, and economic forces that hardly resemble the modern notions of these concepts. Some may dismiss the significance of the absence of a widespread discussion, analysis, and presentation of sexuality in Iran (both during the westernization period of the Pahlavis or during the revolutionary period that ensued the fall of the dynasty). They could argue that even in the West, the true debate did not begin until the topic included so-called "transgressive" sexualities, thus making almost synonymous the terms "female sexuality" and “lesbianism.” So how could the presentation of sexuality in literature, cinema, and art have been discussed in Iran? Iranians take heterosexism as the normal standard of sexuality because to do otherwise is tantamount to imposing modern and postmodern Western cultural notions on the very culturally specific Iranian sexual identity, the representation of which was always shattered by censorship and codes of propriety. It is evident that to this day Iranians refuse to discuss sexuality in all forms. Ordinary people are inhibited about the topic, popular cultural activists subvert the topic, and intellectuals who are supposed to be the main force behind positive cultural change, have been overridden by ideology in both periods and thus incapable of independent thinking. 

1. See Kamran Talattof, "Iranian Women's Literature: From Pre-revolutionary Social Discourse to Post-revolutionary Feminism," International Journal of Middle East Studies 29, no. 4 (Nov. 1997): 531–58; Kamran Talattof, The Politics of Writing in Iran: A History of Modern Persian Literature (Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2000), chapters 2 and 3. For the link to the above article see, http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-7438(199711)29%3A4%3C531%3AIWLFPS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7.

2. See Mary Beth Tierney-Tello, Allegories of Transgression and Transformation: Experimental Fiction by Women Writing Under Dictatorship (New York: SUNY Press, 1996).

3. Some of the women who joined the Left became top members of guerrilla organizations. Of 341 guerrillas killed either in armed clashes or in prison, 39 were women (more than 11 percent). See Ervand Abrahamian, Iran Between Two Revolutions (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982), 480.

4. Concerning the favorable reaction to these short stories, see Maryam Mafi's afterword in Simin Danishvar's Playhouse (Washington, DC: Mage, 1989); H. Abidini in Sad Sal Dastan Navisi (Tehran: Tundar, 1980), and M. Sipanlu in Baz Afarini-e Vaqi'iyat (Tehran: Nigah, 1989).

5. For similar analyses of this character, see Fereshteh Davaran "Dar Talash-i Kasb-i Huviyat," Nimeye Digar 8 (Fall 1987), and Hamid Dabashi "Hijab-i Chihrih-i Jan: Bih Justju-yi Zari dar Savushun-i Simin Danishvar," Nimeye Digar 8 (Fall 1987).

6. Simin Danishvar, Savushun (Tehran: Kharazmi, 1978), closing passage.

7. The title refers to the custom of celebrating the martyrdom of a mystical hero, Siyavush, from whose blood a plant grows. The author implies that Yusof too was murdered innocently and that his death will cause trees to grow, implying that his death will fuel a popular uprising.

8. Perhaps in this final scene, the author is inspired by Zaynab, Imam Husayn's sister, in the events of Karbala.

9. M. A. Sipanlu, Baz Afarini-i Vaqi'iyat, 18.

10. One of her earlier works, a collection of short stories, Atash-e Khamush, 1948 has an even closer resemblance to a report on social conditions.

11. See H. Abidini, Sad Sal Dastan Navisi, 24.

12. See Another Birth and Let Us, and poems that Farrukhzad wrote from 1959 to 1967.

13. Furugh Farrukhzad, Asir (Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1955), 75.

14. Ibid., 83.

15. Furugh Farrukhzad, Bride of Acacias, 112-15.

16. As she leaves behind the uncomplicated rhetoric of her early poems, changes her marital status, and constructs a political consciousness, the individual in her poem is also replaced by members of her family and members of society. See her poem, "Dilam Bara-yi Baghchih Misuzad." 

17. For detailed information on her biography and works, see Farzaneh Milani, ed., Nimeye Digar, 2 (Autumn 1993) and B. Assadipour ed.Daftar-i Hunar (September 1995), 2, 4.

18. Sih Tar-i Shikastah, Ja-yi Pa, Chilchiragh, Mar Mar, and Rastakhiz.

19. Simin Bihbahani, Ja-yi Pa (Tehran: Ma'rafat, 1956).

20. In addition to the sources mentioned above, see the following items for more information:

Talattof, “Breaking Taboos” at: http://www.ou.edu/worldlit/onlinemagazine/2004winter/17-Sept-Dec-Talattof.pdf

Talattof, “Excerpt of Touba” at: http://www.ou.edu/worldlit/onlinemagazine/2004winter/16-Sept-Dec-Parsipur.pdf

21. Shahrnoush Parsipour, Zanan Bedun Mardan (Tehran: Nuqrah, 1989), 79.

22. Ibid., 32.

23. Janet Lazariyan, "Interview with Muniru Ravanipur," Adinah 35 (October 1990): 4, 47.

24. Ibid.

25. For my translation of this short story see: http://www.u.arizona.edu/~talattof/old.web/sadstory.htm

26. Moniru Ravanipur Del-e Fulad (Tehran: Shiva, 1990).

27. In Western countries such as the United States, however, feminism had existed as an articulated force since the nineteenth century. In some Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey and Egypt, the women's movement was part of the social fabric long before the 1980s.

28. Farzaneh Milani, Veils and Words, 137.