Forugh Farrokhzad, Poet of Modern Iran : Iconic Woman and Feminine Pioneer of New Persian Poetry

"The pioneering Iranian poet and filmmaker Forugh Farrokhzad was an iconic figure in her own day and has come to represent the spirit of revolt against patriarchal and cultural norms in 1960s Iran. Four decades after her tragic death at the age of 32, Forugh Farrokhzad, Poet of Modern Iran brings her ground-breaking work into new focus. During her lifetime Farrokhzad embodied the vexed predicament of the contemporary Iranian woman, at once subjected to long-held traditional practices and influenced by newly introduced modern social sensibilities. Highlighting her literary and cinematic innovation, this volume examines the unique place Farrokhzad occupies in Iran, both among modern Persian poets in general and as an Iranian woman writer in particular. The authors also explore Farrokhzad's appeal outside Iran in the Iranian diasporic imagination and through the numerous translations of her poetry into English. It is a fitting and authoritative tribute to the work of a remarkable woman which will introduce and explain her legacy for a 21st-century audience. This second edition includes three new chapters which explore contemporary poetry in relation to Forugh Farrokhzad's work, the travelogue Farrokhzad wrote during her time in Italy, and the convergences and divergences in the 1960s in the retrospective approaches towards modernist Persian poetics of Forugh Farrokhzad and Ahmad Shamlu."-- Provided by publisher Cover Halftitle page Title page Copyright page Contents Acknowledgements Note on Transliteration Contributors Preface to the Second Edition Introduction to the First Edition Chapter 1 Of the Sins of Forugh Farrokhzād Chapter 2 Men and Women Together: Love, Marriage and Gender in Forugh Farrokhzād’s Asir The lover The marriage nexus Poetry and its perils Chapter 3 Places of Confinement, Liberation, and Decay: The Home and the Garden in the Poetry of Forugh Farrokhzād The home The garden Conclusion Chapter 4 Forugh Farrokhzād’s Romance with Her Muse Chapter 5 Bewildered Mirror: Mirror, Self and World in the Poems of Forugh Farrokhzād Captive to the male gaze The stranger in the mirror The saviour in the mirror Self-mirroring Chapter 6 Personal Rebellion and Social Revolt in the Works of Forugh Farrokhzād: Challenging the Assumptions Chapter 7 Garden in Motion: The Aesthetic of the Space Between Chapter 8 Forugh Farrokhzād’s Apocalyptic Visions Introduction Apocalyptic literature The societal background The socio-political circumstances of Farrokhzād’s era Farrokhzād’s developmental and educational background The despondent and sad poet ‘I Feel Sorry for the Garden’ Chapter 9 Capturing the Abject of the Nation in The House is Black Chapter 10 The House is Black: A Timeless Visual Essay Chapter 11 Forugh Farrokhzād as Translator of Modern German Poetry: Observations About the Anthology Marg-e man ruzi Chapter 12 Alien Rebirths of ‘Another Birth’ Chapter 13 Re-Writing Forugh: Writers, Intellectuals, Artists and Farrokhzād’s Legacy in the Iranian Diaspora Forugh Farrokhzād as cultural icon Farrokhzād and memory in writing by US-based academics Translating Farrokhzād’s poetry and life Forugh Farrokhzād as cultural map Chapter 14 Cargo, Chickpeas, and Cobblestones: The Textures of Memory in Forugh Farrokhzād’s Travelogue Dar diyāri digar Chapter 15 Mourning the Death of Tulips: Love, War, and Despair in the Poetry of Laila Sarahat Rowshani (1958–2004) Notes Selected Bibliography Index The pioneering Iranian poet and filmmaker Forugh Farrokhzad was an iconic figure in her own day and has come to represent the spirit of revolt against patriarchal and cultural norms in 1960s Iran. Five decades after her tragic death at the age of 32, Forugh Farrokhzad, Poet of Modern Iran brings her ground-breaking work into new focus. During her lifetime Farrokhzad embodied the vexed predicament of the contemporary Iranian woman, at once subjected to long-held traditional practices and influenced by newly introduced modern social sensibilities. Highlighting her literary and cinematic innovation, this volume examines the unique place Farrokhzad occupies in Iran, both among modern Persian poets in general and as an Iranian woman writer in particular. The authors also explore Farrokhzad's appeal outside Iran in the Iranian diasporic imagination and through the numerous translations of her poetry into English. It is a fitting and authoritative tribute to the work of a remarkable woman which will introduce and explain her legacy for a 21st-century audience. This second edition includes two new chapters which explore a travelogue Farrokhzad wrote during her time in Italy, and an examination of Farrokhzad's influence on the writings of the Afghan female poet Laila Sarahat Rowshani.