Literary Interdisciplinary Research

Darwin and contemporary Iranian literature

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Issa Amankhani 1
Parisa Rafiee 2

1 ), Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities. Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran.

2 MA of Persian Language and literature. Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.30465/lir.2023.46001.1727
Abstract
Introduction
One of the subjects that must be addressed in the study of contemporary Iranian literature is the impact of political, philosophical, and economic systems, or more precisely, the history of ideas. For example, understanding our contemporary literature is impossible without familiarity with the views of existentialist philosophers (Sartre, Heidegger, Camus, etc.) just as a precise comprehension of contemporary literature cannot be claimed without knowledge of Marxism and the thoughts of its intellectuals. This issue can be extended to other fields such as zoology. Darwin, the great nineteenth-century zoologist, though a zoologist, soon caught the attention of elites in other fields (especially in the humanities) who attempted to apply his theory to their own area of study. This is why we encounter many individuals, not only in the West but also in Iran, who have openly spoken of their influence by Darwin and his thought; Malik al-Shu'ara Bahar is one of these individuals. In his famous book on stylistics, he followed Darwin and his method, trying to examine the evolution of vocabulary in the same way Darwin had examined the evolution of animals. The influence of Darwin's views was not limited to stylistics and occurred in other areas such as literary criticism.
Review
The present research aims to show the various forms of Darwin's influence on contemporary literature. This study attempts to answer several questions related to Darwin and his impact on contemporary literature. These questions include: Which contemporary poets and writers have been influenced by Darwin in creating their literary works? To what extent has the emergence of a new definition of literary criticism in the contemporary era been due to Iranians' familiarity with Darwin's ideas? How did Darwin's theory inspire Malik al-Shu'ara Bahar in establishing the science of stylistics? What role has Darwin's theory played in strengthening modern literary modernity in contemporary Iran?
Methodology
The methodology of the current research is citation-based and relies on the examination of documents, books, and dissertations written in the contemporary period (from the late Qajar dynasty to the Islamic Revolution). Initially, all works written about Darwin or inspired by Darwin's theory were collected, and then, with a critical eye, various forms of Darwin's influence (in fields such as literary criticism, literary modernity, etc.) were examined and categorized.
Conclusion
The influence of Darwin and his ideas on Persian literature is much greater than it appears at first glance. This influence can be examined in four different forms. A) Content-wise: Some Iranian poets and writers, who rightly believed in Darwin's views, expressed Darwin's teachings in their works; Mirzadeh Eshghi is the most famous of these poets. However, apart from him, others like Sadegh Hedayat, who in the story of "Adam's Fathers," were influenced by Darwin's theory, can be mentioned. B) Literary modernity: The presence of Darwin's ideas in the essays of pioneers of literary modernity is evident. This presence is most notable in the works of Bahar and then in the essay "Old and New" by Abbas Iqbal Ashtiani. These innovators referred to Darwin and his views on the gradual evolution of beings to prove the gradual and peaceful (not revolutionary) nature of literary modernity. C) Stylistics: Bahar acknowledges his debt to Darwin in his own stylistics and his book on stylistics to the extent that it can be boldly stated that without familiarity with Darwin's theory, a deep understanding of Bahar's stylistics would not be possible. D) Modern literary criticism: A comparative analysis of the characteristics of modern literary criticism with Darwin's views leaves no doubt that modern literary criticism has been influenced by the Darwinian worldview that dominated the modern era.

Keywords

Darwin
theory of evolution
stylistics
literary modernity
literary criticism

Subjects

Bibiolography
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Literary Interdisciplinary Research
Volume 6, Issue 11
March 2024
Pages 1-32

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