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Protest and Perish: A History of the Writers' Association of Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Ahmad Karimi‐Hakkak
Ahmad Karimi‐Hakkak*
Affiliation:
University of Washington
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Extract

The Writers Association of Iran, called Kanun-e Nevisandegan-e Iran in Persian, was founded in 1968 and was in many ways a unique experience in Iranian intellectual history. Its fortunes, consisting of periods of feverish activity and lifeless dormancy, epitomize the pattern of intellectual life in Iran, reflecting its problems and promises, its intellectual validity and artistic vitality, its ideals, achievements, and failures. While it did not succeed in its historical fight against censorship, it nevertheless played a major role in the course of the Iranian Revolution. While it could not transcend the factionalism that has historically plagued the Iranian elite, it nevertheless made an indelible impact on the intellectual community and on Iranian society at large. Between us and an objective account of this important intellectual institution stands the barrier of the Iranian Revolution itself.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 2-4: Sociology of the Iranian Writer , Spring Autumn 1985 , pp. 189 - 229
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1985

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References

Notes

1. This account of these two attempts was related to me by Gholamhosayn Sa'edi in Paris in the winter of 1984.

2. A copy of this statement was published by Baqer Parham as part of a series of articles on the relationship between the Writers Association of Iran and the Tudeh Party. Cf. Ketab-e Join'eh, No. 27 (February 21, 1980): 16.

3. Nader Naderpour, as reported in Michael Hillmann, "Nader Naderpour and Thirty Years of Persian Poetry" in False Dawn—Literature East and West 22 (1985), recalls that most engagé writers boycotted the event. In 1971, the Pahlavi government published a volume called Sokhanraniha-ye Nakhostin Kongreh-ye She'r dar Iran [Speeches of the First Congress of Poetry in Iran] (Tehran: Ministry of Arts and Culture, 1971).

4. Arash, No. 17 (Ordibehesht-Khordad, 1968): 3-16.

5. Esma'il Nuri-'Ala, "Yadbud-e Nima" [Memorial Celebration for Nima], Arash, No. 19 (Esfand, 1969): 97-103.

6. The Writers Association of Iran, Newsletter (July 1969), quoted in Parham, "Hezb-e Tudeh va Kanun-e Nevisandegan-e Iran" [The Tudeh Party and the Writers Association of Iran—part 4], Ketab-e Jom'eh. No. 28 (March 10, 1980): 22.

7. The Writers Association of Iran, "Report of the Executive Board to the General Assembly" dated March 14, 1969, quoted in ibid., p. 22.

8. Ibid., p. 24.

9. The various views on Al-e Ahmaed's death are described by Hillmann, Michael in "Cultural Dilemmas of an Iranian Intellectual," Lost in the Crowd by Jalal Al-e Ahmad (Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1985)Google Scholar.

10. Quoted in Beh'azin, M. E., Mehman-e In Aqayan [Guest of These Gentlemen] (Tehran: Nil, 1970), p. 5Google Scholar.

11. Ibid., p. 152.

12. Ibid., p. 155.

13. Bahram Bayza'i, "Dar Mowqe'iyat-e Te'atr va Sinema" [On the Situation of Theatre and Film-Making] Dah Shab [The Ten Nights], compiled by Naser Mo'azzen (Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1978), pp. 120-125.

14. Shams Al-e Ahmad, ibid., pp. 117-119.

15. Cf. Baqer Mo'meni, "Sansur va 'Avarez-e Nashi az An" [Censorship and Its Implications], ibid., pp. 253-265.

16. "Mosahebeh-ye Sa'edi dar New York" [Sa'edi's Interview in New York], dated June 15, 1978, mimeographed.

17. Bayza'i, Ten Niehts, p. 122.

18. On this point, see my essay entitled "Adabiyat va Degarguniha-ye Tarikh" [Literature and Historical Transformations] Andisheh-ye Azad, No. 5 (April 1980).

19. Haj Seyyed Javadi's letters were disseminated through xerox copies in various forms. In my personal collection of this xeroxed literature of the years from 1973 to 1979 I have a total of sixteen letters written by him.

20. Gholamhosayn Sa'edi, "Shebh-e Honarmand" [Pseudoartist], Ten Nights, pp. 201-205.

21. Nameh'i az [A Letter by] 'All Asghar Kaj Sayyed Javadi," dated November 19, 1977.

22. Jamshid Amuzegar, "Cable to the American PEN Society," dated December 19, 1977, translated into Persian and disseminated by the Committee for Artistic and Intellectual Freedom in Iran.

23. The Writers Association of Iran, "Nameh-ye Sargoshadeh beh Aqa-ye Amuzegar" [Open Letter to Prime Minister Jamshid Amuzegar], dated January 7, 1978.

24. Ruhollah Khomeini, "Statement Addressed to University Students," 1977 (no date). Cf. also Homa Nateq, "Sa'id Soltanpur dar Jonbesh-e Daneshju'i" [Sa'id Soltanpur in the Student Movement], Sosializm va Enqelab, No. 2 (December 1982): 28-36.

25. The Organization of Students Affiliated with the Ehya Confederation, News and Reports, No. 22 (April 1978), quoted in ibid., p. 31.

26. "Mowze'-e Kanun-e Nevisandegan-e Iran" [The Position of the Writers Association of Iran], ratified by the General Assembly on April 21, 1979.

27. "Darbareh-ye Shabha-ye She'r va Ta'liq-e Goruh-e Panj Nafari" [Statement of the Writers Association of Iran concerning the Poetry-Reading Nights and the Suspension of the Group of Five], dated November 14, 1979, printed in Ketab-e Jam'eh, No. 16 (November 22, 1979): 163-167.

28. "Nameh-ye Sargoshadeh beh Aqa-ye Abolhasan Bani-Sadr" [An Open Letter by the Writers Association of Iran Addressed to Mr. Abolhasan Bani-Sadr], dated February 5, 1980, Andisheh-ye Azad, No. 1, p. 1.

29. "Bayaniyeh-ye Kanun...darbareh-ye Daneshgah'ha" [Statement of the Writers Association of Iran Concerning the Universities], dated April 21, 1980, printed in Andisheh-ye Azad, No. 5, p. 1.

30. "Nameh-ye Sargoshadeh-ye Kanun...beh Aqa-ye Doktor Abdolhasan Bani-Sadr..." [Open Letter by the Writers Association of Iran Addressed to Dr. Abolhasan Bani-Sadr, the President of Iran concerning Censorship and Strangulation], dated May 10, 1980, printed in Ketab-e Jom'eh. No. 36, pp. 114-116.

31. "Sarkub, Estebdad, Khafegan..." [Repression, Despotism, Strangulation--A Statement by the Writers Association of Iran], Bustan, No. 1, p. 96.