La "Révolution littéraire"

At the beginning of the 20th century, Western influence was apparent in all aspects of Iranian public life. It was also to play a crucial part in the modernization of poetic forms, a process which came to be known as the “Literary Revolution” (enqelāb-e adabi). Many poets joined in the movement, most of them inspired by French poetry. The “conservative” and “progressivist” reformists disagreed on the very nature of poetic modernity. But at some point in their career, all of them related to romanticism and Victor Hugo. Nimā Yušij, who achieved the full individualization of poetic forms, further acknowledged the influence of Mallarmé’s “objective” poetry, as well as Émile Verhaeren's free verse and “natural declamation”. Within a couple of decades, Persian poetry freed itself from the strict rules of traditional verse composition. It developed into a diversity of practices characteristic of modern poetry, še‘r-e now. The present study seeks to determine the influence of French literature on the renovation of Persian poetry. The function of poetic translations is examined, together with the role of such poets as Bahār, Yāsami, Raf‘at, ‘Ešqi, Lāhuti and Nimā in the “Literary Revolution”. With this work, the author aims to contribute to the archeology of modern Iranian poetic forms.