Social issues of Persianate children’s literature

Get Complete Project Material File(s) Now! »

Works by Iranian writers

The field of children‘s literature in Iran is a vibrant area involving a large number of writers and illustrators. This section will introduce seven writers who have won awards and public acclaim for their books over the years, in order to attempt to identify the influences which have affected them, and the issues which feature in their writing. The first two writers, Abbas Yamini-Sharif and Mahmud Kianush, are best known for their writing before the revolution, while the most memorable works of the following three writers, Faridun Amuzadeh-Khalili, Mostafa Rahmandust, and Reza Rahgozar, were written in the 1980s or later. The work of the last two writers, Moradi Kermani in the 1980s and the late Samad Behrangi in the 1960s, is given a more detailed examination as they are two of the most popular writers of their times and especially suitable for comparison due to their differing philosophies and the 186 twenty year gap between their two bodies of work. It is not possible to find a group of writers who stopped writing at the time of the revolution and a new group of writers who started.

Abbas Yamini-Sharif

Abbas Yamini-Sharif (1919-89) was a prolific Iranian children‘s poet. Before his pioneering work, there had been little Farsi poetry written especially for children. In 1943, Yamini-Sharif founded the first Iranian magazine for children, the pocketsized Bazi-ye Kudakan [Children‘s Games] with the help of Ebrahim Bani-Ahmad, a teacher at the Madrese-ye Ma’muli-ye Tehran (Tehran Normal School). Many of his poems, on themes related to the lives and development of children, were later collected and published in book form. Three examples of these are: Feri be asman miravad, [Feri goes to the Sky], (1965), Avaz-e fereshtegan ya as‘ar-e kudakan [The Song of Angels or the Age of Children], (1966), and Nim qarn dar bagh-e she‘r [Half a Century in the Garden of Poetry], (1987). Poetry flourished in the period 1971 to 1977, with Mahmud Kianush also publishing seven books of poetry for children aged from five to fifteen.

Mahmud Kianush

Mahmud Kianush started writing children‘s poetry more than 30 years ago. When he studied the situation at the time he found that only a few contemporary poets had occasionally written some poems for children. Any other works published for children were chosen from contemporary as well as classical poets, who had not originally intended their work to be for children, but since the subjects and expressions were simple, were thought suitable for that age group. From this, Kianush concluded that in reality Iran did not have any children‘s poetry.

Mostafa Rahmandust

Mostafa Rahmandust, born in 1950 in Hamadan; poet, writer and translator of children and young adults‘ stories, is one of the most diligent and prominent writers in contemporary children‘s literature in Iran. He has been working continually for children for the last twenty years, both officially and non-officially. Haddad (1992:27) asserts that ‗most of his works are connected with poetry, thus he has single-handedly composed half of the published poetry available today for children.‘ It is a point of interest to note that, although Rahmandust was a civil servant in the parliament library of the government of the Shah, he has successfully continued his writing work, received honors from the Islamic Republic, and become one of the most respected writers in the field of children‘s literature in Iran today.

Reza Rahgozar

Mohammad Reza Sarshar has written for children and young adults under the pen names of Reza Rahgozar and Mohammad Didar, and the former is the one by which he is best known. Haddad (1992:178) describes him as one of a small number of committed and hardworking authors who have displayed their talents in a large oeuvre of literary endeavors from stories to educational essays and critiques, works for children and young adults, as well as critical appraisal of children‘s stories and adult novels, and discourse on theories in the field. Rahgozar‘s stories deal with realistic, moral and social issues as well as religious themes.3

Table of Contents :

• THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DISLOCATION ON
• PERSIANATE CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: CHANGE AND CONTINUITY
• ABSTRACT OF THESIS
• Acknowledgments
• List of figures
• List of Appendices
• Chapter 1 General introduction
  • 1.1 Background to the study
  • 1.2 Problem statement
  • 1.3 Aim of the study
  • 1.4 Delimitation of the field
  • 1.5 Research methodology
  • 1.6 Definitions of terms
  • 1.7 Importance of the study
  • 1.8 Literature review
  • 1.9 Outline of the study: indication of chapters
  • 1.10 Conclusion
• Chapter 2 Culture, politics and children’s literature
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Children and children‘s literature
  • 2.3 Theoretical aspects of children‘s literature
  • 2.4 Aspects of change in children‘s literature
  • 2.5 Aspects of continuity in children‘s literature
  • 2.6 Conclusion
• Chapter 3 Social issues of Persianate children’s literature
  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 Historical background
  • 3.3 Political turning points – real or illusory change?
  • 3.4 Educational literature
  • 3.5 Experiences of war
  • 3.6 Children‘s magazines and journals
  • 3.7 Selection and social values portrayed in children‘s literature
  • 3.8 Conclusion
• Chapter 4 The influence of classical literature on modern Persianate
  • children’s literature
  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 One thousand and one nights
  • 4.3 Kalilah wa Dimnah
  • 4.4 Mulla Nasruddin or Goha?
  • 4.5 Shahnameh
  • 4.6 Conclusion
• Chapter 5 Development of institutional support for children’s literature
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 The role of organizations in the development of children‘s literature
  • 5.3 Shura-ye Ketab-e Kudak: Children’s Book Council of Iran
  • 5.4 Kanun-e Parvaresh-e Fekri-ye Kudakan o Nojavanan: Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults
  • 5.5 Conclusion
• Chapter 6 Adults’ voices in Persianate children’s literature
  • 6.1 Introduction
  • 6.2 Works by Iranian writers
  • 6.3 Conclusion
• Chapter 7 Children’s voices in Persianate children’s literature
  • 7.1 Introduction
  • 7.2 Children‘s organizations and projects
  • 7.3 Collections of children‘s work
  • 7.4 Children‘s writing in magazines
  • 7.5 Iran‘s youngest novelist
  • 7.6 Conclusion
• Chapter 8 Visual aspects of children’s literature
  • 8.1 Introduction
  • 8.2 Social and cultural issues in illustrations for children
  • 8.3 Exhibitions and awards
  • 8.4 Iranian illustrators
  • 8.5 Children‘s drawing and writing
  • 8.6 Conclusion
• Chapter 9 Children’s literature in Tajikistan: a greater Iran?
  • 9.1 Introduction
  • 9.2 Historical influences
  • 9.3 Organizations and projects
  • 9.4 Children‘s writers and their work
  • 9.5 Children‘s own writing
  • 9.6 Conclusion
• Chapter 10 Conclusion
  • 10.1 Organization of thesis content
  • 10.2 Theoretical basis
  • 10.3 Historical background
  • 10.4 Twentieth century works
  • 10.5 Recommendations
• Bibliography

GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DISLOCATION ON PERSIANATE CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: CHANGE AND CONTINUITY