{"id":266156,"date":"2008-11-25T17:42:16","date_gmt":"2008-11-25T17:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wdev.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent-dev\/2008\/11\/25\/belonging-new-poetry-by-iranians-around-the-world\/"},"modified":"2018-04-16T17:27:34","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T17:27:34","slug":"belonging-new-poetry-by-iranians-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/2008\/11\/25\/belonging-new-poetry-by-iranians-around-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Belonging: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s start with a disclaimer. I am in no way qualified to discuss Iranian poetry as it relates to the country\u2019s larger social, historical, or literary culture. The sad truth is that the number of critics in America who are qualified\u2014fully, truly qualified\u2014to critique a translation of Iranian poetry is miniscule. However, I was comforted when I came to this passage in the introduction to the new anthology, Belonging: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World<\/em>: \u201cIn 2002, when I began my research for this book, my goal was to discover and explore Persian poetry created by Iranians living outside Iran who had left because of the 1979 revolution. Aware that the rich tradition of Persian literature can be intimidating and difficult to penetrate, I embarked on this journey with a sense that I was already behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems that even the editor and translator of this outstanding anthology, Niloufar Talebi, is daunted by the deep history and major role that poetry plays in Iranian culture. And she is an Iranian who grew up surrounded by poets, most influentially Ahmad Shamlou (1925-2000) who Talebi describes as \u201cone of Iran\u2019s greatest thinkers and cultural icons, an artist considered a national treasure to Iranians everywhere.\u201d In her introduction, Talebi describes the literary salons that her parents would host where Talebi\u2014a small girl, eavesdropping from the other room\u2014would hear the strains of classical music as Shamlou held forth on lines of poetry by \u201cNima, Lorca, Neruda, Hafez, Akhmatova, Antoine de Saint-Expery, Langston Hughes, Baudelaire, Hedayat, and Farrokhzad.\u201d As Talebi\u2019s interest in literature grew, Shamlou provided her with books and guidance.<\/p>\n

After reading her introduction and the first few sections of Belonging<\/em>, I realized that Talebi had accomplished perhaps the greatest service that a translator of Iranian poetry for American audiences can provide: she made the Iranian poetic landscape feel familiar. Not only familiar, but modern, full of laughter, rich with wonder, completely joyful and terrible and worthy of revisiting multiple times. Without being able to compare it to the original Persian, I can only say that the poetry in Talebi\u2019s translations is lucid, rich with music, and highly accessible. It is useful to know that all of the poets included in this collection are \u201c79ers\u201d which means that they immigrated after the 1979 Iranian revolution. This knowledge gives extra resonance to a poem such as \u201cTo a Snail\u201d which reads in its entirety: <\/p>\n

\n

To A Snail<\/b><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Oh you little home-on-your-back!
\nWeren\u2019t you afraid that my huge foot
\nWould sweep you away?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Last night, under the rain,
\nYou slid into my sneaker
\nFor shelter.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Today,
\nYou return to your green birthplace
\nLeaving me covetous, longing for mine.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Even without knowing that \u201cTo a Snail\u201d was written by a \u201c79er\u201d in exile from his homeland, this poem can be appreciated for its purely poetic merits. The clear, simple language matches the slow, simple movements of the snail. The short, finely tuned line-breaks move the poem forward with subtle, steady propulsion. The pining first word \u201cOh\u201d in praise of the snail along with a first line punctuated by an exclamation point reminds us that this ode to nature has its roots in the spirit of Romanticism. In short, this is a finely wrought, lovely poem, regardless of its lineage. In fact, learning that its author, Majid Naficy, had more than ten of his relatives\u2014including his brother\u2014executed in Iran before he fled the country via Turkey in 1983 freights this little poem with more baggage than it deserves. Then again, what tremendous heart to write such a delicate poem of praise after suffering such wrenching loss. Indeed, the brief biographies that Niloufar Talebi includes before each poet\u2019s selection are illuminating and illustrate the geographical fracturing of Iranian poetic culture. However, I am tempted to urge you to skip those biographies on first read; to simply go through the book enjoying each poem as its own pure creation. After that, go back and read the entire book again, including the informative, often heartbreaking biographies. On the first reading, you will come away with a memorable poetic experience. On the second, you will come away with a deep understanding\u2014and profound respect\u2014for the hardships these poets have suffered and the incredible hearts that they have to keep creating their art. You will also come away with a truth that runs through all countries and runs counter to all oppression: you can\u2019t kill poetry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s start with a disclaimer. I am in no way qualified to discuss Iranian poetry as it relates to the country\u2019s larger social, historical, or literary culture. The sad truth is that the number of critics in America who are qualified\u2014fully, truly qualified\u2014to critique a translation of Iranian poetry is miniscule. However, I was comforted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":292,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67486],"tags":[14046,1836,16706,3806,16716],"class_list":["post-266156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-belonging","tag-cwp","tag-iranian-poetry","tag-niloufar-talebi","tag-peter-conners"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355766,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266156\/revisions\/355766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/College\/translation\/threepercent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}