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A Modern Persian Poet on Iran-Iraq War: Qayṣar Amīnpūr


Pages 347 - 363

DOI https://doi.org/10.13173/zeitdeutmorggese.166.2.0347




The aim of this article is to examine the poetry of the prominent Iran-Iraq war poet Qayṣar Amīnpūr (1959–2007). The poet uses both classical poetic forms and free verse to reflect on various aspects of the Iran-Iraq war, the longest conventional war of the twentieth century. In several poems he introduces mystical ideas while depicting social and political situations in Iran. I give a translation and analysis of several poems by Amīnpūr, including A Poem about War in which he depicts how the horrors and terrors of war intrude into the daily activities in everyday life. The article analyses how the peaceful mystical metaphors are applied in a modern violent context to make death meaningful, to mobilize people to the front-line and to justify violence. Moreover, while this poetry has a propagandistic character, Amīnpūr strongly condemns war in any form and at any time and place in his later poetry.

Leiden

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