'I Will Rebuild You, Oh My Homeland': Simin Behbahani's Work and Sociopolitical Discourse

摘要

This article analyzes Behbahani's narrative and poetic works as they reflect different sociopolitical discourses over decades and discusses her contribution to the rise of new literary discourses in different periods. These discourses reflect the pre-Revolutionary committed and post-Revolutionary feminist literary movements and, in recent years, an emerging trend toward expression of the cultural exigencies of modernity. This new development results from efforts for renewed literary modernity, in which feminist, reformist, and civil society movements find common ground for concern. Behbahani's poem, “I Will Rebuild You, Oh My Homeland,” is analyzed to show that recent re-readings and public performances of this older piece may signify a literary shift regarding issues of modernity.