The selective words and writings of the first members of Resistance Literature and Art Department.

"Steady Resistance" and the Language of Expression of War/Sacred Defense

Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2018-10-2

According to Iranian Oral History website, "Steady Resistance: forty short writings, interview, sermon and paper on resistance literature, (Islamic) revolution literature, literature of war/ sacred defense " is a book Produced by an attempt of Alireza Kamari in Resistance Literature and Art Department and published by Surah Mehr publication in 1397(2018).

This 538-page book, as narrated by Alireza Kamari in the book's preface, is a collection of interviews, lectures, short writings, speeches and articles by three of researchers of Resistance Literature commented from their perspective and position on the literature of (Islamic) revolution, literature of war / sacred defense over the past three decades. The basis of these speeches and texts is not the same, and there is, of course, difference among commenting, designing and achieving theory and criticism of Resistance Literature.

The basis of thought, that causes this collection to be compiled, is the effort of provider of the book in order to research in the theory of Resistance Literature and its topics. This is related to many years ago, when the existence of the literature of revolution and war / sacred defense was not known except some very few, but not justified, and research / academic institutions didn’t like to pay attention on this newborn field. After a long time, when the publication of literary works of revolution and war / sacred defense were increased, previous precaution and abstention came to this enthusiasm. At present, Resistance Literature have been established and taught in more than ten nongovernmental and governmental universities and higher education institutes. Abstain and avoidance usually occurs in the face of overindulgence and lavishness, or vice versa. Examining and criticizing it is another matter that is not allowed to discuss about it here.

Awareness of the development and expansion of the literature of (Islamic) Revolution and literature of war / sacred defense and access to the documentation that makes the theory of Resistance Literature possible is due to the historical literary inquiry and requires the identification and compilation of all the statements and writings in this field which can be referenced. Obviously, achieving this goal depends on the research of knowledge in sources and references. So, three or four years ago, a plan for the research was shared by someone who claimed to be knowledgeable and capable of doing it. However, the person who was committed to this task, despite the prolongation of opportunity and the wasting of time, did not honor his commitment, and the work of collecting documents of investigating was postponed. Inevitably, research on this topic, despite the provision of notes and information, was postpone to future by author.

What is provided for reader in this book is, in fact, a small part of a section of mentioned resources and early products, which includes the words and writings of the first members of Resistance Literature and Art Department of Art Center and Kaman publication. According to the evidence, it can be said that the activities carried out in this Department and its published works and the publication of two hundred successive issues of journal Kaman (from August 21, 1996 to September 15, 2004) and insert the points in two journals named "our words" and "the first column" played an affective role in recognizing and promulgating Resistance Literature, literature of (Islamic) revolution, literature of war / sacred defense. These words does not mean that all works, interviews and writings of this department and its members are in a direct way of perfection, and that they are on the exemption from the criticism of commentators. At the same time, the author hopes that reflection on this book, about the style of the language of writing and the content of text, will be thinkable for the enthusiasts, especially researchers and students of Resistance Literature, and a motivation for designing new subjects and recognizing history and origins of this newly created literary arena more.

It is worth noting that any discussion of the issues of Resistance Literature and its common categories without consideration in the field of universality, concepts, and definitions is an unfinished and unprotected effort. From this perspective, the need to focus on the underlying issues in this field, "Steady Resistance" can opens and shows a perspective for enthusiasts. The value of reader's attention to the ways of expression, the time of speeches and writing is important in extracting the meaning of the text; It is easy, the consideration of precise reader in the historic routine of fortieth choices can be an explorer of the evolution and understanding, even the confrontation of taste and imagination and thinking in knowing the owners of words in Resistance Literature, the literature of revolution and literature of war / sacred defense."

The titles of the forty short writings, interview, sermon, and paper collected in the book of "Steady Resistance" are as follows: 1- sights and values; a meeting with the members of the Resistance Literature and Art Department 2- Literature of Revolution / Hedayatullah Behbodi 3- A Look at the Literature of Iraqi Captives in Iran / Morteza Sarghangi 4- Literature and the Alphabets of Thoughts / Hedayatullah Behbodi. 5- Literature and Cultural Works/ Hedayatullah Behbodi 6- the Satieties of Resistance Literature / Morteza Sarhangi 7- Resistance of Literature and the Officials of Literature / Hedayatullah Behbodi 8- Literature of War and Anti-War Literature / Morteza Sarhangi 9 Literature of war is an experimental literature / Morteza Sarahngi. 10- Literary Criticism / Hedayatullah Recovery 11- Preserving the Beauties of War / Morteza Salvani 12- Values and Language of War Literature / Morteza Sarghandi 13- Well-Writing, orthography / Hedayatullah Behbodi 14-The Reflections of War / Sacred Defense in Language and Literature / Alireza Kamari 15- the Literature of Concentration Camp/ Morteza Sarangi. 16- Literature of War and Eternal Rebirth / Morteza Sarhangi 17- Literature of Revolution and Future Horizons / Alireza Kamari 18- Historical Social Experiences of Literature and Art of Resistance / Hedayatullah Behbodi 19- the Language of the First period / Alireza Kamari. 20- Literature of Hejira is a Branch of Resisance Literature / Hedayatullah Behbodi 21- Literature and Art of Resistance; Rights and Wrongs (Interview with Hedayatullah Behbodi, Morteza Sarhangi, Alireza Kamari). 22- The Name "Hope" is Suitable for Holy Defense Literature (a Conversation with Morteza Sarhangi) 23- Another Aspect of Sacred Defense Literature / Alireza Kamari 24- The Language of Expression of War / Hedayatullah Behbodi 25-The Role of War on Honors / Morteza Sarhangi. 26- Resistance Literature and its Relationship with Authority Power / Hedayatullah Behbodi 27- Resistance Literature is the Symbol of a National Heritage / Morteza Sarhangi 28- Local Layers of Resistance Literature / Morteza Sarhangi 29- the Literature of War, Sacred Defense Literature, Resistance  Literature / Alireza Kamari. 30-Treasures in Ruins, Committed Literature (Ahmad Khayatan's interview with Alireza Kamari) 31- Literature of Martyrdom and Written Documentation / Alireza Kamari 32-Literature of Concentration Camp, Unlimited Literature / Morteza Sarhangi 33-The Literature of Sacred Defense and its Relation to the anti-war Literature (Ali Barati Kojwan's interview with Alireza). 34- Missing links of Education, Research, and Criticism in Theoretical Discussions on Biography, Memory, Story (Ahmad Shakeri's interview with Alireza Kamari) 35- Promotional Literature, logical Literature / Hedayatullah Behbodi 36- Resistance Literature and Cultural Invasion / Hedayatullah Behbodi 37- Report of Meeting of Persian Language and Literature Academy Council about Literature of Sacred Defense; with participation of Officials of Center for Studies and Research on Resistance Culture and Literature. 38- an introduction on Literature of (Islamic) Revolution / Alireza Kamari. 39- An Introduction on Literature of Text and Kinds of Literature in the Field War/ Sacred Defense / Alireza Kamari. 40- An Introduction on Epistemological Criticism of War Literature /Sacred Defense / Alireza Kamari.

On pages 437 and 438 of book, in fortieth text, the author of the book "Steady Resistance" (Alireza Kamari) reads: Memoirs are the most extensive, the most comprehensive and popular / the most popular literary or semi-literary field of the sacred defense, due to their great diversity and variety in production, and widespread in welcome to them, and as traditional division of literature (which considers literature as two types of written and prose form), represents the prose literature of the sacred defense. This kind of literary and semi-popular sacred defense, which expresses the experience of warriors in the face of memorable events and memorials of war and the front, has gradually emerged from the beginning of the war and in the sequence of events, especially after the end of the war, spread and enriched in different forms. This expansion and richness of the memoirs of war/ sacred defense is due to the fact that a lapse of time has had a significant impact on these memories (in memoirs / biographies); It also helps the events to be memorized, and as a result, it adds to the richness of events in the mind.

Telling Memory / Hearing Memory and writing memory/, are rooted in the tradition and oral literature (quotations, etc.) and used of the meaning of religious narration (hadith) / narrating / writing memory, and the mood of history of narration. But in addition to this background or review, it is very important to study why the basis of literature of war and the sacred defense's literature is memorable. This may be because the closest type of literature to war and the front is memories, and literature of democracy or literary republic, in fact, occurs in memories. The co-existence of all aspects of the literature of war / sacred defense with the memoirs confirms that this kind of literature, like the war,  has involve in the process of development from the time of emergence insofar it  is welcomed a lot  and turned into a  cultural / literary "Movement"; a movement in telling/ writing /tending memories. The use of the interpretation "Age of Appearance and emergence of memory in Iranian contemporary cultural History" reflects the extent of expansion and influence of this movement within the post-war society. Therefore, memory not only can be considered as the pioneer of the literature of war / sacred defense, but also is a reference and source of literature of sacred defense; the name and title that mainly actualized in the memories semantically and evidentially.

The origin of memoirs of war is not basically the readings of books and lessons, is not a result from a safety and relief of the city, but it is a result of attendance in the war or event. Therefore, the literary feature of written memories, if it is protected from the conscious and unconscious of persons who abrogate  and make the memory, is essentially focused on the content of them, not their structures and their facial library expressions. Nevertheless, the quality of the usage of words, sentences and propositions in memories, in terms of language and its function in translating meaning and, consequently, its role in adding literary riches, is a very important issue. Here, the language is used not only as pure literary creativity, but also to figure out the mean of narrator / the owner of memory, and express (rhetoric and expression) the subject and the content."

The book "Steady of Resistance" is a work titled "Steady Resistance; the issue of dynamism and cultural continuity" written by Frank Jamshidi, including the issues of Forty short writings, interview, sermons and articles in the book and their study areas, An attachment titled "The Bibliography of Theoretical Researches on the Literature of Islamic Revolution and War", which was provided by Nasrin Khademi Khalidi, and it ends with some pictures.