The Analysis of the Themes and Linguistic Elements in the Satirical poems of Gholam Reza Rouhani

The satire of "Gholam reza Rouhani", while reflecting the social conditions of Iran during the first Pahlavi and early Pahlavi II periods, is an illustration of the author's co-existence and sympathy with the masses and is linguistically and sociologically significant. The present article, with a descriptive-analytical approach, aims to investigate the most important theme of satire in Rouhani's poems, his attitude towards social issues and their representation in his works. While presenting critical views on society and politics, Rouhani uses different linguistic and expressive elements to make the representations more artistic and influential. For instance, using lexical combination and semantic contradiction provides the appropriate framework for challenging discriminations as well as socio-political and ideological contradictions. The abundance of the folk words and compounds as a mean of expressing social issues in a popular language is one of the linguistic features of Rouhani’s satire. Since Rouhani's satire is simile-based, simile is more powerful in representing social issues and also in understanding it by the masses. Criticisms of the environmental conditions such as urban pollution and the lack of required infrastructures, the unveiling incident, the world war and its impacts on Iran, economic problems and some social issues, such as westernization, women's rights, unemployment and the bureaucratic complexity are some of the issues that are reflected in Rouhani’s satire. The analysis of the poet's satirical works reveals his social action to be modifing, changing or rejecting the hegemonic discourses. In some cases, such as the progress, education, and employment of women or the protection of national commodities, the poet often criticizes and rejects the situation of society and seeks to change that.