From Behind the Glasses in The Light of New Historicism

From the perspective of modern historicism, literature and history are influenced by the forces of cultural discourse and social action. New historians believe that the work of art (text) is not separate from its cultural, social, political and historical context. Therefore, in order to examine the text, we should be aware of the social concerns of the author and the historical and cultural background presented in the work. From this perspective, in Akbar Radi’s plays, author’s reflections on the state of dominant culture and society and the mutual influence of characters, in particular the intellectual characters, on the society of the author’s era are among issues well worth studying and analysis. As one of the most influential Iranian playwrights, Radi observes and analyzes the cultural, political and historical context of his community, a method which is significantly influenced by his academic degree in social sciences. Radi’s plays can be seen as a retelling of his sociological observations. He understands the straightforward language of the streets and the complicated shady language of the intellectuals of his era, and uses to perfection in creating characters and dialogues. The present research is a qualitative analysis of From Behind the Glasses in the light of the new historicism theory, while by describing the behavior and actions of the characters, the historical and cultural discourse analysis are also addressed.