A Comparative Study of Postmodernism in Iranian and American Poetry

The impacts that contemporary poetry in Iran has received from the mid-twentieth century literary and philosophical schools should be critically and deeply scrutinized. This essay explores the emergence of contemporary poetry in Iran and in line with one of the prominent movements of postmodern American Poetry, which is, “Language Poetry.” The two key concepts in language poetry that have influenced recent poets of Iran are “story-telling” and the “routine.” The researcher answers two questions: How does language poetry define story-telling and how this definition is reflected in contemporary poetry of Iran? How are the routine and identity related in the contemporary poetry of Iran and America? This research shows that both schools define story-telling as a kind of experimental autobiography in which pieces of everyday life, images, and sounds from media and consumerist culture, vague memories, myths, and the unconscious are woven together. Recent poetry in Iran shows a deconstructive approach towards poetry, story-telling, and identity. Of course its rich tradition creates some differences such as the recurrent, yet scattered presence of mythological figures. This analysis reveals the affect of media on the most private realms of life regardless of culture and geography. Contemporary poetry in Iran purges emotionalism and lyricism in order to return to vague stories of everyday life; it diverts from heroic (epic), didactic, romantic, and revolutionary inclinations to scattered autobiography. This degree of fragmentation in language and meaning reveals the rapid technological and psychologically-disturbing changes in contemporary life, whether in Iran or America.