Political reading of Golshiri's works with an intertextual approach based on Ayeneh-haye Dardar (Mirrors with Doors)

Any writer preoccupied with politics, history and power unconsciously echoes them in his/her works as it has happened to Houshang Golshiri’s works. Golshiri was a writer who used to study authentic sources about the history of Iran and took advantage of intertextual methods when reading ancient texts all of which along with his political points of view are seen into his writings.Political and Marxist criticism is inspired by works of Marx and Engels who have influenced almost all twentieth century’s political critics. Even the works of Iran’s literary worthies like Hafez and Ferdowsi could be read from political perspectives. Golshiri, interested in the works of Hafez and Ferdowsi, and almost their disciple, has written political works. When reading his works carefully, we will find between the lines that he is one of the most political Iranian authors. The purpose of this article is to show that Golshiri’s works can be read from political as well as intertextual perceptive. Intertextuality is a concept derived from the works of Russian Formalists especially Mikhail Bakhtin, a political writer and thinker. Intertextuality has a wide range of meanings and is open to debate among critics such as Kristeva, Gennet, and Barthes. This paper, however, focuses mostly on Mark Angeno’s intertextual perspective, because it invites the literary production into a network of interactions of social discourses. This approach takes a fresh look at the importance of literary works in a symbolic way and sheds light on these interactions in a political society.