Abstract
The thirteenth issue of Tabl Magazine, published in September 2023, features eight articles and one interview on various topics.
Behshad Faraji wrote the first article on culture and literature entitled “The Rise of Sheikh Sanʻan and the Descent of the Hero’s Image.” The article starts with an introduction to literary traditions and themes and then explores the origins of mysticism and mystical literature. Faraji examines Sufism and its expression in Persian classical literature and explains the story of Sheikh Sanʻan and its existing narratives. The author compares the figures of the hero and the mystic, which he considers to belong to two opposite worlds. Finally, he analyzes why Sheikh Sanʻan is a hero with lost capacities.
Ario Tehrani interviewed Mohammed Rezaee Rad on dramatic literature, specifically “Polis and the Inflated Self.” In this interview, Rezaee Rad first explains the concept of the city-state and tragedy in ancient Greece. Then, he delves into the characteristics of the hero of the city-state and how he experiences tragedy. The conversation further explores the worldview of the three Greek tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and their interpretation of the concept of the hero. The heroes of their plays are analyzed by examining some examples of prominent tragedies in ancient Greece. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the impact of studying the subject of tragedy on Rezaee Rad’s plays.
Ali Bakhtiari’s essay “They Leaped Up and Laughed at Everyone’s Fear…” also discusses dramatic literature. The author compares and analyzes four female protagonists in four plays by Bahram Beyzai. The essay describes and analyzes the plot of the plays Nodbeh, Memoirs of the Actor in a Supporting Role, Kalat Claimed, and Pardeh-khaneh and represents the appearance of the four female characters. By comparing them, the essay discusses Beyzai’s view on the characterization of women in his plays.
The 13th issue includes an article by Khashayar Bazham Goftar in psychoanalysis and cinema titled “The Hero and the Schizophrenic Breakdown.” The article compares two films, Cow by Dariush Mehrjui and Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund, and analyzes their main heroes based on the theories of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in the book Anti-Oedipus. The article begins with a brief introduction of Deleuze and Guattari’s opinions in Anti-Oedipus. The author then explains concepts such as “desiring machine,” “paranoid desire,” and “schizo desire” to analyze the character figure of “Mashd Hasan” in Cow and the “Captain” in Triangle of Sadness.
Mojtaba Tashkeh wrote an article about psychoanalysis titled “The Illusion of Heroism.” In this article, the author discusses how the concept of the hero has evolved based on the opinions of several theorists. The author then focuses on the postmodern situation and identifies six essential characteristics of this situation in the field of literature. The author explains how “character” plays a vital role in the postmodern situation and provides examples from literature and cinema to demonstrate the characteristics and conditions of the hero in this context. The article also discusses the transition of the hero from modern to postmodern conditions.
The next article is a continuation of an essay published in the twelfth issue by Amir Soghrati titled “The Sad Easterner, the Happy Westerner!”. In the second part of the essay, the author presents a report on contemporary art in Iran and discusses the depiction of the hero and heroism in Iranian visual arts through a case study of prominent works in sculpture, photography, and painting. The essay concludes by examining the presence of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh, a significant historical figure with a heroic face, in contemporary Iranian art and the tribute paid to him by artists in their works.
Safa Ghasemi has also written an article on visual arts titled “The Robust of the Day.” In this essay, the author discusses the portrayal of heroes’ bodies and physiques in Iranian literature and social structures. He explores how these elements have evolved over time in contemporary Iranian art, reflecting changes in society. The article examines the depiction of heroic figures in prominent works of contemporary artists to illustrate this transformation.
The article “From the Hero of Filmfarsi (Persian-film) to the Lone Hero of the Front-line” by Mohammad Sarvi Zargar focuses on the evolution of the hero in Iranian cinema after the revolution. The author analyzes the shift in approach toward the hero figure from Filmfarsi to war cinema. The article categorizes the themes that became the basis for making works in post-revolutionary cinema and explores the depiction of the hero in the war cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. It provides plot descriptions of films such as The Imperiled (Barzakhi-ha), Eagles, and The Glass Agency to analyze the portrayal of the hero figure in post-revolutionary Iranian cinema.
The 13th issue of the magazine ends with an article titled “Leaking of Black Spots on Celluloid” by Alexander Ovanesian, which explores the world of cinema. In this article, the author discusses the social and political conditions prevailing in Nazi Germany and how Goebbels and the propaganda apparatus of the Third Reich exerted influence on artistic institutions and forced German artists to conform to the ideals of Nazism. The article also examines the film industry of Nazi Germany and highlights notable artists and films of that era. By studying works such as Triumph of the Will, the author analyzes the role of cinema in propagating the ideas of Nazism and fascism and its transformation into a device for spreading Hitler’s viewpoints.