In this article it is tried to offer some definitions
of the war from the social studies and from a dramatic point of view the role of
the family in the creation of the play is discussed. At first we will deal with
the investigation of the relationship of the families especially in the Iranian
society at the time of the imposed war that was the context through which these
plays have been created. In what follows the reflection of the family in the
Ù?Sacred defense war plays such as 31 / 6 / 77, three parts of the pure life of
a polite and beautiful young man, murmurs behind the front lines written by Ali
Reza Naderi, Zemestan 66 by Mohammad Yagoobi, Nahre Firooz Abad ( First Part :
Special care taking ) written by Mohammad Rahmanian, Asmaeeb and Dahani Por az
Kalagh written by Jamshid Khanian have been investigated. In the end the Iranian
plays mentioned above will be comparatively investigated with a foreign
successful example, "All My Sons”? by Arthur Miller, the American writer.
Abstract
In this article it is tried to offer some
definitions of the war from the social studies and from a dramatic point of view
the role of the family in the creation of the play is discussed. At first we
will deal with the investigation of the relationship of the families especially
in the Iranian society at the time of the imposed war that was the context
through which these plays have been created. In what follows the reflection of
the family in the Ù?Sacred defense war plays such as 31 / 6 / 77, three parts of
the pure life of a polite and beautiful young man, murmurs behind the front
lines written by Ali Reza Naderi, Zemestan 66 by Mohammad Yagoobi, Nahre Firooz
Abad ( First Part : Special care taking ) written by Mohammad Rahmanian, Asmaeeb
and Dahani Por az Kalagh written by Jamshid Khanian have been investigated. In
the end the Iranian plays mentioned above will be comparatively investigated
with a foreign successful example, "All My Sons”? by Arthur Miller, the American
writer.
Through the scenes the theater shows the world outside that deals
with the creation of the traditions, contracts, violence and honors. The theater
of resistance after the world war 2 all over the world become important to a
great extent in a way that in many countries of the world, different
conferences, halls and important buildings to this issues in the name of the
theater of resistance.
In America, to remember the World War II, an opera
house for the remembrance of the San Francisco war, was established that is
regarded as a the most important halls and even building of their country. This
is while the theater of resistance in Iran has a special and noticeable position
at least from this point of view. It is possible to say that in many cases lack
of understanding as well as cliché and superficial representations of the
theater of resistance has been of the basic elements in the formation of this
issue. Lack of research and incorrect understanding of the conditions of war as
well as lack of understanding the abilities as well as understanding the
techniques as well as creating means of the theater can be included as the other
factors of this problem. The correct understanding of the audience and the
ability of up to dating the issues and the concerns of the war, whose effects
are clear on the society, can be the cause of progress and efflorescence of the
theater of resistance in Iran and can lead a lot of audience to the halls of the
theater.
Due to personal interest in the subject of the influence of the war
on the family as well as the lack of researches which are to somewhat
comprehensive and valuable in this regard, I have chosen this as my subject.
Almost certainly it can be said that that there would be no such research under
this title anywhere; or at least I could not find anything in this regard. The
preliminary hypotheses that were considered for this research include: to what
extent has the war been effective on the family circle in the theaters of the
Ù?Sacred defense war? Is there anything common between Iranian plays and those
of the foreign countries for example All My Sons by Arthur Miller? If there are
some common characteristics what are they? To what extent will the repetitive
subjects or differences be found in the Iranian Plays on the Ù?Sacred defense
war?
The Definition of War From the viewpoints of sociology and dramatic
point of view:
This is the world of the battle if you have a general point of
view (Masnavi Ma’navi)
War has a lot of definitions from the point of
view of sociology, politics as well as a concrete and objective phenomenon.
Therefore, based on the point of view we take in investigating the roots of the
war we will have various definitions of it. For example: The sociology point of
view and the war, war and culture, politics and war, geography and war, economy
and war as wee;; as community and war and . . . . . . . . . . . Wars as social
movements have different natures and based on the nature and the goals they are
seeking, they are defined in different ways. In other words, the wars are
defined based on the goals and the intentions and not based on the results they
achieve. For example, it is possible to refer to some of this goals and basic
needs in the formation of the wars:
1. War is the natural result of
resistance against power.
2. War is the consequence of hating each other by
the nations.
3. War is the result of feeling inferior with regard to the
other nations.
4. Most of the wars had religious and belief reasons.
5.
Wars have been exploitative due to the material interests.
6. Wars have been
anti – exploitative movements due to the need to independence and freedom from
exploitative powers.
7. The invention and the development of the
militaristic arms have changed most of the wars to the innovative wars.
In as much as the discussion on the kinds and types of the arms during
the history may put the main topic aside we will refer to the types of the
wars:
1. Historical wars
2. traditional era wars
3. middle age
wars
4. Renaissance wars
5. National and revolutionary wars
6. National
and international wars
Definition of the war from the point of view of
Sociology:
Emphasizing the legal aspect of the war, M . Quincy Wright thinks
that : " the war is the legal condition that lets the involved groups settle the
dispute by the use of armed forces.”?
Clause Vince with regard to the goals
of the wars, says: "War is a violent act the goal of which is to convince the
competitor to fulfill our requirement.”?
Von Bogoslavsky defines the war in
this way: "The group struggle of a specific group of the people, nations, people
or governments against another group or some other groups.”?
La Gor Jet
defines the war in this way: "War is violent competition between two or more
similar groups that occur as a result of some specific needs they have.”?
Guston Bootol also defines the war in this way: "War is armed and bloody
fighting between organized groups.”?
According to Allan Biro war has been
taken from a German root werra which means the test of the forces through the
use of guns between the nations (foreign war) or among the contesting groups
within the country (civil war).
From the point of view of Emile Durkheim the
common principle of the social theories is the acceptance as well as the
authorization of war as a social phenomenon during the lives of the nations. And
this is why the sociologists consider war as one of the most surprising and
wonderful event of the world.
The definition of War from the Dramatic
Point of view :
As it was mentioned in the different definitions and
sometimes opposite definitions of the war, it is necessary that this tern be
considered along with the term politics. . . . . . . .
Martin Esslin in
defining the nature of the play writes: "the element that makes a play a play is
the action or the function that fulfills the thought or the concept of the
writer of the work.”?
Bertolt Brecht used to consider the play as a
practical method and the theater as a laboratory for the examination of the
human behavior under different conditions.
Of course it is not good to
politicize all literature; political theater enacts situations and events that
are of importance for all the people. If the political theater can take the
spectator to the fundamental analysis, it has done a great service and this is
the most outstanding characteristic of the political theater. In this theater
the audience is faced with reality; a reality that is directly related to him /
her.
The first theater of the history of the dramatic work, Iranians, is war
play and it seems as if the theater is born with war and the war seems as the
motivation of the crisis and a threat on the life of the human beings and is
thus the source and the origin of tragedy and its political area. Achilles in an
Iranian war scene makes use of the strategy of turning around and this process
shows that focusing on the war on the theatrical scene is not possible unless
some practical changes are made and some measures are taken into account.
Iranians, is a historical drama under the control of lyrical and epical methods
and make us aware of the challenges that war makes on the dramatic forms. War is
first of all a dramtic act before being a subject which organizes the
reformation of forms from within.
Luckacs explains the struggle with in the
structure of the dram in the following way: Every dramatic act, and every
dramatic change in an act, needs a common ground among the competitors even if
this "common characteristic, is regarded enmity from the social position. The
exploiter and the exploited, the oppressor and the oppressed can be the managers
of this battle ground.
From the dramatic point of view the war can be
screened on the theatrical scene in two ways . . . . . : the war act and the war
situation. A war act introduces a militaristic act as the content of the work
and through remembrance of this point that the "war act”? does not follow a low
abiding model of drama. The war act indeed refers to the military war in which
gun is used and it takes into consideration the nature, the arrangement as well
as the number of the forces and the technical conditions dominating the current
of the confrontation. But when the war is considered in its social context and
in its relationship with the other political and humanitarian activities it is
the war situation that is of importance. In other words if we do not limit war
to the war arena and treat it as a illness of the society and even the body of
the human beings, it is not regarded as the act of war rather it is regarded as
the situation of war.
The Family and the Familial Relationship in the
Iranian Society:
"Family is a social institution composed of mother and
father as well as children and possibly their relatives”? or in other words it
is comprised of a group of people that are related together through blood
relations and marriage as well as taking as step child and thereby form an
economical unit in which the grown ups are responsible for rearing the children.
All the known societies have forms of family organizations although the mature
of their relations is greatly various.”?
In the human society family has
different forms the most important forms of which are mentioned below:
Core
family
Expanded family
Step families
Native father family
Native
mother family
A Core family or an independent family is a family that is
composed of wife and husband ( or one of them ) as well as their children.
The expanded family is a family group including more than two generations of
the relatives who are living in a family or very close to each other.
Native
father family is a family in which the wife is expected to live near parents of
the husband.
Native mother family is a family in which the husband is
expected to live near parents of the husband.
A Step family is a family in
which at least one of the parents has children living with them or very near to
them from their ex – marriages.
In the contemporary societies the form of
the real family is a core family form but the families of the type of expanded
families are also found. As it was mentioned, the core family, include two grown
ups that live together with their children or the ones they have adopted as
their children. But in the traditional societies such as Iran china and . . . .
. . . . .most of the families types are of he expanded family type. In these
types the relatives other than a wife and a husband and their families in the
family are in close contacts and live near each other most of the time. These
types might also include grand fathers and grand mothers, brothers and their
wives, aunts and uncles as well as nephews and nieces; in most of the Iranian
families it is expected that when a person marries he lives near the house of
the brides’ parents or even live with them and this is called mother native
families. The model of the father native families come in to being when the
married couple live near the parents of the bridegroom or even live with them.
On this basis it can be understood that the father native families and the
mother native families are found in Iran and there are quite a lot of examples
of these type of families that every Iranian is familiar with them.
One of
the other characteristics of the human society in Iran regarding the formation
of the family and marriage is the subject of freedom of choice in the marriage
contract and the other aspects of the family. In many of such cases, the person
is the follower of the interest of the others such as those of his / her
father’s or mother’s as well as those of the relatives. For this reason the
family in these cases is open to the protections, guidance, research and
interference from without on the part of the neighbors and the relatives and
almost there is no personal and private issue. Therefore family is an open,
abiding and domestic, un – emotional , authoritative as well as transient and
instable organization and breaks at the death of the wife or husband as well as
infertility of the wife or their early departures from the house.
The family
model all over the world has seen a lot of changes in its forms. In most of the
third world countries there are some extensive changes to take place and the
origin of these changes are very complex but it is possible to consider some
factors as great elements in causing these changes. In the first place these
factors such as those of the previous periods of the west, include industrial
changes as well as city life. Of the most important elements in causing changes
in the family paradigms all over the world one can refer to the following cases:
1. Multitudes or connected groups of relatives are loosing their influence.
2. A general process towards freedom in choosing one’s wife / husband.
3. The rights of women, both their rights in choosing right in marriage as
well as in making decisions at homes, are more than ever acknowledged.
4.
Most marriages in the traditional cultures used to be "marriages among
relatives”?. This is decreasing day after day.
5. Sexual freedom in
societies that have been very strict has increased.
6. There is an
increasing and progressive procedure to expand the rights of the children.
But an important issue in the family as well as familial relationship is the
issue of violence in the family circle. Basically in family circle violence is a
male domain.
It is possible to define the family violence as physical attack
of a member of the family against the other member ( s ) of the family. Usually
there are two types of violence in the family circles: violence towards the
children that is conducted on the part of both the wife and the husband and the
other the violence of the husbands that is conducted against the wives. Of
course there are some cases in which the wives have conducted acts of violence
against their husbands but this is rare.
One of the most principle
foundations of the Iranian families is the role of the women as one of the basic
columns in the growth as well as the preservation of the family in the Iranian
society. Before the Islamic Revolution in the framework of the theory of
reconstruction as well as under the aegis of the strategy of growth and decision
making in the supreme levels of the management of the country some changes
occurred for the well fare of the people.
The result of these changes, was
coming in to existence of a little group of the educated women in a society
whose major characteristics can be summarized in the social – economical
inequality. During the past 20 years, the gender criteria show some advancements
as well as backwardness.
Changes in the conditions of the women can be
sought in two social classes:
A . Geniuses: Women with higher education who
have jobs or who have more extensive social interaction
B . The mass of the
traditional women: Mostly housekeepers, more religious and having lower
educational levels.
The external forces as well as the internal forces
were both effective in the changes occurred; education of the young girls as
well as the role of the media among the internal forces were of more importance.
The outcome of these changes was lack of cognitive understanding for the first
group and different models of norms and a more extensive web of social relations
for the second group. In a way that the society of women need a higher social
position as well as a greater portion of participation in decision making of the
Iranian People.
The condition of the women in the years after the Islamic
revolution, on the basis of the social – political changes can be divided in to
two periods: Causing Change and Contextual:
In the Causing Change
period, a quick structural change was regarded as a necessity. Changes in the
ownership of the properties, the policies of the government, the way of the
economical growth as well as its distribution, more equality in the economical
benefits, settlement of the social justice, structural changes in the current
values of the society through the educational and mass media systems,
participation of the people especially the active presence of the poor as the
necessity condition for the economical growth are examples of what changed the
structure of the society. Changes in the productive sections, economical
problems, the beginning of the war and the more extensive effectiveness of the
dominant point of view about the appropriate role of the women made them to be
set aside from the economical activities; they were seen best to play the role
of mothers as well as wives; the family circle was considered to be their main
domain and the general arena was that of men who were regarded as bread winners;
in the best cases the jobs that were regarded to be specialized for women or
were similar to the role of the mothers were given to them such as teaching and
nursing.
The Importance of the Role of the Family Relationships in the
Creation of the Plays:
Most playwrights, be it consciously or be it
unconsciously, are seeking to find forms and frames for their plays in
accordance with the thoughts and the contents which they intend to express. The
selection of form and content or in other word the selection of the dominant
element has been one of the most important worries of the writers. But the real
issue seems to be the propriety of form and content.
With a cursory look at
the history of the dramatic works in the world as well as Iran it can be
understood that the importance of the family relations and making use of it for
dealing with it is completely a historical event, although making use of the
family and family ties has been subjected to a lot of changes in the
contemporary world.
Most of the plays that we see currently on the
stages of the theater have the ambience and the color and characteristics of
Realistic plays. When we are thinking of realism, we are feeling relaxed first
of all for 1 . the play is written in prose 2 . the executive group thinks that
life, free from the audience who are seeing them through a "fourth wall”?, is
moving and its real object is to adapt everything with the concept of life or it
seems at least to be so.
Is it not the attraction of the family relationship
and ties that creates the force or the energy of the realism or even causes it?
And is it not the social relationship and interaction that creates non –
realistic situations in an innovative way and devoid from any resistance?
Arthur Miller, the late American writer, has said about the play Called
"Pyer Gunt”? by Henric Ibsen that: "It is amazing for me that Ibsen, as the
master of Realism, who used to write his realistic plays with the seriousness he
had in writing the social plays, suddenly quits the realistic frame / setting i.
e. the living room. I think he had left not only the living room – because this
element makes the production of a creative poetical play impossible – but also
he has left the family context as well; because Pyer Gunt is more than anything
else depicted as a lonely man; he is also shown as a man who is facing the
social forces as well as social relationships and non – familial types of
relationships.”? Of course it should be mentioned that the first thing that was
of great importance for Ibsen was the relationship of the human with the other
humans as their interaction. Therefore Ibsen can not have characterization set
as his only goal rather he intended to create a context in which the characters
are formed so as they behave as the other humans do. The context that he chose
to present his characters was like a mirror hold up to the society. Therefore If
he wanted to create a climax he had to create the society in the framework of
money, social customs, tradition as well as spiritual and intellectual condition
of his characters. All the plays that have been written on these issues have
been and are regarded great works which in the end deal with an aspect of a
unique issue. How the human beings from the external world make a house for him?
On what basis he should try? Or what changes and alternation he should make or
to what he has to achieve?
It seems to be true of we say that the language
of the family and the language of the private life, the prose and the language
of the society – that is the language of the common life – is order. Regarding
the new plays one issue affects the audience as well as the spectators of the
contemporary world more than the other issues and it is the fact that the
contemporary plays present and exhibit the concept of lack. In other words they
present the bereavement of the human beings from the sometimes extant mercies
and affluences that are no more in existence and are subjected to oblivion.
Therefore most of the times it is said that the theme of the new and modern
plays is the "self – estrangement”? of the human beings; but it is the social
concept of it that is of great importance by which it is meant that the
individual can not find a satisfactory role in the society. Although this is
true about the contemporary plays but it is the instinctual and to some how
latent feeling that is prior to the social "self – estrangement”? and that is
the un – said or en – expressible feeling of satisfaction in the mind of the
author as well as the spectators of the plays which has its origins in the
family relationships as well as memories of the childhood experience. Therefore
the motivating force of feeling in the great plays is the contrast that the time
leaves for us to inherit; that we can not return to home and the world in which
we live is a strange place.
It seems that family and familial relationships
as well as making use of its potential have a great and strong tie with the
school of Realism. Human beings, be they writer or the creator of a dramatic
work or be they the spectator or audience, have a common experience of life with
them and this experience would never leave him in any condition and situation
that the individual is placed. In other words all the human beings take roles
that are prioritized over the other tasks he had to attend: All of us in the
first place are boys, girls, sisters and brother; therefore it is quite natural
that no play can change these roles. The concepts of sister, brother, father and
mother as well as the like have been accepted naturally and unconsciously when
we understood ourselves as individuals. While the concepts such as friend,
colleague, manager, staff and teacher as well as other social relationships came
to our minds after we became aware of our being and in this way they are located
in the external.
From this point of view, the family relationship is
sublimated reality and seems stable. It is while the social relationship is
always fairly stable and accidental and seems in the end domineering. But today
there is a great gap between the social life of the human beings as well as
their private lives and the artists were trying to show this. The escape of the
human beings from the imaginary, fantasy and un – real world towards realism is
seen more today. In other words when the time comes for misfortune and hardship
the people of the society in a way tend towards personal and private lives and
ignore the society. It is as if the human beings in these conditions are trying
to get away from the society. Therefore the more the problems and difficulties
of a society the more the inclination towards personal and family life would be.
The importance of the role of the families in the plays is completely obvious in
this issue. The various wars of the 20th C., fatal illnesses, lack of resources
as well as the increase in the number of the of the population, have the human
beings to move inward and step by step made them move towards solitude; in other
words they have become more lonely.
The modern plays are based on some parts
of the private and personal life . . . . . . . the great system of art, which
includes plays and drama as well, is reached when something is said about the
general condition of the human beings and it can not be created out of the blue.
What all these plays generally have in common is the self – crimination
characteristics; this means that they want to seem in a way as if they not only
have not plots and plans but also have no authors. They want to ascertain us
that what we see "happen automatically”? and no director has done anything in
this regard; in contrast to the Plays of Ibsen, Shakespeare and Greek Plays.”?
The Reflection of War in the Family Environment and Family Relationship
in the Ù?Sacred Defense War Plays:
The Theater of Resistance
denotatively is a theater that aims at showing the contrast between two forces;
or it is a theater on one side of which badness is located and on the other side
it is goodness that is located. In other words the theater of resistance is a
theater that is comprised of two parts: theater and resistance (this means
resistance and stability against the attacking and transgressing forces). . . .
. . .. . The Theater of Resistance like the other kinds of theater is the result
of special characteristics of the human society. Therefore, this kind of theater
in general has the following characteristics:
1. preserving different
aspects of the human society against the attacking forces
2. relying and
emphasizing the national unity
3. the aggregation of the human resources as
experienced forces
In general the factors and the elements that
differentiate this theater from the other theaters are as follow:
1.
Propagation against war and differentiating between the defense war as well as
transgressing wars
2. Fighting against exploitative powers
3.
Education
If we accept that the point of view of the author and the
playwright totally depend on the environmental and time conditions, then one can
conclude that the subject matters in the theater of the Ù?Sacred defense war has
changed in the course of the history to a great extent. Except for some
differences, it is possible to categorize these subjects in three periodical
times:
A. The Beginning Stage: In this stage which is simultaneous with the
beginning of the imposed war, the subjects have been chosen in a hurry with the
goal of imparting knowledge regarding an important historical event in the
country and the plays, without having a conscious theory about the "Theater of
the Ù?Sacred Defense War”?, are just reflecting the conditions of the people who
are unwillingly faced with a great war.
B. The Middle Stage: In this
stage the structure of the society is formed on this basis that our people have
been involved in a full scale and possibly a long war. The theater of the
Ù?Sacred defense war as a famous dramatic genre opens his path through the other
plays that have subject matters different from it . . . . . . . The subject
matters in this regard, include mostly self – sacrifices, martyrdoms as well as
victory over enemies and the oppressed conditions of the people who were
arranged against the enemy lines.
C. The stage after the war: The most
various as well as the most acute subjects of the theater of the Ù?Sacred
defense war theater can be seen at this period. With the end of the imposed war,
the subjects of the Ù?Sacred defense war are divided into some groups:
•
Subject matters that have remained loyal to the events occurred during eight
years of war and those which try to keep and preserve the same mood and ambience
with the same characteristics of the war era.
• The subject matters that
deal with the works as well as the characters of the defense war with a positive
point of view.
• The subject matters that deal with the works of the defense
war with a different point of view and try to show the effects of the war from
its destructive point of view.
Of the most important characteristics of
writing plays about the subject matters that are related to the war era is
historical reference and it voluminous quality of it in the forms that are not
dramatic. This shows the double delicacy of writing plays about this period.
This period – from the point of view time – is based on the centralization of
the military issues and in the end on actions and military operations. It is why
the war period in its extensive dimensions is divided into two categories of
"frontier”? and "behind the frontier”? then it goes away from the military
arenas and tended towards the basic body of the society.
Writing plays about
issues relating to the war period due to achieving one’s three goals (preserving
the different humanitarian society against the attacking forces, emphasizing and
focusing on the national unity, the gathering of the human forces as efficient
forces) is having the benefit of being victorious in the fields of war. This
form of writing play, due to its emphasis on the military documents, although
they lack the central core of dram that is movement and dynamism, is successful
in gaining its three goals. One of the other features of writing plays is
breaking away from the known forms and at the same time a thoughtful departure
from those norms in order to settle the war as its basic subject and its
establishment as a force in the dramatic structure makes the mechanism of the
play arranged to the benefit of the war and the military framework. Making use
of the masses of the people as actors, going out of the scenes and attending the
place of the accidents or at an extent in the same form, the haphazardness of
the scenes as well as the place where the audience are placed are some of the
characteristics of this theater.
In the most of the plays in the theater of
the Ù?Sacred defense war in Iran, war as a progressive as well as basic event
has not been paid attention to a great extent.
When the plays of the
Ù?Sacred defense war deal with war and has been written after the war, it is
natural the writer go to present the reflections of war and its effects on
society and especially family as an important and key element of the society. In
this case the playwright with sufficient understanding of the war events and
happening, its destructive effects on the society, the deterioration of the
families, the fatal physical and spiritual ailments of the participants in the
wars as well as the forces, lacks or the effects that this phenomenon and the
effects that this phenomenon has had on the family canon, goes towards writing
plays.
Therefore in this case the playwright does not directly go towards
the war as the major acts of his play and the war in this case changes to a
seemingly strange subject in the lives of the characters of his plays. Of the
notable works in writing plays in the history of dramatic literature one can
refer to a lot of expressionist plays in Germany such as "Sea Combat”? written
by Reinhardt Goring”?.
Family in the Ù?Sacred Defense War Plays:
In
the theaters of the Ù?Sacred defense war, the artist, before creating a work has
some beliefs and presuppositions and thereby wants to show it to the society or
wants to guide the people towards believing in is own ideas and beliefs.
Therefore the artist or the playwright knows his addressee and is familiar with
his culture and understand all of his codes; he is further familiar with his
accents and language as well as his reactions about the special critics of him.
One should pay careful attention that the goal of all promotional efforts and
movement are "making culture”?, therefore it is quite natural the creator and
the playwright of the Ù?Sacred defense war knows to whom he is performing his
play, what he wants to tell them and how to tell them so that what he says is
understandable and is accepted by him. For example it is possible to bring some
example from the promotional activities of Soviet Union in the beginning of the
1917 Revolution and thereafter in the creation of Socialist Realist Art. In this
regard it is possible to refer to some excerpts from Lenin’s speeches: "Look, We
are both old and do not understand the meaning of the new art. And we are
staggering behind it; but our ideas about art are not so much important; it is
not important that how many hundreds or thousands of people among human beings
say what about art. Art belongs to a nation and it has to have its roots among
the masses of the workers and those who tolerate suffering. Art has to be
understood by these masses of the people . . . . . .Art has to look for the
artists among these people. Are we authorized to distribute among a small
minority sweet and delicious biscuits while a great multitude of the masses of
workers and farmers do not even have access to breads. . . . . . In order for
the massive multitude of the people be attracted to art and art turn towards
them, it is necessary to increase the level education as well as culture. It is
while tens of thousands of people are pleased with the bright plays of the
theater of Moscow; the need of the millions of people all over the country to
the art of spelling, writing and calculating is overtly felt.
Here, Lenin
considers the mass of the people as a context for the cultural movements. But
Brecht goes further and not only considers the masses context for the cultural
movements but also he specifies the way to talk to the people: "the study of the
realist stylistic writing can not be ignored or paid attention to as easily as
it was common in the past because they have become unavoidable at present. The
royal governors tell lies more than they did in the past and even big lies.
Therefore it becomes tougher duty to tell the truth. Suffering and oppression
has become worsen and along with the number of the people who are suffering has
increased. With regard to the suffering of the masses it is felt that being busy
with the minor difficulties, with minor difficulties of small groups, is funny
and worthy of derision. In contrast to the increasing violence of the world,
there is only one allied and this is people who are really suffering from it to
a great extent. One can only expect them. Therefore, it is clear that we have
turn to the people and today it is more necessary compared to other times to
talk to people in their language. Therefore the two concepts of the people art
and the real art are naturally related. . . . . . . . Common means something
that is understandable for the masses of the people and making use of their
language to add to the depth and value of the work – getting their ideas and
making use of them, the representative of the most advanced people and therefore
being able to lead them and therefore understandable for the other sections and
parts of the people, relating to the other customs and advancing it,
transferring the achievements of the dominant group to those group of people who
are trying to reach leadership . . . . . . . . . In fact this means discovering
the cause and effect webs in society and divulging the fact that the dominant
and the current ideas of the society are the same ideas of power and domination.
Looking through the eyes of a class of people who is thinking of the most
comprehensive solutions for the problems that have afflicted the human society
(emphasizing the elements of evolution and progress), making the sensible and
the real events possible, and making rejuvenation that is created with the pass
of time: "what was very liked by the people in the past, is not liked today by
the people; because they are not the same as what they used to be in the past.”?
Basically the need of the addressees has changed with the pass of the time
and its orientations change as well. Therefore it is reasonable that the theater
of the Ù?Sacred defense war appears as a mass media and transferor and well as
injector of culture to the addressees in any time and at any period; whenever
the need for change in the theater of the Ù?Sacred defense war is made apparent
it will adapt itself to the new changes; as some concepts such as war and family
has been subject to changes during the course of time for they have gone well
with time.
Since the art in general and theater of the Ù?Sacred defense war
in particular have the characteristics of media therefore they have to impart
some information TO THE READER OR TO THE AUDIECE. In the usual theater it is
that part of the conclusion that is sued as guide and leading part for the
audience. According to Brecht in theater " we have to reveal and divulge truth
and express the reality; those realities and facts that are hidden in the
dark.”?
The Theater of the Ù?Sacred defense war is an effort to organize
power for the creation of unity of ideas among the people of a nation. On one
hand one should remember that information has its own life span and will die. In
other words it will lose its value step by step and it needs to be replaced by
new information; and in as much as the theater of the Ù?Sacred defense war is
based on these ideas and beliefs, therefore the theater of the Ù?Sacred defense
war has its own life span. In general this is the characteristics of the
promotional art that they sometimes will lose their effectiveness and their
usage.
In the continuation of the goal of culture making, one important task
that is considered for the theater of the Ù?Sacred defense war is the subject of
cultural identity. The subject of the cultural identity has got two main
branches: . . . . . . first: the identity of background that is that section of
the cultural identity that is related to the original and the roots of the
culture of the addressee as well as his cultural belonging and . . . . . . the
Second: Modern identity that is always forming and constructing as well as
rejuvenating because of the oppression of the time as well as the forces of
technological advances and its effects on all the cultural branches. Basically
the theater of the Ù?Sacred defense war is in need of two cases of "making
belief in addressee”? as well as "creating a sense of sympathy in the
addressee”? for the creation of the unity of ideas. In the theater of the
Ù?Sacred defense war for the creation of beliefs a technique is used which is
named "realist narrative”?. This means that the addressee considers all what
happens in the scenes real and believes in them. On the other hand the theater
of the Ù?Sacred defense war makes use of the technique of cultural identity to
create sympathy in the addressee in order to achieve a sense of unity of ideas.
The audience enters the hall of the theater with their cultural background.
Therefore the theater of the Ù?Sacred defense war, to create a modern identity,
has to choose special cases of the cultural belongings of the addressee and then
plays with them; then it adds something to it and afterwards returns it to the
audience as a modern identity which is inline with the contemporary condition of
the audience. The artist of the theater is in search of communication. He has to
transfer to the audience the highest degree of sensations, emotions, aims and
goals by the use of the least and the most useful means as well as in the least
amount of time. . . . . . .
Adapting the discussed issues in the definitions
as well as the concepts of families with the condition of Iran, the laws of
Islam and their interpretations by the great men of religion, is of prime
importance. The religious perspectives are not only effective in formulating the
laws of right but also effective in directing the general thought as well as
formulating the social norms. Social dynamism on one side and social changes on
the other hand has created great changes in the traditional forms of marriage
and the concept of family. In addition one should not ignore the role of the
eight years of war in the changing the marriage norms as well as the other
concepts of family.
For example, for the active and effective role of the
religious perspectives and jurisdictions and its domination on one’s point of
view about life and the issue marriage one can refer to a play called "three
parts of the pure life of a gorgeous and courteous young man”? written by Ali
Reza Naderi. Ali Reza is one of the characters of the play who is injured in the
war and accordingly lost his memory; at 17 when he did not go to the war, he was
in love with his cousin called "Ziba”? but he did not express it to her in any
way before.
Ali Reza: When Cain killed Abel there were two eyes which we
chasing him . . . . . . I did not kill anybody . . . . . . But those two eyes
were there that day, they are today as well . . .. . . . There are two eyes and.
They want to say something. . . . . . . But I do not know if it is because of
shame or is it because of nobility . . . . . . . that they are silent . . . . .
Mother! . . . . . . . My uncle had a daughter whose name was . . . . . . . What
was her name? . . . . . What . . . . . . ?
Ali Reza: Mom! Is my face livid?
Do you know why? They did hit my cheek. It was all my faults. I know it was my
own fault. Yea. But it is a mistake that you think I have listened to what my
heart says. This was not the case. At first I was thinking that it was because
of God’s mercy that did not let me tell Ziba who much I love her. It was very
hard for me. But I always wanted her to understand this, but she did not. I did
not ever look at her and she did not either. I want to stay at this house so
much as the lividness of the slap, which was the result of love, is diminished
from my face.
Ali Reza then said . . . . . go and tell Ziba. I was amazed
for I knew that one should not be angry with what God trust one with. I was
thinking it was God’s mercifulness that I was not telling Ziba how much love him
. . . . . . . I have taken Ziba for granted for the sake of God. . . . . .
.
Ali Reza hides his love for Ziba, his uncle’s daughter and when Ali Reza
was in the war Ziba had married Hamid Nezam, a friend of him.
Mom: When
your first letter came, it was the time that he wooed Ziba; your late uncle
opposed as he had said he did not want a son in law who has not hands. When your
second letter arrived from Abadan, your uncle finally had agreed and they were
serving the sweet. Dar Khovain operation was the time of their marriage and went
to MAshhad for their honeymoon . . . . . . it was all your mistake. You did
never tell anyone. It was because of shame or decency . . . . .
Like other
countries, Iran was affected by the cultural and economical as well as social
changes in the latter decades of the 20th C and these had affected the structure
and the function of the family in the country. Although the Iranian society,
like the other countries in the present age, has a long time to go to the
complete eradication of male domination in an out of the family but one can
claim that some important steps have been taken in the last decades of the 20th
C. to perform this important goal. The increase in the percentage of the
employment of females as well as accepting the active economic role and
accordingly . . . . . . having income and new social responsibilities for a
greater number of people both in the middle class as well as working class, has
naturally a deeper influence on the performance of the family circle in a way
that it has completely changed the relationship as well s the traditional roles
that were as a result of the economical dependence of the wife on the husband;
this is exemplified by the play in which the father is generally omitted from
play or their presences are so colorless. Their presence is more shadowy and not
sensible. In the Plays such as "Ismaeil, Ismaeil”? and a "Mouth full of Crow”?
as well as the "Winter 66”? the role of the father is totally absent from the
plays. In all these plays the father is died and is not living. It is only a
memory of him that sometimes reminds us of his role in the family. In addition,
in a play called "three parts of the pure life of a gorgeous and courteous young
man”? written. . . . . . by Ali Reza Naderi the father has a very shadowy and
minute role.
In the play "Winter 66”? the father is dead and thus has not
the least effects on the actions of the play. The major characters of the play
are females.
As it was aforementioned in "three parts of the pure life of a
gorgeous and courteous young man”? written by Ali Reza Naderi, the father
appears as a sensible and concrete character but his presence is so rare and
shadowy and is limited only to the third section. In addition to this, he is
also referred to in the end of section 2:
Section Two:
Ali Reza: . . . .
. . See who it is.
Mohsen: . . . . Where?
Ali Reza: . . . in the yard. A
shadow has filled the yard. . . .
Mother: it is your father . . . . .
Mohsen: He has gone to prayer, thus he does not come up so soon . . . . . .
. .
Section Three:
The father enters. Silently and shadowy and looks
at his wife and children. Mohsen is sitting in a corner calmly and
revolutionized while he is sitting he is smoking. The father simulates to be
happy. . . . . . .
As it is clear from the setting of the scene, the presence
of the father is calm and shadowy; in addition the effects of the father on the
progress of the actions of the play is Zero and his role is limited to three
very short and ineffective dialogues.
In another play called "the Murmurs
behind the Frontier Lines”? where we are facing with an uncommon family, there
is no way to suppose a role for the father; in other words the father as a
normal dominant character does not exist in this play.
Of the most important
worries of a family for living beside each other is having a ceiling over one’s
head or in other words a house. House is the same important and basic element
that Miller emphasizes it with regard to family. For example one can refer to
teo plays "three parts of the pure life of a gorgeous and courteous young man”?
written by Ali Reza Naderi”? and "Winter 66”?. Still, the main important part of
a play such as "31/ 6 / 77 (22nd September 1998)) is the house.
In Winter
66: . . . . . .
The Voice of the Man: . . . .Naser will live. He approaches
the house. It is no more home; he approaches a destroyed house which used to be
a home not long ago. He comes close. He is hot under the collar. He notices a
rooster that is on the wall of the destroyed house and is staring at him. Then
he reclines there and cries. In the alley, in front of the destroyed house he is
crying; this is the only thing that he does. . . . . . .
In the present
society of Iran the family, while there are different norms regarding having
different wives as well as temporary marriages, and the increase in the number
of the families who have only one child, increase in the number of adoptions
especially in cases where one of the couples is infertile, has continued to its
being and to its modern applications. In these cases, while the family continues
to its normal course and adapting itself to these new conditions, the couples
are still inclined to preserve the traditional role of the family in educating
and raring children as well as continuation of reproduction. In addition, with
the increase of the number of divorces and accepting the basic role of the
family by other people based on their familial relations, these changes have not
been of great importance and significance. To prove and to further exemplify
this claim one can refer to the play called "A mouth Full of Crow”?: . .
The First: You did not say anything about Atieh . . . .
The Second:
She is fine . . . . .
The First: How many kinds do you have?
The Second:
I have no kinds. . . . . . .
The First: (with amazement) you do not have any
child?
The Second: I am not able to bear a child. . . . . .
The first:
is it because of you or is it because of your husband?
[a pause and then . .
. . .]
The Second: (shortly) it is because of me
The first: adopt one
from a nursery – or somewhere else
The Second: he says no. I want my own
child.
[silence]
The reproduction of the division of labor is one of the
most important features of the family. Natural division (based on age and
gender) of labor is the complement of the social work and in addition to
creation of necessary requirements for its re – production, it is regarded as an
important element is the production of duties as well as the other norms of the
society. For this reason, the women’s occupation and employment that was
increased to a greater extent during the period after the victory of the Islamic
Revolution, has been the greatest element of the dynamism of the family and has
caused some changes in the relationship between the couples as well as on the
relationships of the parents with their children as well as the roles and
educational responsibilities of the members of the family and in general in all
relations as well as the family norms. The role and the duty of the women in the
family, in these conditions, can be done in one of the following ways: accepting
a part of these duties on the part of the husband, double exploitation of women
and increasing the efficiency of their work and the socialization of some of
these duties and most of the works and family responsibilities would become
easier.
In practice, a combination of these three methods is used in
different societies:
Almost in many of the plays under discussion, women
play the role of wife or mother and the majority of them are housewives. For
example in plays such as "Winter 66”? the mother is a traditional house keeper
and she is dealing with the education of the children as well as house keeping;
her social role and works are very limited. In addition, no where in this place
the social role of Nahid out of her house is mentioned. In the play "three parts
of the pure life of a gorgeous and courteous young man”? written by Ali Reza
Naderi”? the mother plays her own role and is a house keeper. In the play called
"Esmaeil, Esmaeil”? the young woman doe not refer to her own occupation and
social responsibility. But in another play called "Nahr-e- Frooz Abad”? (First
Part: Emergency Cares) the only woman of the play is a nurse. In other words,
she is doing her job as well as social activity while there is war.
For the
meticulous and precise understanding of the plays as well as the role of the
family in these plays one needs exactly to know the time and the place in which
the play took place; it seems that the best way for appreciation of these works
is to make use of narrative – historical analysis or the traditional analysis.
The playwright adopts a critical approach through which he tries to react to the
existing conditions as well as situations and to create characters in the middle
of these events and thereby he wants to be the historical memory of the
societies; he plays a crucial and important role in the dynamism of the social
minds of the people. These playwrights, through dealing with the subjects and
characters that are the results of their societies at the time in which they
live, helped to revitalize this historical memory. For example, Ali Reza Naderi
in his play called 31/ 06/1377 sets five fighters as the major characters of his
play and through social and emotional analysis of them years after the war, he
tries, in addition to creating a dramatic situation, to present a critical
picture of the society in which they live where the fighters feel a great gap in
their wills and their volition as well as their worth. These are the people who
were proud of themselves for fighting in the imposed war and now that peace and
immunity is rife every where in the society, they are grappling with their
unconscious picture of themselves. The war and the values that used to act as
columns to rely on and had given meaning to their lives, even before the
settlement of peace, is step by step deteriorating; a process which reaches its
extreme point when Reza, the commander, disappears. Now in the absence of the
commander, of whom they had a great depth of feelings, there are a lot of
injuries and unhappiness that are about coming to the surface after years.
Comparative Study of the theaters on the Ù?Sacred defense war written by
Iranian writers with "All My Sons”? written by Arthur Miller
Arthur
Miller, separate from many known and unknown techniques, tries to present and
exhibit in this play all his experiences, what he has seen as well as all his
sensible events around him after the World War II. All My Sons introduces the
American society participants and sinful in the war and hence it can be regarded
as an anti war play. The play has been written on the principles of Realism as
the Iranian plays do. In the conditions of the war and the periods after war
possibly realism has been one of the toughest and the most difficult duties of
the truthful writers. It is true that every year many works are produced in the
world but only a few of these works do mot subjected to oblivion due to the pass
of time and remain fro ever. This everlasting quality has a direct relationship
with the realism of the writer of the works and it has become step by step
understandable.
The Iranian writers were not exempt from this rule to some
extent. For example the play called "The Murmur behind the Frontier Lines”? was
faced with severe opposition as well as prohibition of performance in the
beginning. Tending towards realism as well as dependence on the characters and
situations as well as the occurred events and happenings have been the subject
matter of the Iranian playwrights as well, although writing realistic play has
had a long history in Iran. Many of the playwrights, who write about the
Ù?Sacred defense war such as Ali Reza Naderi, are those figures who took part in
the war in person. Therefore, being present in the war scenes and experiencing
its environments, provides them with a strong means to write plays with more
comprehensive knowledge and information. Of the most important and repetitive
elements that are visible in all the Iranian plays as well as "All My Sons”? are
Home, family and living together of these characters at any price. As in All My
Sons, the reason for committing a sin on the part of Clare is mentioned in the
following way:
Clare: . . . . . . You wanted money and I brought it for
you. For what should I be forgiven? Didn’t you want money?
Mother: not in
this way.
Clare: I did not either in this way! But is there any difference
if it is in this way/ . . . . . Forgive! . . . .I could lead a life with 25
cents per day, but as I did have family I went . . . . . .
Mother: Jo, Jo. .
. . . . Having family does not justify what you have done.
Clare: How is it
not?
Mother: from his point of view it is more important than the family.
Clare: nothing is more important.
Mother: it is, from his point of view.
Clare: There is nothing that he could do and I could not forgive as he is my
son. Because I am his father and he is my son.
Mother: Jo, I say . . . . . .
Clare: nothing is more important than this and I want you to tell this to
him, understand? I am his father and he is my son, if there is anything more
important than this I am ready to shot a bullet into my head.
For Clare,
nothing is more important than only and only his family neither the lives of the
soldiers nor the lives of the other families. As he a few times mentions in the
play that the head of the faulty cylinders have been loaded on the P – 40
airplanes; the airplane whose pilot was not Larry and this points to this
important clue as it always released Clare from self – criticism and the
sufferings of the conscience.
Clare to Anne: Those cylinder heads are used
only for the P – 40 Air planes. What are you saying? You yourself know that
Larry had never flown with a P – 40 airplanes during his life.
Chris: Let me
see. Who were flying with P – 40 Airplanes, The Pigs?
Clare: it is Ok. Do not
make any silly mistakes. But do not turn him to a killer. . . . . . If you knew
what were going on in that factory at the time of the war you would never say
these words; it was exactly like a mad house. Every half hour the general called
and asked about the cylinder heads; the ringing of the phone used to drive us
crazy. The trucks used to load and carry them while they were very hot. I mean
you have to understand the issue from its humanitarian aspects, let’s see its
humanitarian aspects. . . . . .
With these descriptions it is very easy to
understand Clare’s standpoints with regard to the war; a war which had only
economical and monetary aspects for tradesmen as well as a person like him. But
when he was reading Larry’s last letter in the end of act three he understand
this important truth that there are other critical and important things except
for the family that one has to think about them in the critical conditions; when
the country and the lives of the soldiers, each of which have their families and
people who are waiting for their returns, are considered more important; it is
when he understands that all those dead soldiers and pilots can appear in the
form and the role of his son, Larry, it is exactly at this time that he
understands and comes to this sure conclusion that the father is the killer of
his own son, Larry as well as his sons i.e. the pilots and the sons of America;
now he has no endurance to continue to his life. He has now understood that
there is a value greater than that of his small family; he is now thinking of
his bigger and more extensive family, which is his own country; a family who
people like him and Steve were the agents of its destruction.
Clare : (Looks
at the letter that is in his hand) this is not a want? So what is it? It is
clear that he was my son. But I think from his point of view all were his sons.
I think all were. I think they were. I will now return. (He enters the palace .
. . . . A shot of a bullet is heard)
Like the theme of many great plays
such as (Oedipus Rex and . . . . . . ), the truth should not be looked for in
the external world but in that same small house of oneself – in oneself - one
should look for it. This truth is made clear from the very beginning pages of
"All My sons”?. Clare had to look for the results of his deeds and actions as
well as the real cause fro the death of his son in himself but adherence to the
external and materialistic world and being at the center of the attention of the
others has hidden the truth from him and creates an obstacle in the way of
discovering this bitter reality. He evaluates every thing with money. It is a
reality that the other people have forgotten and they are looking for it in
other places.
Frank: yea, I think it was him. He was discovering
something in the basement of his house. What you have to do, if you want to help
humanity, not to . . . . . . . . . .
Jim: If the Warned Company gives me the
same payment, I would be very thankful to God to be able to serve the humanity.
Clare: (While he was smiling he point with his finger) you said it
perfectly.
Clare has been in this doubt for so many years that Larry has
been a very obedient and submissive boy. Clare thinks that Larry would have
taken part with his father during these critical conditions. But finally when he
was reading the letter he would have understood this bitter reality that the boy
would not have gone the same way as the father did. This has been repeated in a
play called 31/6/77:
Ali Reza: This is what parents, those who have
children, say.
Mahmoud: My father used to say this repeatedly.
Jalil:
Noah . . . . . Noah had child of whom he was ashamed.
Mahmoud: Noah? This
man who used to be in opposition and enmity with the Americans has a child who
has gone in to the army and became a wild person, traitor.
There are a lot
of other similarities that one can find in "All My sons”? and 31/6/77. For
example in 31/6/77 it was agreed that the fighters of the war period come
together in the house f the commander who is now disappeared. The commander –
Reza – Who is the absent character of the play – has ordered to kill 25
handicapped soldiers during his period of service in the war and this has caused
a lot of emotional problems for him in his lifetime; the nightmare that has
engulfed all his life. Clare, although had no military position, but he
consciously caused the deaths of twenty one pilots as well as his own son; a
feeling of guilt that that has led to the final death of Clare and the seclusion
and loneliness of Reza.
Fakhri: look at his face, who knows he is a war
criminal?
Ali Reza: He was the eye of an army who decapitated the enemy
army.
Fakhri: it is not an honor to kill 25 captives.
Ali Reza: You and
all those who believed and had hoped in the enemy are hateful of him, it is
quite natural but the nation has respect for all the bullets that he poured on
the enemy.
Fakhri: but the nightmare of killing those captives does not
leave him free.
In both of these plays, the future of the war, is not only
satisfactory and lovely but also it is quite doubtful and unsatisfactory.
Characters, even those who like Clare gained money because of war are still
injured by the war. People as if they are still afflicted with war and will not
leave them until their deaths. Reza, that famous and well – known commander of
the war time, is now leading a banal life in the basement of his house among the
bullets and the gallons.
Ali Reza: No commander is ever ready to see people
under his order, the soldiers that were used to following his decrees after the
war because he had talked about this glamorous future a lot and Reza was the one
who used to believe a lot in the past.
The Voice of Peiman: Now that nothing
happened, which one of you is the one who did not want to be?
Mahmoud, you
have become whatever shit because of war?
Peiman: be Polite.
Some
characters of the plays have achieved a lot of things because of the war but
many of the characters are still living in the war days as well as with its
memories.
Clare, well it is because of war. I had also two children. Now I
have only one. The war has destabilized all my schedules; it was an honor to
have a son at those times. Now if a doctor is found to bring to life the boys of
the other people without a finger to pull the trigger then he would become a
millioner.
In the play called three parts of the pure life of a polite and
beautiful young man this anti – war concept is repeated:
Mohsen: what do you
want it to be? Are you looking for something worse? This story that every thing
will be erased from your mind is not repetitive? But it has become too
repetitive for us to tolerate. Repeating this tale a lot would decrease its
importance; it is a truth that the war came and we wish it did not come; your
forehead has been punctured which I wish it did not. The bullet that went
through your head went with it all what has happened before and we wish it did
not. Now every morning it is heard for again and again with your waking up . . .
. . . . .
In the play "All My Sons”?, twenty fif