The Historical Reasons for the lack of in - coincidence among the Social – Artistic Changes and the Inability of Theater in Getting along with the Revolutionary Changes in the Contemporary Iran:

The Iranian society, from a long time ago, has been involved in a special kind of in - coincidence especially in the interaction between the social changes and the creative artistic creations. In explaining this condition the contemporary historians and sociologists have directly or indirectly stated their ideas and we try to focus on these ideas and accordingly give and intense picture of the up – dated historical and political contexts of this condition and to open and new horizon to discuss the reasons and factors for the inability of he Iranian theater in drawing the realities of the after – revolution period and then on the basis of these findings we will try to discover the reasons of the inability of the Defense War Theater in getting along with the realities of the Iranian society and during the period after the imposed war .

News ID: ۲۸۲۵۴۲

جمعه - ۱۲ اسفند ۲۰۱۰ / 2010 12 December

Of course this research does not claim that they will reach all the truths rather it is merely an attempt to suggest the opening of the door for the further future researches about the pathology of the Iranian theater and especially the pathology of the resistance theater and the movement known as the holy war theater; these are done to prevent the continuation of the prevalent and concordant approaches so that these pave the way for the up – coming of the newer and deeper critical perspectives.
This research has been organized in two parts: in the first part, i. e . “the historical survey of the in - coincidence and lack of in - coincidence in the social – artistic changes of Iran”?, the historical reasons for the advent of the discordance among the social – political changes and the reaction of the creative arts are analyzed in an intense review and in the second part, i . e . “the recognition of the weaknesses and the reasons of the inability of the resistance theater”?, it is tried to discuss the weaknesses and limitations of the theater known as the holy defense theater and its getting along with the social changes of the after war era in Iran.
By pathology here we mean searching for the reasons and factors that have removed the extensive social contexts of the subject in focus i . e . “theater of the holy defense war”? or what I am more inclined to call resistance theater. Of course in my idea this theatrical movement, in spite of its slow movement, has been and is a very important and effective artistic movement in its process of change and alteration. It is also able, despite the bulk of the free movement of the theater of the country – from the point of view of the subject – due to the potential capabilities it has to getting along with the toughest subjects of the country; in the national dimension it has a very strong communicative – oratory potentiality so much as in case of the occurrence of the change and alteration in the aestheticism, cognitive and technical horizon on the part of the producers leading of the inclination it cane provide the basis for the serious and radical changes in structures of the theater of the country and for the better being of the relationship of the theater and the addressees in Iran.
By “Social Changes”? we do not mean focusing merely on the progress and development rather it is meant the happening of every event in the society which affects it in every dimension including the positive and the negative dimensions: such has the revolutions, movements wars as well as the trespassing of the enemies and . . . . . . . . . .
By in -in – coincidence we mean the incongruent development and lack of being either affective or being affected by the changed phenomenon. And finally by covering we mean replying of an event to another event in a way that the growth of one leads to the growth of the other or at least it satisfies the other needs of the other phenomena.
The concept of the “Theater of Resistance”? from the point of view of this research is the same concept that was intended by Jamshid Hanian in his book entitled, “The Theatrical Conditions of the Holy Defense War”? (which is in turn based on the ideas of Nasr Allah Ghaderi in his article that was presented in the First Seminar on the Theater of Resistance held in 2001). It is a theater which is divulging, fighting, critical, enlightening. Its aims are educational, anti – racist, anti – war, non – ideological; it seeks identity. It is enticing, informing, native, national and ideal (not propagandist); it seeks freedom; it is committed definite and critical. It is a theater that makes use of all the findings of the human beings so that it provide the addressee with the understanding of the reality, the reality of the presence and the situation of the addressee in the world in which he lives.

A Survey of the Coincidence or In – Coincidence of the Social – Artistic Events in Iran:
One of the most important in – coincidences in the history of the social – artistic changes of the country was in the years before the domination of the Arabs. The expansion and the various races living in Iran, the continuous occurrence of different wars along with some natural and geographical features were the cause for the government of the country to be political – military governments instead of being cultural governments. They were cruel governments which did not provide the Iranian society with enough time and space for the natural growth of the myths and cults of playing theaters – as it was common in the Greece. Although this characteristic continued to its being after the downfall of the Sasanid Empire to the present time, it changed to a characteristic of the Iranian civilization. But whenever there was a time the settlers of this land tried to remove the obstacles themselves and they have reached some successes in this regard.
Between the 3rd and the 5th C. which is known as the period of Re - awakening and Renaissance of the Islamic Iran, finally after about two centuries of war on the part the Ariaee Clan who were seeking independence and the revitalization of the culture and civilization of the country, with the victory conquer of Baghdad by the Ale - Boieh (of the Deilami clan) and the division of the majority of the country between the two Iranian governments: Samanids and Ale Boieh, it was for the first time that the old historical in – coincidence was put an end to. The customs and the traditions of the ancient times are revitalized. And for the first time one of the most important traditional religious cult (The Mourning of Sivash ) is enacted in to a religious play. It is at that time Daghighi, under the support of the Samanians, changes Shahnameh into verse. Under the enthusiasm of the traditionalism and the political and cultural competitions of the Deilamian and the Samanians step by step it was made possible to structurally and contextually create changes and it led to the changes in the Mourning ceremonies of Martyred Sivash to the Mourning for the death of Imam Hussein ( A . S . ); in other words it changed into a special kind of mourning i . e . a religious – theatrical ceremony of Resistance. It became a religious play that was regarded as the most important cultural means for the Ariaee Iranian resistance against the Arab domination and it has became a symbol for the revitalization of the Iranian Culture. With the combination of the traditional forms of mourning and the new content a new form of play came in to being as a result of which the background for the continuation of the Iranian dynasties on the Iranian country ( even for a short period of time) and returning to the Iranian culture is strengthened and empowered. After 3 centuries have passed from the domination of the Sunni Samanians and the realist Shiites Deilamian (they have chosen Shiism on their own will), found the form and content as well as that unifying element and that revitalizing element in Imam Hussein’s being as well as in the Moharram event of the year 61 Hegira in order to substitute the mourning for the death of mythical Sivash the death and martyrdom of Imam Hussein ( A . S . ). But this situation does not continue for a long time and from the end of the 6th C . and with the domination of the preventive thinking – religious as well as political movements from the inner part of the Turkish government as well as the attack of the moguls from the outside a very long inactivity and stasis dominates Iran which, in the words of Saied Javad Tabatabaei in his introduction on the Theory of Decline in Iran, “was very vital for the future of the country”? because “it laid a period in which the Iranian individuals lack fundamentally his self and understanding; it continues until the beginning of the constitutional movement and even it continued further.”? In his book entitled, the downfall of the political thinking in Iran, Taba Tabaei says: “ With coming to power of the Saljooghi Turks . . . . . . . . . the theoretical contexts of the religious domination was revitalized along with a return to the Iranian thoughts. It was a theory which religiously authorized the long – term domination of the political powers on the thoughts and actions of the Iranians and it led to the empowerment of bias, racism and complete stasis of the reason in Iran”?.
In this period not only the Shiite religion was gone out of fashion rather holding the mourning sessions were become completely obsolete but the Moguls by their becoming a Muslim started a new era in the history of Iran whose main feature was the “decapitation of the Iranian culture and the stasis of the creative lively thought”?. It was a condition which led to the revitalization of the old in – coincidences with in the coming centuries; and it continued to the Safavid era.
With the coming of the Safavid to power and in spite of the combination that they provided of religiosity, shiism and the theory of absolute power the situation once more became prepared for the coming in to the fore of the mourning ceremonies for the martyrs of Karbala. In this era, Mourning, takes one of its most important steps forward to completion and it became a fully fledged theatrical genre. But because the Safavid were following mourning very seriously and in this they aimed at the strengthening of their power against possible threats to the Iranian territories and accordingly mourning is emptied from its nature, i . e . revolutionary, attacking and critical nature, as it used to be at the time of Deilamian from within; from the point of view of the mass of the people it became a means for the evacuation of the pains and acceptance of the determined fate of the Iranians.
With the downfall of the Safavids and the appearance of the new conqueror – Nader Afshar – the change in mourning is once more subjected to stasis until Zandieh dynasty comes to power and it was after this that it followed the process towards dramatization. This painful process says a lot of realities about our topic of discussion. i . e . in – coincidence. It also explains the ways and the possibilities of the turning and replacement of the revolutionary – and non – revolutionary identities, going forward or going backward in the cultural and artistic phenomena at different time epochs. It can be said that a very short span of time can change the value identity of a cultural phenomenon from its base. Of course this reality can provide the researchers with a firm rational and analytical basis for evaluating and criticizing the automatic and contextual approaches to the theater of the holy defense war.

But finally it is in the 19th C. and during the Qajar reign that Mourning finds enough kip for its final completion both in the forms of a religious theatrical form and in the form of a critical and resistance theatrical form (even it gains some forms of comic: for example as evading evil). It was a phenomenon that was left unseen in an age when one of the most important political – social changes i . e . the constitutional revolution from the eyes of all the involved group. One of the most reasons for this can be, in addition to the weak literary features of the mourning texts, its lack of concordance and coordination with the anti – traditionalist thinking which lacks identity that was going to form the bases of the constitutional movement. It was a movement that, due to the fact that its background was not based on a stable rational thinking, was engulfed in a two side imitation; a side of which was the imitation of the west and the other was imitating the past. It was a condition that led to its interior shakings that no power was able to stand its path towards downfall; it was occurred at the late history of Iran and at a time when Iran refrained from taking part in the World War.
In any way so far as it is concerned with the fate of mourning, it is once more subject to oblivion since the end of the 19th C. and during the reign of Reza Khan so much so that in this area as well as the area of thinking, we refrain from becoming aware of the our own tradition; it was a condition in which the continuation of the past tradition and changing it on the basis of the needs was made impossible; in this area we are also drawn to follow the western tradition as we were becoming used to doing so in politics and thinking. In spite of this condition, in the social dimension, the powerful are made limited under the aegis of the constitutional revolution; this inclusive re – awakening whose traces are to be found in different demonstrative and resistant movements of some artistic forms led to the formation of a special kind of coincidence that has no precursor in the past.
The most important achievements of this period (establishment of Reza Khan government and coming to power of the second Pahlavi. . . . . . . .) in the theater were the establishment of the Art School that was going to determine the future of the Iranian theater and the development of the theaters in Laleh Zar between the years 1920 – 1953. It provided the Iranian society with different kinds of Political, intelligent and resistant plays (but at a very limited scale but with the hope of future development).
After the coup of 19 August 1953 and the political and intelligent movements of 1950s and 1960s three theatrical movements tried to find a way in their efforts to get along with the events of the time and to comply with the thinking and aesthetic needs of the Iranian society and in this way they provided a serious coincidence that had never had any precedent before it. These three groups were: theater of the common known as “Inactions”?, the The Criticial explanatory theater which was seeking identity and was critical in its approach; this group includes great features such as Ali Nasirian, Gholam Hussein Saedi, Bahram Beizaei, Akbar Radi, Mohsen Yalefani, Beijan Mofid, Ebrahim Mak. . . . . . . . i; (the works of some these people are also capable of being investigated in the theater of resistance as well for example those of Bahram Beizaei); the third group is the modern and Avant Guard with people such as: BAhman Farsi, Abbas NA’lbandian,Arbi Avanesian, Esmaeil Khalaj. . . . . . . . .
But in the political – social arena from the 1960s the condition was ready for the coming to the fore of a new generation which was seeking identity and in contrast to the other two generations (the modernists who were fighting with tradition and the nationalist modernists) they used to identify the enemy in the forms of imperialism and oppression. This generation had strong religious inclinations and it was to the same extent under the influence of the leftist thinking. This was a characteristic that changed the revolutionary discourse of the third generation in to a social – political movement of masses and decapitated the Shah’s regime in the year 1978. . . . . . . . .
But during the revolutionary movement of the 1978 the existence of these three political discourses (the remnants of the first and second groups along with the third one) with different social – political discourses made the situation a little bit difficult and it draw an ambiguous horizon for the accompaniment of the arts especially the theatrical arts with the revolutionary changes. . . . . . . .
The will to equalize which is the nature of every generation tried to substitute the modern art and culture as well as critical and intelligent art with the art and culture of the masses; it was for this reason that it denigrated the artists of the past or sent the most famous of them in to home exile and in this way it provided the context for the rupture in the continuation of the generations of art on one hand and on the other hand it led to the creation of a new and revolutionary kind of in – coincidence between art and the social changes. It also caused the infertility of arts so as it was not able to express the revolutionary changes and ideals of the people in the appropriate forms and in an acceptable and effective manner.

Recognizing the Weaknesses and the Reasons of the Inability of the Theater of Resistance in Iran:
The imposed war, although brought the weakened corpse of the theater to its end, but at the same time the situation was becoming ready for the growing up of a new generation which was making use of the social life of the war events and found enough opportunity to get experienced and to fill the vacuum that occurred as a result of the former generations’ moving backward from the future development. It was regarded as a generation at whose enthusiastic and eager hands it was expected that the historical in – coincidence among art and social events is put an end to. During the early years of the war the art of photography and cinema took their first steps rather successfully and the n the theater started its starting experiments with an enticing and promoting nature. The early experiences of the theater of resistance, although was not comparable to its experiences of the time prior to the revolution, but due to its close ties with the present and momentary with its addressees, it was an effective and enjoyable. The presence of the theater in the entrenchments and behind the hills of war fronts and among the dusty and enthusiastic environment of the fighters was an unprecedented experience the fulfillment of which was only possible by the revolutionary generation and for this reason it was remained as the sole arena of this generation and the theater of the time before the revolution kept its distance with it. This special kind of revolutionary theater was in the beginning known as the theater of the war and after the end of the war it is known as the theater of the holy defense war; in the world theater it belongs to a special genre of theater which is known as the theater of resistance in the theatrical encyclopedias.
The newness of the experience, lack of the number of the activists and its producers, limitation or in general emptiness of the competition arena, evaluation and criticism as well as the special conditions in which this kind of theater was breathing as well as relying on the emotions and natural instincts and raw and not refined emotions of its young addressees in a dangerous condition were the elements that prepared the factors for the un – scientific and raw views of the theater of the resistance. The above conditions were preparing a special, enthusiastic and enjoyable as well as proud condition for its activists and creators that were unprecedented during the short history of our theater. But with the end of the war and the returning of the forces to their normal conditions as well as the extension of immunity and the increase in the number of those who took interest in this kind of theater, according to their age and origin, literacy and experience as well as its separations from the land from which it was rooted changed the condition for it all at once and it was here that the necessity of making use of the term holy was discussed.
It was a term that was bereaving the enthusiasm, fighting and the humanitarian and natural life of artistic experiment. And in that first step the weak and fragile as well as young body of The Theater of Resistance gleamed so well in the war fronts in its beginning experiences, in spite of all the unending experiences it had to come along with the social events and to give direction to the needs of the developing society of Iran, in the new situation and condition saw itself as subject to the metaphysical domination of a more powerful word from which it was not possible to escape. Therefore it found no solution except for hiding its real, revolutionary, penetrating and critical face behind the raw versification of the hands that was making it incapable of achieving the reality it claimed it is deemed to reach. And it was in this way the most important theatrical movement of the country that was going to be a solution for the historical in – coincidences left barren in its seed in most of its parts. Of course the root of this condition was hidden in a paradox that was left un – noticed from the eyes of all investors and the leaders of this theatrical movement. . . . .The inescapable paradox and exaggeration that the existence of a super – human term was imposing on the human body as well as its sublunary spirit with its secretive metaphysical power was making the environment for the free breathing and playful movements as well as clever and seeking as well as divulging maneuvers. All these were happening far from the eyes of the managers who had chosen the suffix holy which was a difficult term for the experience of youngster who is at the beginning of his way; it never happen to him that the application of such a strange adjective to an artistic phenomenon, which is itself the outcome of the interaction of the creative faculties of the mind with the modern criteria and they did not know, even in countries like Iran with the existence of a logical and lawful experiment, can be to a great extent paradoxical and creating obstacles. In referring to the imposed paradoxes of this term to this theatrical movement, in addition to what has been mentioned afore, was a successful incentive for those romantic approaches that reacted to the creative romantic scenes which are the results of the viewpoints that are aimed at the reality of the theatrical discourse. Under the influence of this approach and in as much as the subject is from the point of view of the directors is itself un – questionably valuable and holy, the creative intervention of the directors in the process of production tends towards the minimum in a way that sees itself even in the practical sense it sees itself needless for following the real dramaturgy criteria and the structural secrets of dram and theater and this is the same cause for the bereavement of the holy defense war theater of the extensive communicative facilities to a great extent (except for a few exceptions). Because in this perspective the audience of the theater will be reduced to a mere passive receiver of an undoubted familiar holy message and the narrators of the stories of these theaters and all of them stand in the stead of the single point of view of the old and traditional narrators who have no duty except for the transference of an absolute and total reality ( and this is while they are making use of a special expressive means whose characteristics are multiplicity, contradiction, multi – layered quality and variety of communicative channels). And it is this to the reality point of view that writers of these works are needless to discuss the most fundamental questions in their professional contexts and they see no more need to seek appropriate answers. Questions such as: how is it possible to make a dramatic story from a mental idea, a thought or even an objective experience? What is the difference between story and drama and what are the independent and different structural characteristics of each of them? What form or structure (meaning the way that the elements are arranged and their relations together and to the whole are kept in away that the main actions are clearly crystal and understandable) are more appropriate for the expression of the contended ideal and to change it to the dramatic phenomenon? What are the elements that are not combined or can not be used together? What are the elements that make a character real and what are their differences with the characters of the other types and kinds? And finally what kind of tone, movement, method of expression and in general mise - en scene a surreal and expressionistic or . . . . . . . mode need? . . . . . . . . .
The issue of defending the home country in any situation is holy – in its limited meaning – and it is reverenced; in this path during all the course of history, ideas, ideology, beliefs and the national and religious beliefs and traditions have been valuable flags and accordingly it united action and goal as an inevitable issue and holy. During the eight years of the holy defense war people have defended their national and religious territories against the transgression of Iraq. During this period the national – historical, religious – Islamic teachings as well as . . . . . . . have been the signs of resistance and it prepared the scene with the issues for defending the country. . . . . But the most important issue is created when we want to transfer the grandeur and the values of defense and all the teachings, beliefs as well as behaviors which have been the sources of honorable epical deeds in the war arenas to the cultural – artistic areas in the years after the war. We want to motivate art to be in the service of beliefs and in this way put an end to the beliefs and ideas where there is no way to get along with them except in the fields of objectivity, aestheticism of the post war era. The production and the continuity of the epical and motivating verses on the defense war have had extended motivational and enticing effects. With out regard to the changes occurred in the mental, cognitive and aesthetic as well as incentive environment our society not only has no use but also it cause the unlikable sensations of stasis as well as backwardness. In the conditions after the war writing, production as well as the creation of any artistic production about war and defense, in case it is meant an interview between the work and the audience, would not be successful unless it considers the aesthetic and the cognitive criteria that have changed in the new age; it has to pay attention to the up – to – date needs and requirements (it has to pay attention to the form and the content of the artistic production). . . . . . .
The result of carelessness to this condition in the long run and in the best case would be making use of the theater as a means for repeating and reproduction of the ideals, beliefs and traditions that were the results of an objective, mental and cognitive environment and like any other environment would be subject to historical stasis by passing of the time and when it is left far from its origins as there is no possibility of returning to the world of the epics in literature based on the cognitive, ontological as well as aesthetics of the past and the age of the creation of epics in literature. Any age needs its own forms and themes as well as the subjects and the language as well as the epical tone by emphasizing its own anxieties, needs and the cognitive paradigms of its own time. The values of the artistic creations are judged neither by the kinds of interests and the prior generation’s tastes or anxieties nor by their pictorial qualities of these creations in retelling realities related to a passed time and era; what is important and on which bases they are judged are their correlation with the needs and mental and aesthetic requirements of the present time. The reason for the success and effectiveness of the this naÃ¯ve theaters in the war frontiers was because of these correlations, coincidence as well as their adaptation of the needs and requirements of the contemporary needs of the Iranian society in one of the most important and the most sensitive era of the country which has kept its closeness to the issues of the time in society and the country and thereby it could be the cause of major services for the country.
In other words, during the first years and during the war period due to the concordance of the theatrical enticing and promotional activities with the cognitive and objective as well as aesthetic requirement and needs of the time of the war and its coincidence and self – enticement of this theatrical movement which was revitalized as a result of a special spiritual – emotional need and artistic realism, we have been witnessing a growing theatrical maneuver in theater which has arisen a lot of hopes for the future of the theatre of our country among the viewers and critics. If this movement, as it was fully covered, was not over whelmed by exaggeration and narcissism and if it was not so much attracted to war in its defining and stating as well as in its situation as well as kind and goals and had kept its relation with the great world movement of the theater of resistance it would have achieved its due its appropriate positions. This means a theater that is sensitive to all the changes of its society and not just to the issues of the war and defense. It is well aware of the values of Isar, fighting, challenge and criticism as well as seeking and research in the oppositions and answering the enlightening needs of the society. It is also aware of its role in the strengthening and empowering the national and identity and its position both as an entertaining art and as a means for imparting knowledge.
But the theater known as the “holy Defense”? Theater, even nowadays after about passing about a decade after the end of the imposed war, against the complexities of the time after the war and due to the romantic writings about the war and the promotional inclinations of the supporting movement (except for some successes) except for having recourse to short poetry and epic as well as mourning and preaching, it does not see any refuge for itself. A special kind of inclination towards slogans, mourning and epical recitations whose functions are not enticement and encouraging the spiritual anxiety of the audience toward resistance as well as not providing the facilities to empathize with the heroes of the war (due to the structural weaknesses and its oblivion of the time and place) has afflicted these plays. They are rather a mono – sided thinking and thought that calls the addressee to inactivity and for this reason it provides a mono – structural environment with mono – tone that descends the multi – layered relation of the addresses and the scenes to a mono – sided and barren relation. In this condition, the process of change in these activities and the reaction of the dram, is not the rational result of the mutual reactions of the opposites and the elements of the drama, scene and narration, rather it is under the authority and control of the narratives that not only impose themselves on all the elements of the scene but also on all the elements of the scene but also on the relations between the scenes and the audience. The authority of the extra – narratives dominant on the theatrical movement imposes itself on the directors as well and since the texts speaks of a real event they will limit the creativity of the director and engulf it in its power.
An finally in a final sum up, if we consider the majority of those who are active in this field to be inexperienced, youthful and not to be professional as one of the fundamental characteristics of this movement; we can specify the damages to this theater to 11 origins and thereby subject them to scrutiny and careful consideration:
1 . Holy Regards 2 . Lack of having critical approach to the subject 3 . having a limited personal point of view 4 . Biased emphasis on the half – realist forms 5 . the continuation of the epical and enticing points of view in periods after the war 6 . lack of knowledge on the part of the activists in this field with the aesthetic principles and the dramatic and theatrical phenomena 7 . paying attention to personal and marginal experiences instead of more general and comprehensive phenomena that were affected by war and defense 8 . imposed and self – enticed limitations in the innovative contexts and experiencing the more up – dated, various as well as new methods and forms. 9 . Objecting the independence and creativity of the directors in narrating the scenes of the context 10 . the authority of the extra – narratives and the imposed limitations on their parts on the creative and thoughtful processes 11 . lack of attention to the in – between quality of this genre or a special kind of this theatrical resistance movement and its engulfment in the war subjects and the holiness with which it is afflicted limits its point of view and well as its effectiveness.
Sources:
1. Enlightenment Century – Mohammad Taghi Gezek Sofla – The Center for the interview of the cultures – 1380
2. The Decline of the Political Thinking in Iran – Saied Javad Taba Tabaei – Kavir . Pub . Co . 1373 .
3. The Political Culture of Iran . Dr . Mahmoud Abu Alghasem Sari Al – Galam . The Research Center for Cultural and Social researches . 1386 .
4. The Secrets and the codes of the religious art – Edited and organized by Mehdi Firoozan . Soroush. Pub . Co . 1380 .
5. The Dramatic Situations of the Holy Defense War – Jamshid Khanian – Abed . Pub . Co . 1383 .
6. How we become us? – Dr. Sadiq Ziba Kalam . Roozbeh . Pub . Co . 1387 .
7. An introduction to the theory of decline in Iran – Saied Javad Taba Tabaei . Nega Moaser . Pub . Co . 1380 .
8. The Challenge of Tradition and Modernity in Iran . Mohammad Salar Kasraei . Markaz . Pub . Co . 1379 .
9. A Philosophical Introduction to the Histroy of the Political Thinling – Saied Javad Taba Tabaei . Kavir . Pub . Co . 1372 .
10. Social – Political History of Theater in Iran – Majid Fallah Zade – Pejvak Keivan . Pub . Co . 1384 .