The History of the formation of Iranian poetic avant-garde in the 20th century

Radandish Parvane ORCID: 0000-0002-8152-2059 PhD in Philology Senior Lecturer; Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature; University of Tehran Kargar Shomali str., Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature of the University of Tehran, room 229, Tehran, Iran radandish33@gmail.com

While studying Persian poetry, researchers pay attention to medieval and classical literature, and the modern period of Iranian poetry and the modern history of Persian poetry are still little known. The study analyzes the common features and origins of the avant-gardism of modern Persian poetry, the leading avant-garde trends of Iranian poetry in order to create a holistic picture of the ideological and aesthetic range of new Persian poetry and the changes taking place in it, as well as the fate of various artistic phenomena of the last century before the Islamic Revolution of 1978. The article can serve as a theoretical basis for specialists in the field of Persian poetry and Iranian studies in general.

The last years of the XIII century according to the Solar Hijra (1921) are considered to be the time of the birth of a new poetic movement in modern Iranian literature. Transformations in Iranian poetry have contributed to radical changes in the socio-cultural life of Iran. The modern poetry of the 20th century in Iran was significantly influenced by such socio-political events as the Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911 and the Islamic Revolution of 1978-1979.

Preserving the classic signs of formalism, in the first decades of the twentieth century poetry and prose were transformed by filling with new content in accordance with historical realities. Further, in the 1960s, with the emergence of "new poetry", there was a rethinking of the artistic principles of poetic art together, the poetic ideal changed. After that, Persian poetry got rid of outdated canons, starting to actively reflect the real reality.

The Islamic Revolution of 1978 left an ideological imprint on the ideological content of literature, and not on the formal level of literary creativity. During these years, religious motifs and images have intensified in Iranian poetry. The poets drew attention to the world around them and introduced into poetry natural features associated with social relationships. Thus, V.B. Klyashtorina notes that "in the literature of the 1970s, the influence of the ideas of national identity increased noticeably, the idea of the contradictions of the real world became more widespread and in-depth" [Klyashtorina, 1990, p. 114].

Analyzing the poetry of 1970-1990 Iran, M.D. Kazimov argues that "the Islamic revolution and the Islamization of cultural and spiritual values in post-revolutionary Iran were not so total, comprehensive, that literature, being strongly influenced by the prevailing ideology, nevertheless continued to develop according to its immanent laws, that the artistic search for outstanding poetic personalities went on at the intersection of traditionalist and modernist aspirations" [Kazimov, 2005, p. 5].

In Iranian literature, the avant-garde emerged as a vibrant poetic movement that loudly declared itself, caused a lot of harsh criticism, provoked a scandal in the literary community and at the same time contributed to the emergence of new literary theories. The avant-garde movements, accompanied by numerous social unrest, did not have the success in the history of modern Iranian literature that accompanied them in Western, European countries. Gradually, they were displaced from their avant-garde positions and took their place among the unofficial Persian poetry.

The main reason for this fate of the avant-garde movements in Persian poetry can be considered a revolutionary orientation common to them all, namely, a rebellion against the principles and criteria of old literature, which was visible in the minds of representatives of avant-gardism. Strictly formalized classical Persian poetry, which prevailed for many years in Iran, met the requirements and foundations of traditional Iranian society, which were very difficult for avant-gardists to break. Its strong positions were won back with great difficulty and under very specific circumstances by innovative movements, and despite all the attempts of experimenters of the 20th century to introduce their innovations and destroy accepted poetic standards, Iranian poetry as a whole retained its traditional way of life, suppressing the protests of innovative movements of modernism and the avant-garde.

After decades of careful attempts, only that group of innovative poets who were associated with the school of "new poetry" finally succeeded in modernizing verse and moved away from the immutable rules and formulas of classical poetry^[1], which acted with precise calculation and took into account the socio-cultural conditions of its era, it was the period of modernization of the second half of the 20th century, which was conducted by Shah Reza Pahlavi in the 1960s and 1970s under the name "white revolution". During these years, poetry was the main field for finding the newest relationship between tradition and innovation and underwent global changes and an extraordinary rise in the reformed country. The poems of the innovative poets were correlated with the challenge of modernization and

Other avant-garde rebels who appeared untimely in Iranian literature did not come to anything and were "excommunicated" from poetry. They were called the "wave of the exiled", "side poetry", "radicalists", "a group of one-maners", etc. To this day, there are those in the Iranian literary environment who categorically disagree with the very idea of avant-gardism and do not consider it worthy of the attention of writers. Some critics even consider it useless to consider such trends that have had no effect on the creative process of versification: "Discussions about these trends not only do not help the knowledge of modern Iranian poetry, but also confirm their rebelliousness and the destruction of traditions" [Tavusi-Arani, 2005, p. 10].

The poetry of avant-gardism in Iran is presented sporadically. And this intermittent process is certainly a reflection of the fate of the Iranian intelligentsia, which was unable to maintain its position in society and acquire a reliable apparatus to ensure stability and spread its power. This poetry, like other innovative poetic movements of Iranian literature (romanticism, socio-political poetry, poetry of mysticism, etc.), was not successful. In other words, the place of avant—gardism in modern Iranian poetry resembles the image of the intelligentsia - mechanistic, but necessary, one-man, often gloomy and not in need of an answer because of its natural snobbery.

Understanding the avant-garde trends of Iranian poetry is impossible without taking into account the era of Iranian modernism, modernism and modernization. To consider this topic, it is necessary first to trace the historical outline of modernism and intellectualism in modern Iranian poetry (1921-2019) in order to clarify under what conditions the Iranian avant-gardists received their literary upbringing and what their fate is.

First, we should mention the prerequisites for the emergence of avant-garde poetry in Iran of the 20th century and its literary predecessors. In the course of reviewing the history of the emergence of avant-gardism in Persian poetry, data were obtained that connect many samples of old Persian poetry with this seemingly completely alien and externally introduced literary phenomenon. This was found many points of contact of the avant-garde with samples of old Persian poetry, including such schools as the school وقوع [voghu] (voga), styles هندی [hendi] (Indian) and اصفهانی [eshafani] (Isfahan)^[2], as well as with the European avant-garde of the last century.

The avant-garde movements of Persian poetry arose under the influence of European poetry and are historically associated with it. V.B. Klyashtorina writes about this: "The attempt to free oneself from the yoke of the classics was as much a natural search for a more flexible form of expression as a protest against the established system, because there is nothing more strictly legalized in Iran, than the system of classical poetic writing. Sometimes this protest is expressed in the most extreme forms and then comes to eccentricity. Now it has led to futurism, Dadaism, etc. "Down with the classics!" — was the war cry of the most extreme modernists, whereas the semi-religious "enlightenment" so far away that it marked its activity by "burning classics". All this was done not so much because of the literary merits of the works, but because of their mystical content. But such actions of the "innovators" led only to strengthening the foundations of the traditionalists and intensified sharp counterattacks from conservative poets towards the "modernists" [Klyashtorina, 2003, p. 375].

As for the connection of Iranian avant—gardism with the literature of the past, a study by Iranian literary scholars on the emergence of an avant-garde principle in old Persian poetry concludes: "The "Indian" style and the Vogu school are the language of a leading, innovative initiative group within the framework of old Persian poetry, which reminds us of such modern literary schools in Europe as surrealism… All the metaphors, hints, fantasies and semantic shades in their works really represent innovations and are ahead of their time. These were the innovative poets, experimenters and avant-gardists of their time. These pretentious attempts, which several centuries later were repeated and advertised in modern Iranian verse by those who are called modernists, surrealists, imagists, avant-gardists, formalists, etc., have already been made in the past centuries by several modest, educated, poetic-flavored poets either in foreign lands or in quiet corners of cities and settlements throughout the country. the country.

As a vivid example of the poetic currents of old Persian literature, which have much in common with Dadaism, one can point to the poetic and prose current of the "Indian style" (tazrigh), widespread during the Safavid era, which came to power in 1501. This trend, which encouraged the creation of nonsense, denied traditions and norms, rebelled against the poetry widespread at that time, ridiculed the fantasies and vagueness of Indian-style poetry and tried to find its own new style, was unsuccessful in Iran, as was the avant-garde of the twentieth century, to a more specific analysis of which we proceed.

With the beginning of the liberal and constitutional movements in Iran, a new vision emerged, according to which a new era has arrived, different from all others. The intelligentsia of this period believed that the political dictatorship had come to an end and cultural changes were needed. Poets and writers of this time promoted a new aesthetic and sought to "write new poems that would differ from the previous Persian poetry [Karimi-Hakkak, 2012, p. 193].

One of the important questions that occupied the minds of constitutional theorists was the description of the significance, benefits and goals of literature. The supporters of the constitution needed such writers who would pay attention to public life and humanitarian issues and, therefore, could be useful to society. The literature of the past did not suit them precisely because of its inattention to reality. R. Moshtag-Mehr describes the content and main focus of literary theories of the constitution period in this way: "In language, the criteria were parameters such as simplicity of writing, directness of the word and avoidance of complexity and confusion, with regard to issues of content and form, the use of traditional themes was considered mandatory and techniques, in particular entertainment techniques, writing eulogies, mystical and love poems, and vice versa, such realistic themes as liberalism, patriotism, a plausible description of a person and society, etc. were welcomed" [Moshtag-Mehr, 2012, p. 50].

The new ideas that emerged after the Constitutional Revolution and the new socio-political atmosphere required their own special forms of expression. Of course, it must be admitted that the innovators in the field of literature had a difficult job ahead, given the pressure from the traditionalists, who fiercely defended the burdensome, according to their opponents, rules of classical poetry, which remained unchanged for centuries, and resisted any transformations. Under the influence of transformations in the life of the intelligentsia, the perception of aesthetic categories changed, but this was not enough to completely abandon the millennial aesthetics of Persian poetry and create something new in its place.

During the constitutional revolution, changes covered all spheres of life and public consciousness, including literature. As a result, Persian literature was freed from outdated canons and barriers, there was a process of formation of the genres of the novel, a new type of story and a rethinking of the artistic principles of poetic art, its aesthetic ideal. It should be noted that before the transformations in poetry, changes occurred in Persian prose, which is due to the efforts of such figures of culture, literature and science, the largest critics and prose writers N. Talebov, Z. Maragei, the author of the largest dictionary of the Persian language A. Dekhkhoda, M. Jamal-zadeh, S. Hedayat, etc. In accordance with the needs of the time, writers showed a special interest in social issues, which was new for Persian literature [Servat, 2016, p. 11].

After the period of the constitution, the poets were divided into three groups. Sh. Khosravi, in accordance with this, identifies three main trends in the new Persian poetry: conservative poetry, Nimaist poetry and radical poetry [Khosravi, 2016, pp. 42-43]. By his definition, a conservative trend is a trend completely alien to any serious innovation in literature, especially if the latter affects the core of classical Persian verse, namely the quantitative system of versification called the [aruz] (quantitative system of versification), as well as literary forms traditional for Persian poetry. Conservatives still adhered to the metric system inherent in classical poetry, and continued to follow the poetic tradition, they demand a halt to Neem's innovations, a return to the past, or at least the preservation of the present situation. This group of traditionalists includes Pishavari, Neyshaburi, Bahara, Shahriyar, Tavallodi, etc. The Nimaist movement was engaged in the search for free poetic forms and was influenced by European works. Among the authors of this group, we note Lahuti, Eshgi, Khamenei, Sheibani, etc. these are currents occupying an intermediate position, which, in relation to the literary tradition, adopt a strategy partially outlined in the works of Nim. The work of Nim Yushidj became the culmination of their creative search, as a result of which a new school of poetry arose under the name of the new poetry [sher-e no].

It should be noted that R. Esmaili in his article "Nima surrounded by opponents" states that the opponents of Nima represented several different groups, whose intentions and motivation in opposing Nima and his works were different. The researcher divides them into four groups: 1) those who claim to be avant-garde in new poetry (radical innovators); 2) fanatical traditionalists; 3) moderate traditionalists; 4) opportunist rhymers [Esmaili, 2019]. Among the literary critics of such views, one can name the contemporaries of Nim, or "other fathers of new poetry", such as M. Moghaddam, Sh. Partu (A. Shirazi-pur), Tondar-Kiya and H. Irani, as poets who, in addition to representatives of the Nimaist verse, influenced Persian literature. Radicals are those who consider Neem's innovations insufficient and claim deeper transformations. It was this group that most embraced the poetic currents of the European avant-garde. They are led by Sh. Tondar-Kiya and H. Irani considered Nim's new poetry to be "one-sided" and "political" and stated that "his poetry has come to terms with stagnation and old age and has fallen behind its time." On this Nima replied as follows: "Literature unrelated to politics has never existed and is a lie" [Tahbaz, 2016, p. 190].

In other words, for these poets, Neem's verse was ideologically and ideologically oversaturated, they were convinced that Neem considered meaning to be one of the pillars of poetry and forced verse to convey a message. Of course, Nima himself did not deny this and always emphasized that the meaning and content of the poem is most important. He said: "The main thing is the meaning, no matter what clothes it is in"; "The order of words is just a shell. The main thing is to portray it correctly and harmoniously. That is, it is a soul that needs a body" [Ushij, 1985, p. 91].

Fundamental transformations in Persian poetry began in 1915, when M. Bahar, together with a group of scientists and writers such as E. Ashtiani, R. Yasami, S. Nafisi and Ya. Reyhan founded a literary organization, the Daneshkadeh (faculty), whose goal was to update classical Persian poetry and, while maintaining connection with tradition, create a new poetic form. In the following decades, many Iranian poets joined this group, as a result of which it has changed a lot compared to the first years of its existence. Especially when a new wave swept through Sterna under the name of a new wave called the "enghekabe adabi" (literary revolution) or the "tajadode adabi" (literary reform), under the efforts of a group of young literary critics who were mainly educated abroad and were inspired by Western poetry. They published poems in a new form on the pages of the press and published poems in the style of European poetry in newspapers. One can point to a poem by A. Dekhkhod called "Remember!". K. Chaikin holds the opinion that this is undoubtedly regarded as the first step towards the application of forms of Western verse in Iranian poetry [Chaikin, 1928, p. 54].

The first theorist of this transformation was T. Rafat. He wrote in his articles: "Hey, young people, go and overthrow the palace of the Saadi dictatorship!", "Write for the future!" etc. In response to such actions by T. Rafat, a wave of ridicule and criticism arose: Rafat was asked to show exactly how to go and overthrow the palace of the Saadi dictatorship, and they also demanded from him and his associates a specific sample of a new verse instead of theoretical calculations. Unfortunately, the efforts of the innovators were not crowned with success, since from the very first days of publishing their poems in a new form, they came under the strongest criticism of conservatives, who were convinced that the peculiarity of the language, images and forms of classical verse are inviolable and unchangeable.

Rafat, a supporter of radical views, in his articles published in periodicals, addressed readers with a new literary manifesto. He defined modernism in literature not from the point of view of the poetic form and transformations in the structure of the [aruz] (quantitative system of versification), but based on his own idea of overthrowing the old order of learning. However, the problem with his approach was that he did not have a clear positive program – perhaps he simply did not have time to develop it because of his early death.

Despite this, a significant achievement of this rebel and radicalist can be considered his work on the theoretical understanding of the revolution. J. N. Mamadzade retells an interesting note from one of Rafat's articles entitled "Literary Rebellion", where the following is written: "... we must follow the trends of our time. The roar of cannons, guns and world wars causes such alarm in our hearts that neither Saadi nor his contemporaries, with their ancient and petrified language, as well as songs and prayers, are able to pacify or convey its essence" [Mammadzade, 2016, p. 47].

Meanwhile, Eshgi and A. Lahuti began to advocate simplicity in expressing thoughts in writing, and Iraj Mirza introduced spoken language into poetry. These initial movements took place within the framework of the metric system of the [aruz] (quantitative system of versification) and were limited to permutations of rhyme. But then A. Lahuti, who, in addition to poetry, was also engaged in journalism and politics, decided on more serious innovations, including the expansion of the poet's vocabulary through the use of modern words and expressions such as "socialism", "fascism", reflecting the socio-political realities of the time, as well as previously unused in Persian poetry of metaphors and comparisons; in addition, the poetic line was shortened and floating rhyme was introduced. Sh. Langarudi confirms that "indeed, the first samples of poetry in a new style were presented in Iran by the poet Lahuti in 1909, placed by him in the form of white verse" [Langrudi, 1991, p. 65].

Poets such as A. Lahuti, Sh. Kasmai, J. Khamenei, A. A. Taleganov, T. Rafat and others have made changes to Persian poetry, and also wrote articles on the modernization of literature. But, according to H. Zarrin-Kuba, author of the book "Perspectives of New Persian Poetry", "this modernization and new ideas primarily have not artistic, but social and political roots and background, and often those who claim to modernize Persian poetry are themselves either influenced by politics or mix journalism with poetry" [Zarrin-Cube, 1980, p. 47].

Perhaps it is for this reason that these attempts to update Persian poetry were unsuccessful and led to suicide, emigration or seclusion of the initiators of this idea. Despite the fact that their poetry was considered innovative at the time, and from a historical and literary point of view has its own special value, none of the above-mentioned authors managed to found a new direction. In this regard, J. N. Mammadzade argues that: "Until the 20s of the XX century, the innovation of poets in the field of versification manifested itself in the construction of new ways of rhyming and continents, the use of new artistic and visual means, expressions and phrases. However, these phenomena, which are haphazard and private in nature, have not taken on the scale of a broad trend in the work of individual poets. The laws of classical poetry still dominated them[Mammadzade, 2016, p. 48].

As a result, only A. Esfandiyari, known under the pseudonym Nima Yushidj, became the true founder of the new poetry: "Nima understood the truth that in one day it is impossible to free poetry from the strong thousand-year shackles of the [aruz] (quantitative system of versification), so he did not completely depart from it. He retained meter and rhyme, but gave the poet freedom in their application and, after numerous attempts and poetic experiments, created such works as the poems of the following: The Legend (afsaneh) and the ghoghnys(Phoenix), which were not found in Persian poetry, where the lines are not equal to each other and do not follow the traditional rhyme order" [Aflaki, 2016, pp.70-71].

Nima, under the influence of European, and especially French, poetry, carefully changed the structure, form and even the content of classical verse. In the "Legend" (1922) of Nim, one can notice the first fundamental changes in Persian poetry. According to Aryan-Poor, "traces of French poets are noticeable in this work, especially Lamartine and Alfred de Musset, it is believed that it reflects a new way of expressing artistic ideas and thoughts" [Aryan-Poor, 1990, p. 471].

To describe Nim's achievements and the changes he gradually made to Persian poetry, two quotes by V. B. Klyashtorina can be cited, demonstrating the effective work of Nim: "In Nim, the form of classical verse was violated by a deviation from the basic principle of line equality (misra), but in general the rhythmic pattern inherent in Persian poetic speech was preserved"; "Nima retained the principle of internal sound symmetry and rhythm arising from the sequential alternation of long and short vowels, but violated the mandatory for the [aruz] (quantitative system of versification) - the principle of repetition of a certain rhythmic wave within the stanza" [Klyashtorina, 2003, p. 375].

Analyzing Neem's style from an avant-garde point of view, E.E. Guardia argues that Neem's main ideas are aimed at society and the problems of humanity, and he actively used symbolism to depict social problems. The Guard, referring to the words of M. Hogugi, notes that in the works of Nim one can see features characteristic of romanticism, realism, symbolism, imagism and surrealism, however, he prefers to devote himself to symbolism, which became the leading school for him after 1938 [Guardia, 2013, p. 483]. For example, Neem's "Phoenix" is a symbol of responsibility and a symbol of awakening people to comprehend existence.

After Nim Yushidj entered the literary scene and opened a new path for him, Persian poetry, especially in 1941-1961, underwent tremendous transformations. Among the poets — followers of Nim — there were those who continued his work on the transformation of lyrics and the creation of new imagery, and those who also followed him in the social sphere. They were all united by the lack of radical sentiments: they created new poetry based on linguistic and cultural heritage. The innovations they introduced had their own laws and rules and were not the result of a desire for fame or inattention to culture and tradition. They formed the stylistic, ideological and rhythmic originality of Nima's new poetry and created the "Free Verse" [sher-e azad], which has a rhyme, the "White Verse" [sher-e sefid], which was a rhymeless verse, and the "Syllabic Verse" [sher-e hejaee]. Ahmed Shamlu, as a devoted student of Nim, used rhymed prose and syllabic verse and, based on European poetry, introduced into verse, street language, prose vocabulary, urban theme, contrasting images, counter-forming feelings and intonation dialogues. The rest of Nim's followers, including N. Naderpour, H. Ebtehaj, S. Kesraii, F. Farrokhzad, B. Jalali, M. Atashi and many others introduced into Nim's poetry, the picturesque embodiment of thought, melodic sound and appeal to the legendary heroes of the classics.

In the 1940s and 1950s, creating a new type of thinking, Nima went a long way before reaching the pinnacle of fame in the 1960s, when his poetry finally took its rightful place in modern Iranian literature and found its followers. In 1962, that is, exactly when Neem's innovative poetry reached its perfection in the works of his followers F. Farrokhzad and Sepanlu, passing through A. Shamla and M. Akhavan.

After 1965, Neem's poetry ceased its ascent, and a stage of stagnation or even decline began. In the same years, a feeling of satiety with Nimaist verses appeared in the intellectual community, it was clear that a new verse was needed. In the late 1960s, a large-scale discussion of traditionalists like Tavalloli and innovators like Nima unfolded in Persian poetry, and reached an extreme heat, as a result of which Nim Yushidj was discredited at the 1968 State Poetry Congress.

However, along with Nima and his followers, there were supporters of more radical changes among Iranian poets, among whom are primarily the avant-gardists Shamsoddin Tondarkiya (1910-1988) and Khushang Irani (1925-1974), who aimed to transform Persian poetry according to the European model, during the lifetime of these poets were not taken seriously in the Iranian literary world. the community was influenced by numerous factors and became the object of ridicule. It was only after a while that they were appreciated. Such people could not really find their place in the official history of new poetry, since their poems did not fit into the natural natural movement of Persian literature And only a few years later they were returned to, recognizing their followers, the avant-garde poets of recent years.

In recent years, when new poetic trends arise in Persian literature under the influence of the poetry of the avant-garde of the previous generation, that is, the same Tondar-Ki and Irani, the literary environment finally thinks about reviewing their creative activities and gradually begins to analyze their work, moreover, some researchers even call them "other fathers of new poetry" [Khosravi, 2016, p. 267].

Each of the innovative poets, such as Tondar-Kiya, Irani, and also M. Moghaddam and Sh. Partu played a role in the formation of the new Persian poetry. However, these authors, unlike Neem, did not leave behind a single theoretical work on new poetics, where an exhaustive description and justification of the need for new literary forms would be given. Ya. Ruyai writes about this: in their poems there are broken meters and unequal stanzas, but individual efforts of each of them could not rise to Therefore, today the corresponding poetry, inheriting the experience of the avant-gardists of the past, is called "Nimaist aruz", in honor of Nim Yushidzh, who "gives the lines of a new verse a norm and a rule" [Ruyai, 2007, p. 38]. Perhaps if the poets of this trend had seriously thought about the question of form in poetry, modern Persian poetry would have had another "father" instead of Nimes.

As for M. Moghaddam, his figure stands apart in Persian literature: he worked independently of his colleagues in the workshop and in isolation from the general mainstream of Persian poetry, not being a professional poet. In general, it can be said that he did not have such a profound influence on Persian poetry as Irani, although it was he who founded a new metrical form of verse called "non-Arabic verse", which then gained some popularity in Persian literature. Sh. Partu also did not have a significant influence on Persian poetry in subsequent years.

Tondarkia and Irani were among those who, unlike other avant-garde radicals, explained in detail in their articles to the reader what the potential of their poems was, independent of the new poetry of Nim. Each of them had their own literary manifesto, this is the declaration of the "Literary Movement"Hawk"" Tondarkia 1939, declaration entitled "Fighting cock" by H. Irani 1951

Tondar-Kiya, an avant-garde poet who founded a radical movement that became the object of hatred of various groups, from traditionalists to Nimaists. It got to the point that bookstores refused to accept his works, and one day his opponents beat him thoroughly, after which Tondarky's name was no longer heard, and he went into seclusion.

Of the main features of Tondarky's poetry, following the vector of European modernism, one can note the incredible musicality of his verse, in the creation of which he was ahead of other innovators of this period. The concept of music of speech as something that unites poetry with other arts prompted him to unite genres and erase the boundaries between them under the influence of the idea of the synthesis of arts. Tondarkia has always been convinced that his works do not follow European literature directly, but, on the other hand, what he calls "music and dance" in poetry, he himself considers the result of the influence of the European way of life, and not the study of the works of European authors. During the publication of written texts of poems that could and even should have been recited, Tondarky also had the idea to present his "hawks" accompanied by recorded music. However, this idea did not materialize due to lack of opportunities, so today we cannot fully understand and evaluate the author's idea. Perhaps if these poems had been heard, they would have occupied a special place in history as a source of important experience for modern Iranian poetry.

Unlike the Dadaists, Tondarkia defended old values, considered history a logical and consistent sequence of events and did not possess self-irony, the main feature of the Dadaists, did not accept the idea of automatic writing inherent in surrealism, which he considered motive and desire to be the main condition of a work of art. He also paid less attention to fantasies and daydreams in his poems than the Surrealists. The significance of his works is primarily due not to their literary value, but to the shocking effect they produce on the reader. Another feature of Tondar's avant-gardism is the use of experimental language techniques, with the help of which he not only tests the strength of the language of the intelligentsia and the official literary language of his time, which was considered as a set of unquestionable rules and indestructible forms, but also ridicules it.

His spoken language is a weapon of struggle against literati and intellectuals of official circles, as well as raw materials for creating a work that, in his opinion, will be able to open the way to the future and free himself from the shackles of the past. Therefore, interference in morphology and syntax, the use of non-literary forms of words and sounds familiar to the conversational atmosphere, is among the most outstanding innovations of Tondar-Kiya. In his poetry, sound acquires the importance inherent in the Dadaist declamatory verse, with its emphasis on sound. Y. Ruyayi points to the value of Tondarkiy's works in terms of preserving linguistic authenticity and using the "music" of the spoken language to create new poetry. In his poems, instead of following the meter of classical aruz, free, syllabic, Avestan and colloquial "dimensions" are used for the most part, which themselves determine the distance between the lines.

A sample of Tondar-Kiya's poetry:

ای خود ستا خواهی که من خواری کنم؟! هی هی !!

بر پای تو زاری کنم؟! هی هی!!

آیا پسندی من چنین کاری کنم؟! وای وای!!

از دیدنت بهتر که خودداری کنم؟! وای وای!!

من بنده شوم؟!

نی نی!!

بیش تر سرافکنده شوم؟!

نی نی !!

زیر لگدهایت کشانم آبرو، پاس خودم؟! قاه قاه!!

بهر چه، بهر قلب حساس خودم؟! قاه قاه قاه!!!

هیچگاهی هیچگاه

Hey, self-praising, do you want me to belittle myself?! Hey, hey!!

To make me cry at your feet?! Hey, hey!!

Do you really want this from me?! Oh, oh!!

Is it better for me not to see you?! Oh, oh!!

To make me a slave?! No, no!!

For me to bow my head?! No, no!!

So that I can throw my honor at your feet, under kicks?! Ha, ha!!

For what, for the sake of your sensitive heart?! Ha, ha, ha!!

Never and never.

Tondar-Kiya not only did not believe in the authority of tradition and was at odds with it, but also clashed with Nima, which is why for many years he was persona non grata in the literary community of Iran, despite the fact that he attracted the attention of supporters of the "new wave" and "executive poetry".

Irani was at war with tradition, but he was in a critical relationship with Nima. Irani describes his view on the nature of form in art in his works, where he returns many times to a new definition of formalistic art. In particular, he writes: "When an artist can understand a living creative form and, by breaking its transparent chains, infuse a soul into it and express it, he will receive a purer beauty..." [Irani, 1950, p. 46]. Irani's familiarity with the radical movements of Dadaism and surrealism and attention to the concept of innovation truly make him an avant-garde artist.

Irani strives at all costs for modernism and the separation of the literature he believes in from the old literature. He is doing his best to achieve this goal. His first poetry collection entitled "Bright Purple on Gray", including 12 poems and a conclusion, was published in 1951 in 200 copies. It was a collection of a new format that called on the literary community to discuss and caused a strong reaction after publication, which corresponded to the original intention of the author. T. Tavusi-Arani describes the features of Irani's poetry in this collection: the lack of traditional metrical organization of poems, a combination of several types of poetic size; , radical syntactic, lexical and semantic distortions; , lack of meaning, as well as strengthening the role of the reader as an interpreter of the work and the creator of new meanings; ; the lack of a clear structure, which makes the verse become completely formless and structureless. P. Pulaki Analyzing the poem, the first published work of Irani, argues that from the very first lines there is a noticeable departure from reality and the absence of the usual word order. Such a violation of linguistic norms is the result of the chaotic movement of the poet's feelings and thoughts, which at the end of the poem take the form of "meaningless", inarticulate sounds:

هائی یی یا یا

هائی ی یا یا

نی دا دا دا ااااا

Hayi yi ya ya

Hayi ye ya ya

Ney yes yes yes aaaaa [Translated by P.P.]

As we can see, the verbal form is("yes yes") at the end of the poem may indicate the connection of this work with the Dadaism movement. Irani introduces innovations that, in their radicality, can be compared with the experiments of a few Iranian innovators, continuing the line of Tondarky. Irani went further than some avant-gardists, rejecting existing poetic systems, including the principles of Nimaist poetry. This allowed him to create poems in which one poetic line may not be connected with another, write texts that are "meaningless" from the point of view of the normative Persian language, introduce sounds from the environment into the poem, experiment with the meter and rhythm of the verse, perform poems with musical accompaniment. Thus, M. Neyestani writes: "Perhaps Irani is the only poet who changes every moment and is unlike his former self, his two works are just as unlike each other, and this is a feature of avant–garde art that awaits us" [Neyestani, 2005, pp. 121-125].

H. Irani had a poetic philosophy independent of Neem, since he introduced a kind of oriental mysticism into Persian poetry, which influenced Sohrab Sepehri and representatives of "other poetry". His avant-garde poetry influenced the work of A. R. Ahmadiyya, and also became an object of imitation for poets of "Postnimaism" in the 1970s [Khosravi, 2016, p. 268].

Unfortunately, their contribution to Persian poetry was not immediately recognized in the literary community of Iran. It can be said that the experiments of these poets turned out to be premature for Persian literature and Persian society, which is why their poetry faced the strongest protest, ridicule and insults from both traditionalists and more moderate innovators, as a result of which the avant-garde movement weakened and its representatives were forced to admit defeat and go into seclusion. Nevertheless, the avant-garde movement was not completely stopped and, over the years, triumphantly revived in the face of the poetry of the "new wave" [moje no], which owes its appearance to the efforts of Tondarkiya and Irani. This trend, unlike Neem and his followers, was not tied to any significant poetic criteria, including meter and rhyme, fantasy and feelings, conciseness, etc. The struggle of this poetic trend with traditional old principles was more successful than the protests of the previous generation, i.e. Tondarkiya and Irani. Their aesthetic tastes and the beginning of poetic creativity coincided with the tastes and general needs of the young strata of society, who were waiting for very modern poetry.

The political atmosphere in society in the year of the emergence of the "new wave" coincided with the ideological attitudes of this trend. It arose in 1962, simultaneously with the attempts of the government of Shah Reza Pahlavi during the "white revolution" to modernize society in the Western manner, to create a European society, as well as an attempt to achieve these goals and create modernist poetry. The struggle against tradition is found both in culture and literature. As a result of these transformations, traditional poetry and even the poetry of Nim and white verse are slowly giving way: "Gazelle, kasida, rubai, verse of Nim and white verse, pretending to say serious things and talk about love, failures and death, were ridiculed" [Langrudi, 1991, p. 17].

The intelligentsia, eager for transformation, encountered free and unrestricted poetry, which was completely new to Persian literature. Thus, the aspirations of the poets coincided with the sentiments of the progressive part of society, as a result of which the "new wave" was accepted by society. Sh. Langarudi lists the following political and social factors of the Pahlavi period that led to the creation of a new Persian poetry in the second half of the 20th century: the expansion of urbanization in the 1950s; socio-economic reforms, aimed at modernization; increased social unrest; a more obvious movement towards the West; fatigue from painful political poetry; familiarity with the philosophy of existentialism (which opposes tradition and limitations) — all this raises a wave of new Persian poetry, which was later called the "new wave" thanks to F. Rahnama [Langrudi, 1991, p. 22].

The first collection of poems of the "new wave" was in 1962. The book طرح [tarh] (project) Ahmad Reza Ahmadi. The publication of this book provoked two opposite reactions: on the one hand, it was widely accepted by young people opposed to traditionalism, who supported modernism and freedom in all spheres of society, culture, art, etc. and believed that there were no boundaries for art except art itself. On the other hand, this collection, like previous collections of avant-gardists, became the object of ridicule, hatred and protest by traditionalists and supporters of "responsible political poetry", "who considered the process and revolution of modernization of the Shah and the people an anti-people movement. After the publication of Ahmadi's "Project" and the presentation of a new trend based on this work, F. Rahnama called this trend the "new wave" in imitation of the name of the French cinema "New Wave", which was very popular in the 1950s in Iran.

I. Nuri-ala, who in the 1960s was one of the most active critics, interpreters and defenders of the poetry of the "new wave", in his work in 1969 devoted four chapters (chapters 39-43) to this poetic trend. Nuri-ala analyzed the reasons for the emergence of this trend, its poetic features and considered the poetry of Ahmadi as the founder of a new poetry, whose distinctive features are as follows:

—separation of literary and everyday functions of words, forms and things;

— creating other, new connections between words, forms and things;

— creating a new and unusual intellectual space not by describing, but by creating an atmosphere, and not line by line, but in the whole verse. The "new Wave" was a young trend in Persian poetry, which, due to its novelty and desire to create images, became independent of other new poetry, which was also facilitated by its public popularity. One of the most striking deviations of the poetry of the "new wave 3" from tradition is the departure from meter and rhyme and contempt for the "music of verse". Meter and rhyme in the Nimaist sense and the white verse of A. Shamlu did not suit them in the same way as the classical system of Persian versification. Many poems of the "new wave" can actually be called one complex sentence, which in terms of form and mode of expression is no different from prose. Ahmadi directly declares that he is "not ready to kill even one word for the sake of a meter, and, on the contrary, a meter must be sacrificed for the sake of words" [Nuri-ala, 1969, pp.307-316; Dastgeyb, 1992, p. 86].

But due to the lack of traditional meter, observance of the metrical provisions of Neem's verse and extreme antimusicality, the "new wave" provoked protest from critics, so that the poems of its representatives "were considered a prosaic translation of Western poetry" [Hogugi, 1972, p. 118]. Among these critics, A. Dastgeib can be distinguished, who calls the "new wave" a "wave of deviation" and attributes the syntactic and lexical experiments of this poetry to ignorance of the Persian language and departure from it. He considers the works of the "new wave" poets to be an imitation of the style of European authors, whose works thus reach the Iranian reader in the form of an "unsuccessful translation", or poetry of "imitation". Another claim on the part of Dastgabe is radicalism in creating images of the "new wave", which leads to the absence of a picture as such, which in no way contributes to the general understanding of the verse and its completeness. Regarding the complete omission of meter in such poems, Dastgeib believes that with the breadth and popularity of aruz in Persian poetry, as well as after the achievements of Shamlu and Nim in this field, there is no reason to completely abandon it. Dastgabe also strongly criticizes the poetry of the "new wave" for indifference to social issues and complete disrespect and inattention to the artistic heritage of the past and "describes their poems as a collection of obscure and incomprehensible words on minor topics" [Dastgabe, 1992, p. 175].

Subsequently, the "new wave" formed a direction called the "shere hajm" ("poetry of volume"), it is not a separate current of modern Persian poetry, but a new, improved form of poetry of the "new wave" and its logical continuation. Most of the famous representatives of the "poetry of volume" are the same poets of the former "new wave". Of these, one can point to Ya. Ruyai, who in the classification of branches of poetry of the "new wave" took a place on the branch of the "problematic new wave" in the "formalists" division. Ruyai's claims to the work of representatives of the "new wave" are that they do not have equipment, they should determine the technique so that they do not go astray. He became the founder of an independent direction of new poetry called "poetry of volume" in order to improve the "new wave".

Ruy sees a way to escape from the disorder and fragmentation of the "new wave" in drawing up a manifesto that can become a law to give shape to innovative poems. This idea attracted the attention of the poets of the "new wave", as a result of which the declaration of "poetry of volume" was published in 1969. In addition to the poets of the "new wave", several writers and poets such as F. took part in its compilation. Rahnamh, and filmmakers independent of the "new wave". Ruyai played a leading role here. Based on their creative method, the group chose a new original name for themselves – "poetry of volume", or "Spacementalism". Subsequently, many other poets also joined this group, in particular H. Chalangi.

The reason for this name lies in the special belief of this group, according to which poetry will allow a person to be transported from this material life to some kind of beyond, and this is possible by using such geometric parameters as length, width and height, which together make up the "architecture of volume". In other words, the images in this poetry, in addition to moving along the surface, also move deep and upward, the poet of such a "three-dimensional movement" by crossing three dimensions encourages his reader to do the same, that is, to go through all these dimensions based on his mind and understanding and reach the limits that were previously achieved by the poet himself.

Their manifesto was approved and signed in 1969 after three months of lengthy literary discussions and meetings, which were held in the cafe.and at the private apartment of Ruyai and other poets. The issue of publishing a manifesto in such a style as we see in the "poetry of volume" is a rare phenomenon for Persian literature. Analogues can be found only in Tondar-kiya and Irani. The manifesto itself is a kind of imitation of European trends, especially surrealism. The content and meaning of some provisions of the manifesto are in many ways similar to the provisions of the surrealist Andre Breton, which we will consider further.

The text of the manifesto is short, concise and "nervous", at first glance it looks like surreal texts, it is also strange and complex. We are faced with a certain contradiction in this manifesto, which is associated with the modern surrealist type of thinking of its authors and consists in the fact that, on the one hand, they have a desire to clarify concepts, and on the other hand, they avoid it, since there is not even a hint of a detailed explanation, interpretation or argumentation.

It should be noted that the "poets of the volume" themselves deny any affiliation to any schools and any similarities and consider themselves above classicism, Cubism and surrealism. On the other hand, they consider themselves opponents of imagism, formalism, archaism and the "responsible poetry" of Marxism. Due to their superiority in relation to surrealism, they talk about passing through three dimensions and are convinced that "the creativity of the supporters of the poetry of volume consists in achieving superreality beyond three dimensions." They believe that they go beyond three dimensions in order to achieve "superreality", but since they leave no trace during their leap, the path to achieve the goal remains unclear and as a result their poetry becomes open to many different interpretations.

Ruyi, as the founder and leader of the "poetry of volume", analyzes various aspects of this poetic trend in his articles and interviews. In general, it can be said that his statements and criticisms of his poetry have gained even more fame than the literary works themselves, and his achievements in the field of literary theory are of greater value to the history of literature than his poetry. Ruyai says about the interpretation of his poems: "I am by no means the poet whose poems the reader, like a ready piece, can put in his mouth. For me, it is best when the poem can be interpreted more fully, and I do not take away this opportunity from him [the reader] and allow my reader to participate in the work with me during the reading. The fullest possible connection with the reader should be exactly like this" [Ruyy, 1977. p.329].

Another difference between this poetry and surrealism from the point of view of the "poets of volume" themselves is that it is not limited only to the technique of automatism. Adherents of the "poetry of volume" are convinced that their work stands out favorably in that it carries a kind of thoughtlessness and at the same time is free. On the one hand, the poet makes a choice by searching for a beautiful form, and on the other hand, adheres to automatic writing in order to achieve "superreality", the highest reality, which is the true goal of poetry.

The representative of the "poetry of volume" looks at the things around him from a different point of view and looks for new potential in words. As a result, a lot of strange words appear in his poems and new connections and relationships between things open up. He is convinced that "a poem is an accident" and a good poet is someone who finds his vocation in words, opens the word and gives it life. While writing a collection of poems, a scientist in one of the conversations says that his mind is currently busy "searching for a new soul for the word." That is why the poet, intentionally or unintentionally, enters the realm of surrealism and becomes consonant with Louis Aragon, who believed that "in the realm of the real world there are other connections that the mind can comprehend and which are most significant, such as coincidence, fantasy, illusion and dream. These various phenomena gathered and merged within the framework of one literary trend, namely surrealism" [Ruyai, 1977. p.293].

Representatives of this poetic movement, under the influence of their poetic leader Ruy, believe that poetry should be written for the elect, and not for the common people. Ruyai said about this: "... In principle, they should not write poetry for the people and lower the level of poetry to such an extent. Repeating the same thing will never excite or puzzle us with a question. I mean, a poet should create poetry, but it is the intelligentsia that connects the poet with the people, it is she who should interpret poetry for other people" [Ruyai, 1977. p.155].

In the "poetry of volume" there are a large number of paradoxical and surreal images, because poets of this direction consider the beauty of a poetic image to be the result of a combination of incongruous elements and believe that the less logically possible it is to mix the compositions used in the poem, the greater the power of the image and the shocking effect. Here is an example of a paradoxical poem by Ruy.:

صدای تندر خیس

و نور، نورتر آذرخش

در آب، آیینه ای ساخت

که قاب روشنی از شعله دریا داشت.

The voice of wet thunder

And light, lighter than lightning,

He created a mirror in the water

In the light frame of the flame of the sea.

The detachment and syntactic experiments of the "poetry of volume" are another indicator of its avant—gardism. In the works of these poets, we come across numerous examples of an adverb either a verb takes the place of a noun, or a noun is used as an adjective, or all strictly fixed parts of a sentence in the Persian language are mixed up, and the allied words are not in their places. Ruyai himself considers this style of speech to be a kind of linguistic art and is convinced that Persian grammar has great poetic potential and one grammatical category can replace another: "Oh, manifestation in calmness" instead of "Oh, manifestation of calmness", etc. Like the poetry of the "new wave", "poetry of volume" postulates a departure from tradition in the use of meter, rhyme and musicality of the poem, and it can be said that "the desire for prosaicism is one of the important features of poetry of volume" [Ruyy, 1977. p.293].

The lack of responsibility in relation to social and political issues is one of the main reasons for criticism of her. There are two reasons for this criticism: firstly, the basis of the "poetry of volume" is a departure from reality and attention to "superreality". It is impossible to expect a poet who is in a "superreality" and seeks to free his mind from the illusion that he will deal with social and political issues or take responsibility for them. Secondly, these poets are convinced that poetry is an end, not a means. The purpose of poetry, as already stated in the manifesto, is poetry itself, not something outside of it. Of course, this view is by no means consistent with the spirit of responsibility and commitment.

All these avant-garde movements in Iranian poetry, except for the "new poetry", did not meet the demands of their time, as they had nothing to do with the existing economic, political and cultural conditions at that time, therefore, they did not even play a special social or political role. Their function was to destroy the framework of poetry and transform the elements of verse both in terms of form and structure, as well as in terms of content and plot. The founders of the analyzed trends were influenced by European avant-gardism, the purpose of which is radically different from the purpose of classical Persian texts. In the poetry of the Iranian avant-garde of 1940-1954, an obstacle was found for poets, before which they had to retreat under public pressure. At the second stage of the development of Iranian studies in 1960-1978, young poets, having learned the lessons of their predecessors, continued their path in a more free and prepared for changes in the social order, strengthening the position of avant-garde poetry and achieving some recognition. But it was only since the 1990s that the avant-garde received the status of officially recognized poetry, taking its rightful place in the literature of Iran.

The work of Sh. Tondar-Kiya and H. Irani is understood in the study as a first-wave movement of Iranian avant-gardism that collapsed. Representatives of the following waves appeared in the 1960s-1978's., restoring the experience of their predecessors, designated as more successful, were representatives of different currents of the موج نو [moje no] ("new wave"). Then numerous branches formed, and each of their followers continued their path, joining another direction or creating their own. When considering and classifying these branches, the poets of the "new wave" can be divided into two groups – the "original new wave" and the "new wave presenting problems", each of which has its own branches towards poetry and prose [Nuri-ala, 1960, pp. 39-43].

This refers to such avant-garde trends as the following: ("pure poetry"), ("other poetry"), ("other poetry"), or ("embodying or plastic poetry"), ("embodying or plastic poetry"), ("shere zaban] ("poetry of language") "), ("ار النگلیسی [shere engilisi] ("English poetry") etc. Continuing the path of the above-mentioned avant-garde poets who set a course for the modernization of Persian poetry of the twentieth century, it was only in the 1990s that the avant-garde was officially defined thanks to the work of such modern poets as S. Sepehri, A. Babachahi, S.M. Mousavi, T. Saffr-Zadeh, A. Brahani, A. Salehi and many others. Analyzing their manifestos and creativity, it is possible to identify the origins of the avant-garde in Iranian poetry, which arose under the influence of the European avant-garde and modernism, which require consideration and study in a separate study.

^[1] The system of versification in classical Persian poetry, called "aruz", is based on a certain alternation of long and short syllables. In this case, the rhyme is repeated according to a fixed formula, according to the requirements of the poetic structure or literary genre, such as gazelle, masnavi and rubai. Today, in Iranian literary circles, the term "classical Persian poetry" refers to the works of the masters of the word before Nim Yushidj and his contemporaries of even more radical views.

^[2] 9th century Hijri/ 15th century AD.