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Foreword
The purpose of this
statement is to present an overview of Afghan literature during the 20+plus
political years of conflict and neglect between 1978 and 2001.
The presenter, Partaw
Naderi, does not claim this to be an in-depth analytical research project,
but can promise to develop it as such in the future, if needs be.
Background
Afghanistan has mainly
been a highly politicized country. Early efforts and experiences of
combining poetry and political opinion root their origin in 1963 – 1973,
also known as "Decade of Democracy" in Afghanistan.
Major highlights in the
Decade of Democracy indicate two significant political trends:
1)
Left: Communism-oriented wave of intellectuals, who in turn underwent a
major breakdown:
a)
Pro-Soviets: Following the then Moscow-sponsored movements
b)
Pro-Chinese: Following the then doctrine of "Mao-Tse Tung thought",
also known
as Neo-democratic Movement.
2)
Right: Political Islam inspired by the well-known Egypt-based scholars and
religious leaders
Each trend had its own
poets and writers, who gradually tried to enrich the poetical process with
remarkable elements of politics one way or another.
Literature in
Afghanistan continued to be over-dependent to the socio-political structure
of the soviet-installed government in the period of Soviet invasion 1991 –
1979. As a result, Afghan literature not only converted a to a typical
appendage, but become highly politicized to act no better than a simple tool
in the hands of the then ruling party known as Peoples' Democratic Party of
Afghanistan (PDPA).
The government which
emerged out of a coup d'eta of 1978 in Afghanistan, was a full-scale
ideological apparatus being remote-controlled by the former Soviet Union.
Such an authority had no choice but to have a "rouge" vision, in which "red"
was the only super phenomenon to identify the color of revolution. All other
colors were dismissed, because according to them they belonged to
non-revolutionary reactionary powers!
The aforesaid puppet
government systematically maneuvered to initially institutionalize and
utilize poetry, music, and any major aspect of art and culture for the
benefit of its own political stance.
Afghan mass media, were
over-shadowed by the ruling PDPA and its high-ranking members. The ruling
party outspokenly claimed that there is no "reality" except for
Marxism-Leninism.
It was ordered that both
culture in general and literature in particular can serve but only to
channel the voice of the ruling party.
Indeed, initiator and
implements of such politicization were no other than the PDPA key figures,
such as party member poets and party member writers. The situation got
further deteriorated when the authorities demarcated a bold borderline and
announce that "you are either with us or against us."
Such a harsh policy
announcement was considered as an obvious attack on a range of Afghan
intellectuals, poets, writers, journalists, scholars and experts of any walk
of life.
Undoubted, there was no
room for negotiation. No other promising alternative blinked in the
prospect. At the very beginning, of course, crossing the borders and getting
out of the situation was not as practical as became later after years.
In order to survive, a
number of poets, writers, journalists and scholars had no choice but to join
the system and rely on the governmental resources. They had to compromise
and compose their literary and artistic products as per the demand of the
"revolutionary" government.
Afghan vocalists were
assigned to publicly sing "revolutionary songs" in crowded public places, ie
parks, playgrounds, stadiums, military campus and/or bases, to please the
folks!
To quit the
responsibility in those tough situation was a clear equivalent of risking
one's own head. The punishment was obviously fatal.
Poet and Poetry
As for as the poetry
trends under the shadow of politics are concerned, they shaped two main
categories:
1)
Highly political/ideological poems
2)
Simple lyric poems (mainly composed by non-political and mystical poets
On one hand poetry
maintained its ancient mystic profile, and continued to reflect inner
experiences, state of consciousness that is beyond the usual awareness of
human beings and onward to glimpse of higher world; on the other hands
terminologies such as socialism, tanks, bomb, factory, workers hammer,
farmers' sickles, gun, and even Vladimir Lenin's complexion increasingly
appeared in poetry.
Socialism used to be the
only utopia for these bunch of poets, whose believe did not allow them to
think out of the box. According to them Socialism was considered the
paradise in this world, where roses would seem redder, leaves greener, and
justice as practically accessible as running water in the nearby stream!
To their eyes, socialism
was seen as not only a supreme vision and objective of human beings, but
inevitable destiny as well. Such a destiny would require a massive social
revolution, and the revolution was to be irrigated with humans' blood to
remain evergreen. For instance:
"Our land is asking for
a revolution. That is it.
The revolution requires
immense bloodshed. That is it."
Regretfully, the
colorful dream of that certain poet came true. Our land experienced
bloodshed to the extent that the country became no bitter than a small boat
sailing in a blood pool. We are still eye-witness of the unabated bloodshed.
Only Lord knows when and where will the agony cease to extend.
Ways prescribed to reach
justice and social well-being were announced as follows:
"E' hammers!
E' Sickles!
Get together! Get
together!
Climb on the Fifth Tower
of the history
Move one, Move on, E
'hammers! E' sickles!"
In the above lines,
Hammer and sickle is symbolizing the so-called proletariat working class,
and peasants, who must unit to reach the Fifth Tower. History's Fifth Tower
is a metaphor depicting Socialism. The image is a derivative of the theory
of Historical Materialism in the light of which, there are 5
socio-economical formations: Primitive Communalism, Slavery, Feudalism,
Capitalism and Socialism.
Left wing poets were of
the opinion that poetry is no more than a weapon, which should not be put
down. In other words, poem will continue to be a mere tool to reach a higher
goal.
Revolutionary Wording
and Structures
The following are major
wordings with a higher frequency of usage in the political/ideological
poems: folks, laborer, peasant, servant, hammer, sickle, hatred, anger,
fire, thunder, storm, revolution, struggle, chain-breaker, comrade,
co-chained comrade, eagle, hawk, black, green, red, fight, fellow-fighter,
shout, pine, pineland, flame, conflict, collision, reactionary elements,
darkness, bleakness, star, sun, light, despotism, confinement, guerilla,
mountain, summit, tomorrow, and such like.
It is safe to say that
parts of these set of terminologies did exist in the Afghan poetry prior to
1978, but not as overused as after that year.
Moreover, it was wrongly
believed that the ideology of working or proletariat class (a social class
that did not physically exist in Afghanistan) not only has the right to rule
various aspects of social, political, cultural and all other dimension of
life, but to steer art, literature and creativity as well. Thus, Socialist
Realism got proverbial position and Maxim Gorky became the only icon of
literature.
All of the said affairs
originated from a certain "Knowledge and Culture Department" under a major
"Propaganda and Agitation Commission" directly supervised by the Central
Committee of the ruling (PDPA).
In 1980, there was
another state-sponsored reformation, which further worsened the situation:
establishment of the "Creative Intellectuals' Union". This newly set-up
network in fact was a rather larger apparatus comprised of different smaller
unites, such as associations of Writers, Journalists, artists.
The prime objective of
the latter was to harmonize the art and literature with governmental
policies and politics. The motto was: A Revolutionary Afghanistan requires
revolutionary art and revolutionary artists. Full stop.
This is why both AK-47
Klashinkove machine gun and pen appeared in the logo of Association of
Afghan Writers.
Poetic Subjects and
Themes
Common poetic subjects
covered the following themes: praising Lenin and the Great October
Revolution of 1917, Soviets and Afghan-Soviet Friendship, Proletariat
Internationalism, workers-Farmers Unity, Irreversible Afghan April
Revolution and its achievements, Our Internationalist Brotherhood,
Victorious Advancement of Afghan Revolutionary Military.
Besides, there were used
to be a special section called "Military/Patriotic Literature Branch" within
the framework of Association of Afghan Writers. Members of the mentioned
branch was assigned to go to military posts to recite poems to motivate the
gunmen's moral. A few sample are as follows:
1
Bravo! Being part of the
ruling Party
Hooray! Being part of
the April Revolution
2
For the safeguard of our
land
The folk army carries
two torches:
One of the April and the
other of the October revolutions
3
Inspired by Lenin's
teachings
Encouraged by
stormy-tempered revolution
Smash your chains into
pieces
Smash the slavery system
into parts
4
E' you my lovely
Klashinkove
You are my melodious
nightingale in the battlefield
Overall, the Association
was able to send a minimum of 270 title literary books up until the collapse
of the communist regime. A remarkable percentage of these books were no
better than simple government statements and announcements.
Jail, Assassination
and Exile
In the years of Soviet
invasion/ occupation a number of poets and writers were sent to jails. Most
of the prisoners never came home alive, while some spend from months to a
decade there.
No reliable statistic is
available to show the counts of assassinated ones, still some famous names
are as follows: Rounaq Naderi, Payeez Hanifi, Daud Sarmad, Ali Haidar
Laheeb, Sarshaar Roushani, Sayed Motaqqi Zimni, Sayed Saaabet, Rasool
Jur'at, Anis Azad, and many more whose names I do not recall at the moment.
A few names of the
jailed ones are as follows: Mahmood Farani, Latif Nazemi, Wasef Bakhtari,
Rahnaward Zariyab, Amin Afghanpoor, Professor Ali Ahmad Zohma, Dr Saboor
Siasang, Azrakhsh Hafizi, Dr Assadullah Shour, Assadullah Walwaliji, Dehzad,
Beheshti, Afsar Rahbeen, Sakhi Ghairat, Abbas Khurooshan, Dr Sina Deliri,
and more.
Afghan literature has
been faced with the exodus of poets and writers in these years. Most of them
left the country in three specific periods:
1) During the invasion
and the dictate of the puppet communist government
2) During the rule of
Mujaheddin (Holy Warriors) and their inter-factional wars
3) During the rule of
Taliban
Most poets and writers
have mainly taken refuge in Iran, Pakistan and Western countries and, as a
result, several circles of Afghan poetry have been established outside the
country.
Room for Compromise
In 1986 after a decade
of brutality and an era of political and cultural dictatorship, the Afghan
communist government began a policy of dialogue with the opposition and,
apparently, displayed a willingness to share power with Mujaheddin groups.
A new constitution was
initiated and a parliament, though under the government’s heavy influence,
was established.
Such a situation,
created an opportunity for non-governmental publications to become active.
This can be considered as preliminary experiences of free press during the
rule of communist governments in Afghanistan.
In order to harmonize
their cultural activities, non-party poets and writers established a series
of independent cultural institutions such as the Centre for Pro-Mulana
Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi, Hakim Naser Khosrow Balkhi Cultural Society,
Ancient Herat Cultural Society, Hakim Sanaie Ghaznavwi Cultural Assciation,
Amir Ali Shir Nawaie Society, Khoshal Cultural Centre, and Seyed Jamaluddin
Afghan Cultural Society.
The mentioned
societies/associations started their activities by convening meetings of
poetry and story reading and sessions to commemorate classical and
contemporary cultural figures. In other words, they were attempting to
prepare the grounds for those poets and writers opposed to the policies and
literature of the government, to present their literary achievements to
their audience.
Some of these societies,
therefore, were instrumental in the formation of the Poetry of Resistance
inside the country.
Afghanistan Writers
Association
At the same time, one of
the non-party writers and a pioneer of contemporary writings, Rahnaward
Zariyab, was elected as the head of Association of Afghanistan's Writers
Union in a secret and direct ballot. The Union of Writers changed its name
to the Afghanistan Writers Association and the figure of a gun was omitted
from its logo.
This Association had two
literary publications: Zhowandoon (Livelihood) quarterly and Qalam (Pen)
weekly.
During these years the
presence of non-party poets and writes, both publications started the
process of reflecting poetry and articles with critical and anti-government
tones from time to time.
Eventually, the
Afghanistan Writers Association came out of the monopoly of state-backed and
party-linked writers.
That was a great victory
for the then non-party writers. In the framework of the Afghanistan Writers
Association, the Centre for Young Writers was established. Later under the
leadership of this centre, various cultural centers were set up in
educational centers for both genders.
The establishment of
cultural centers in schools and universities created a new generation of
poets and writers with a substantial number of females amongst them.
That generation was
inclined to write more anti-government and anti-party materials.
Poetry: Expanded
Atmosphere
In the period of 1980s
the poetry inside Afghanistan could be categorized as follows:
1) Ideological/political
and government-favored poetry
2) Anti-government
poetry that can be interpreted as indoor resistance poetry
3) Lyric/romantic poetry
During those years, the
presence of women in poetry and story writing was more widespread than any
other former amount of time. A great deal of anti-government and lyric
poetry and similar literary products were composed and published by women.
Meanwhile, outdoor
poetry of Afghanistan, widely known as "poetry in exile" was formed in three
geographical areas:
1)
Pakistan, mainly in the city of Peshawar onward to some other major cities
2)
Iran, mainly in the city of Meshad, and onward to Tehran the capital and its
environs
3)
Western countries
The out-country Afghan
poetry in Pakistan can be generally termed as a religion-politics-oriented
poetry with remarkable spiritual elements in it.
In this kind of poetry,
Afghans of every walk of life were called upon to resist the invasion by the
Soviet Union and its puppet government. However the language used sounded
more crude and open and sometimes mixed with hatred and damnation, and
therefore aesthetically not-so-interesting.
The mentioned products
were mostly composed by poets, who belonged to this or that Mujahedin groups
or otherwise sympathized with them.
Regarding their
presenting format, structure and language, Pakistan-based Afghan poetry tend
to remain more conservative. While, on the other end, in-country poetry was
widely developed in various categories.
Two famous Afghan poets,
Khalilullah Khalili and Abdul Rahman Pezhwak used to live in Peshawar during
the years of invasion. Their poetry can be considered as the greatest
advantage of Afghan poetry in exile.
Khalili is, rightly, one
of the summits of Afghan contemporary poetry. He can be termed as the
founder and leader of Afghan poetry of resistance in Pakistan.
Interestingly, however
the poets belonging to Mujahedin groups have always insisted that their
poetry should be called "Poetry of Jihad" (Holy War), not resistance,
because to them “resistance� had a slight communist connotation!
It sounded quite an
irony when the leaders and representatives of the Mujahedin debated for days
in the Great Constitutional Council to include the word "resistance" in the
introduction to the Constitution.
In Iran, a new
generation of Afghan refugee poets emerged. For the first time, they began
the discussion of the poetry of resistance in out-country Afghan press.
They continually
published poetry under the name of the poetry of resistance and dispatched
them into Afghanistan.
The contents of Afghan
poetry in Iran were a combination of religious stories, myths and concepts
and can be considered as an advanced religious-political type of poetry. Of
course, the language, literary touch, aesthetics and humanitarian concept of
it in the foregoing poetry were way more interesting and admirable, and
undoubted incomparable with that of Pakistan.
These spectrum of
poetry, in turn, used to invite people to resistance, hope and victory. In
other words, it is a painful description of nostalgia being away from one's
country and the deep feeling of homelessness.
Afghanistan's literature
in the West is widely scattered and almost impossible to be termed as a
well-defined category. Due mainly to its non-centralized nature, it does
need separate discussion and research.
Poem and Taliban
Afghan poetry during the
Taliban regime has a bloodier and more sorrowful story. As early as the
first week after their victory, Taliban banned all cultural, journalistic
and artistic societies and closed down cinemas and television system in
Kabul. Their 'cultural' catastrophe started at that point and reached its
summit after the destruction of Buddha statues..
Taliban burned down many
movies in front of the Zeinab Cinema in the heart of Kabul. They cut off the
throat of music and let the painting stay half alive. Paintings of living
objects and nature was forbidden under the Taliban's Sharia law.
They not only destroyed
the possibility of all cultural activities in Afghanistan, but also kept all
artist, poets and writers in a constant fear.
As a result, the Taliban
forced the remaining poets and writers to flee the country and move to Iran
and Pakistan. Hence, cultural activities got once more flourished in Iran
and Pakistan during the rule of Taliban.
During Taliban, not even
one book of literature was published in Afghanistan. Mujaheddin had at least
the advantage that during their rule, the Afghanistan Writers Association,
had published a selective poetry collection.
Taliban did not like
music and lyrics and considered it against the Sharia law. Once a poem about
love was printed in the exclusive Taliban publication, Shariat. The
authorities dismissed the literary editor of the publication, imprisoned him
for a while and possibly subjected him to lashes in jail.
Taliban tolerated poetry
up to the point that it was about praising God and Prophet Mohammad, and
their military victories. There were a skeleton number of naïve poets
amongst Taliban who wrote war poetry for them. They were reciting these
poems with rhythms to improve the moral of their colleagues.
Finally it must be said
that Afghan contemporary poetry, with all its ups and downs and all its
homelessness, is like a wounded throat that have always cried, and is still
weeping, the endless tragedies of the people.
Tragically, all these
bloody cries have not yet found its deserved echo in the world.
Iowa City, USA
September 21, 2006
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