The Illusion of Power and Political Poetry in Post-revolution Iran

This presentation is about the relationship of poetry and the powers-that –be in post-revolution Iran. It focuses on a particular genre of poetry that has been defined in English for the first time by the author of this presentation as “The Islamic Republican Poetry of Iran,” whereby poetry is considered especially important and is heavily subsidized by the state. The paper elaborates on how political poetry of this genre has played a significant role in shaping the ideological apparatus of the state.

In the course of the analysis, this paper tries to answer two questions: First, why, over the past few decades, poetry as a literary genre has been subject to state sponsorship, institutionalization, and most importantly—annual broadcasting; and secondly—how does it promote the current ideological system.

In order to answer these questions, the paper scrutinizes the position of poetry both in the ideological doctrine of the Islamic Republic, and in the personal vision of the two revolutionary leaders--Ayatollahs Khomeini and Khamenei—who have played a pivotal role in the utilization of poetry for ideological purposes since the revolution of 1979.