Democratic Poetics: A Comparative Study of the US and Iran

• Main Author: Fomeshi, Behnam
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: American Free Verse; Comparative Poetics; Persian New Poetry; Nima Yushij; Walt Whitman
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss38/7; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/1910/viewcontent/KK_2038_2C_202022_207_20Regular_20section_20__20Fomeshi.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Walt Whitman (1819–1892), the father of American free verse, and Nima Yushij (1897–1960), the father of Persian New Poetry, each played a central role in his respective poetic tradition. Whitman’s free verse and Yushij’s New Poetry are the results of translating the discourse of democracy to a literary discourse. In this way, there are multiple points of comparison between these poets’ corresponding approaches to poetic theory, practice, and context. The purpose of the present study is to unravel the relationship between sociopolitical situations in Whitman’s and Yushij’s societies and examine the resulting literary changes. Analysis of the points of similarity and difference in each poet’s sociopolitical context and the literary development of their respective nations will lead to a deeper understanding of the general laws of literary development, whilst simultaneously highlighting the historical peculiarity of each national literature, the uniqueness of each sociopolitical context, and the individuality of each author.