The relationship between fictional satire and political developments in the Pahlavi era

The most fundamental element in the creation of satire is the principle of deviation, which also serves as the foundation of literature. However, while deviation in literature has a function of elevating form and language, in satire it serves to deconstruct behavioral norms and lower conventional verbal routines. Furthermore, defamiliarization in satire encompasses a wide range of physical, behavioral, intellectual, and verbal acts, thereby extending to all actions of living beings, particularly humans. In contrast, defamiliarization in poetry and literature often has a linguistic and occasionally mental dimension; that is, it either presents unconventional imagery or employs language in a way that differs from ordinary communicative practice. Although satire and humor have served as civil tools for criticizing and taking revenge against tyranny and oppression, and have remained central elements in Persian fiction and poetry since the Constitutional period, the nature and extent of this presence have been closely tied to the political and cultural policies and practices of governments. During the Reza Shah era, political repression dominated the cultural sphere and the field of satire, leading to the continuation of a weak trend of non-political and recreational humor. However, in the decade preceding the coup, with the emergence of a relatively open atmosphere, Persian satire once again took on political, explicit, and mature forms. In the years following the coup, satire was absent from the realm of official culture for a while, and when it reappeared in the fifth decade of the fourteenth century (Solar Hijri calendar) through a cautious and feeble movement, hidden, profound, imagistic, and thought-provoking satire replaced political, linguistic, and overt satire.