1- There is no specific criterion for evaluating the memoirs yet. Based on the one’s tendency, in typology, towards the areas like history, literature and social sciences, he/she drives “the memoir book” in the same direction. Meanwhile, history has already superseded all the other areas and the memoirs are usually assessed by history touchstone. Even, without considering the fallible, prudent and date-limited reports of the people, especially among those not trained to keep and narrate the memoirs academically, the historical documentation of the memoirs texts are sought. What the author has realized because of the bibliotheca mechanism of the works andhas published parts of this understanding through dispersed writings, is that “the memoir book” is classified as “documentary literature” within which one can see two main categories: the first includes memoirs written by the memoir owner; the other are those memoir books written by people other than the memoir owner.
Since the numerousness of one’s works is a must for proficiency in authorship, in self-written memoirs - which are based on one unique writer and book - the creator or “the diarist” cannot develop proficiency in memoirs publication. However, with regard to the written and compiled memoirs in which someone as a writer and expert, compiles and puts down the bottom line of interviews and oral memoirs (as told and recorded) of the memoirs owners, the numerousness of the works is always possible for “a diarist” and accordingly, a cultural job can be established for him/her.
Now, the latter category of memoir writing is published in two forms: “monographs” and “question and answer”. It is noteworthy that the materials and documentaries in both above said forms may have been provided through “oral history methodology” but none of them are considered as historical accounts and when talking about the memoir book, we do not mean - as already mentioned - historical documents. In the published memoirs, beside the historical and biographical documentation within their contexts and believable personage making, they are always expected to embed an everyday prose, an updated social effectiveness, the delightfulness throughout the reading, the attraction in the climax and anticlimax of the narration. This quality is now evident in best sellers like “Da”, “Nouroddin, Iran’s Son”, “the Painters’ Alley”, “A Man Who Did Not Dream” and the like which are welcomed by the public. In such memoir writings, the diarist in rhythm with “the documentary writer” is an expert as well as an author and artist who in narrating the different angles of historical and biographical documentary, is a theorist of penmanship and good judgment, able to single out, having expertise and ability to interview in order to find and communicate the readable and attractive historical and social atmosphere of the people’s ups and downs in their lives.
2- For most of the creators of artistic works such as poets, novelists, playwrights, researchers, reporters and the like there is always a chance to have a place on various trade unions and professional institutions due to their being properly titled as creator; however lack of exact and accurate definitions of the diarists’ role conceals their excessive hardships and keeps them away from the professionalism which is necessary for ensuring a prosperous future of this profession and the published works. This article tries to remind the importance of a definite creating role for these creators from a librarianship and information technology viewpoint.
It should be noted that there is some weak and strong points in any area of creation; however, this does not justify to describe “the creative role” of those above mentioned entities as good and bad or weak and strong; furthermore, if a writer, in creating his/her work, takes a distinctive approach which isdifferent from the conventional one, this does not necessarily mean he/she should add something to his/her creative role as titled in the book to show the same approach. For instance, consider two novelists. One of them has created his/her work within six months and only based on his/her subjective creative process; the other one has written the story in six years and after completing various field researches, studying the written materials and interviews and so on. Both of them are novelists and the second one is not supposed to mention in his/her writings title: “investigated and written by …” because it is the readers and critics who as judges determine the quality of the writers’ works after publication rather than the descriptions we add to the roles. In the said example, both people are novelists and if a reference book of the novelists is to be produced, both fall within a gild and hold a credible position, even if one stands weak while the other keeps a strong position in the authorship. All professions have this in common.
Therefore, as “the story book” is the outcome of the novelist’s activity, the same goes for the memoir book, i.e. it is the result of the diarist’s effort. The diarist has not created anything more than a memoir book and is not called more than a diarist, despite whatever, little or more,he/she has done in his/her work. Therefore, if the zenith of memoir writing is that the author narrates the subjective information of the memoir owner in a creative interview, ample research, proper compilation and effective writing, to attain all these, it is sufficient to mention the diarist’s role in the book’s data including cover, title page and data page: “the Diarist:…”. As inserting an introduction page in the story book is disagreeable, it is as much praiseworthy and even required as in the memoir book in order to report the quality and quantity of the diarist’s activity within the introduction by him/her. That is why we cannot find any description of the diarist and his/her course of action, particularly in monograph writings in which the memoir is narrated by the memoir owner himself/herself. 
3- Presently, “the War diarists” are working despite lack of an independent position for the memoirs genre and without any specific labeling and collaborative institutions; while, in fact, they are outstanding in authorship and creating new works of war. A rough estimate indicates the number of those writers of memoir books on the imposed War as more than forty and in my opinion, the future of the Islamic Revolution Age Literature is directly associated with the quality and quantity of their works.
Since the main and influential part of this authorship framework falls within the experts of “the Literature and Resistance Art Office”, this office as well as Sourey-e-Mehr Publications (representing the Art Center [Hozeh-ye Honari]) has been trying to provide those writers with an independent identity and appropriate legal position during the last year. Because of this, from the late last year (2011) onward, the wording “diarist” is registered for a collection of “interviews”, “researches” , “compilations” and “writings” in the creation data of the published memoirs of the Bureau for the Literature and Art of Resistance.
On the other hand, this publisher is seriously following up the legal discussions attributed to the same group of writers in order to help the diarists which have already been overshadowed by the false interpretation of “the memoir owners’“role, find their appropriate position facing the publication contracts, like the other writers, in proportion to the prevailing rules and laws of protecting writers’, musicians’ and artists’ rights. Certainly, within the near future, as this group grows more professional, one of the most important and influential associations of writings on the War will be established and we will witness the official organization of “The Association of War Memoir Writers”.

Nosratollah Samdzadeh
War Library Librarian, Arts Center
Translated by: Morteza Yavarinia



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