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Literature-Based and History-Based Memoirs
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This paper was supposed to be presented in the meeting with Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in 13 May 2013. However, I missed the opportunity due to lack of time and decided to publish it on Oral History Weekly. It seeks to present a classification for memoirs. It could be considered a theoretical subject (and was penned with the same purpose) because of the huge number of memoirs dealing with the Islamic Revolution and Holy Defense in different genres, styles, and point of views as well as the need to have a standard for their classification and production of new works in this genre.
Studies of literature have revealed that it, as a social phenomenon, either interacts or clashes with other social phenomena. Literature creates and brings into life. This claim is supported by the generation of new literatures with new contents. Its content and even language also changes in different eras. There are epic literature, mystical literature, political literature, and finally resistance literature to mention as examples. Resistance literature, in its different forms, was the main focus of contemporary literature’s attention which not only tapped old forms but also created some new forms, including the narrative memoir. However, it is memoir which has been the prominent genre of the last two decades.
I do not intend to address the history of memoir-writing in this paper, yet I believe that it holds a special position among different types of resistance literature (those of the Islamic Revolution and Holy Defense), and society’s interest doubles its significance. Different factors such as the language of the narration; its tone; appeal of the account; its roots in the Islamic Revolution and Holy Defense; its basis in reality; its focus on details; its focus on narrator, characters, and their feelings and emotions have led to the prominence of this genre. However, the question remains as to whether all works of memoir-writing should be classified under a single literary genre. I do believe that the works of memoir-writing could be classified into two categories; literature-based memoirs and history-based memoirs. By the former, I mean the works which inspire the reader with feelings of joy and contempt. By the latter, I mean the works whose reader feels little empathy with the narrator and reads the memoir to get a glimpse of the history and the narrator’s role in the course of events. The interaction between literature and history and particularly between memoir and story should be addressed now. Novels and stories are timeless as they tap imagination and literary tropes. Memoir is not so, for it should be based on reality and historical evidences.
Most of memoirs are subject to conditions of time and space. It is also true about their shelf life. Regardless of the narrator’s style, tone, and choice of words, it is believed that memoirs are not by themselves history. They are, instead, substance for historical works. If one determines the distinguishing characteristics of works of memoir-writing – factors which not only cover high literature but are also based on historical evidences- and employs those elements of fiction which do not spoil the historicity of memoir, more appealing and timeless works of memoir-writing will be generated; works that will be considered literary works with historical roots.
This urge demands intellectual collaboration. Unfortunately, academic studies of works of memoir-writing reveal that they are grappling with disorganization in tone, narration, and literature. Three decades of efforts by The Research Center for Resistance Culture and Literature have led to the production of remarkable works of memoir-writing. Yet, no center has sought to establish some standards for memoir-writing. The fact that some memoirs are based on literature and others on action underlines the need to classify memoirs into literature-based and history-based memoirs. In fact, this urge follows the urge to establish some standards for memoir-writing.
Javad Kamvar Bakhshayesh
Translated by: Katayoun Davallou
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