Volume 17, Issue 67 (2024)
LCQ 2024, 17(67): 101-137 |
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Pourazimi S. A Fake Book Called Arif Qazvini's Unpublished Works. LCQ 2024; 17 (67) :101-137
URL: http://lcq.modares.ac.ir/article-29-76633-en.html
URL: http://lcq.modares.ac.ir/article-29-76633-en.html
Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran , saeid.pourazimi@gmail.com
Abstract: (1570 Views)
In 1321, Seyyed Hadi Haeri (Kourosh) published a collection of poems by Aref Qazvini that had previously appeared in the book Selections from the Divan of Aref Qazvini (edited by Sir Dinshah Selisiter Irani) and Arefnameh of Hazar (a compilation of correspondence between Aref and Mohammad Reza Hazaar Shirazi), along with several other poems, under the title Volume Two of the Divan of Aref Qazvini at the Golbahar of Kerman Trading Company (in Tehran). In 1372, Haeri published the book Unpublished Works of Aref Qazvini, which pursued the changes, distortions, omissions, and other transformations in Aref's poetry intending ideological, religious, political, and expedient motivations. He followed his tasteful changes, to correct linguistic errors (grammatical, logical, semantic), slips of the tongue, and prosodic issues from this book, to erase Aref's sharp criticisms of the clergy, to reshape him as an anti-Reza shah figure and an opponent of monarchy, to eliminate Aref's (national poet) satirical and biting remarks, and finally to use omitted verses with arbitrary manipulations in fake poems.
Extended Abstract
In 1993, Javdan Publications released a book by Haeri with the alluring title The Unpublished Works of Aref Qazvini. In this book, Haeri fabricated poems and falsely attributed them to Aref, creating a significant source of deviation in both the publication of Aref’s collected works and the literary study of his poetry and thought. Haeri’s fabricated poems, attributed to Aref, found their way into various collections of Aref’s works, leading researchers to base their judgments about Aref on these inauthentic pieces. Haeri included numerous related and unrelated details and images to bulk up the book, without attaching a single original document or manuscript by Aref to prove the authenticity of works. Instead, he provided only the assertion that "this poem has not appeared in any of the previous editions of Aref’s collected works and is being published for the first time", thereby misleading readers. Regardless of the evident inconsistencies between these poems and Aref’s poetic and intellectual style, it remains highly implausible that there would be no surviving manuscript of even a single verse from any of these dozens of alleged poems. Moreover, one may wonder why not a single verse from any of these dozens of alleged poems has appeared in newspapers or within Aref’s known letters or notes. For this very reason, Haeri has refused to offer an explanation on how he accessed these poems, as there was no authentic source he could cite. Being a poet with his own collections and manuscripts, he could easily alter the works of other poets—and indeed, he did. With conscious intent and varied personal motivations, and relying on his own personal flair, Haeri deliberately distorted and ruined Aref’s collected works. Disregarding the authenticity of the text, he took on the role of an arbitrary editor, removing the grammatical, metrical, and semantic deviations in Aref’s poetry in an attempt to accentuate the distinctions in his edition and elevate his own work. Haeri appropriated Aref's voice to fiercely criticize Reza Shah, defend Modarres, confront Iraj Mirza, and yield to the deceitful clerics. Aref, in his poetry, launched fierce attacks on two traditional power structures in Iran: the political institution (the Qajar dynasty) and the clergy. In turn, Haeri endeavored, through various means, to neutralize the sharpness of Aref's critique of the clerics and the religious establishment. Furthermore, Haeri, who harbored a deep disdain for Reza Shah, resolved to portray Aref as an anti-Reza Shah figure by distorting his poetry. To achieve this, he resorted to deletion, alteration, transformation, and fabrication of verses.
Haeri's motivations for deleting, altering, transforming, and fabricating verses can be framed as follows:
1. Religious Ideological Motives: To eliminate Aref's fiery criticisms of the clergy and religious institutions.
2. Political Ideological Motives: To portray Aref as an anti-Reza Shah and anti-monarchy figure.
3. Expedience-driven Motives: To remove obscenities and harsh language.
4. Taste-based Changes and Correction of Linguistic Errors: Grammatical, logical, semantic errors, and metrical inaccuracies.
Incorporation of Omitted Verses into Fabricated Poems.
The distortions stemming from religious ideological motives are sometimes so intertwined with political ideological motives that they become inseparable. The collected works of other poets like Bahar, Iraj, Lahouti, Farrokhi, Nasim-e-Shomal, and even Mirzadeh Eshqi, as well as other Constitutional-era poets up until today, have seemingly remained unaffected by such massive manipulations. In fact, no poet’s work in this century has been so profoundly disordered, nor has an enormous volume of fake poetry been attributed to them. The present study was an attempt to uncover a major literary forgery of the past century. By relying on textual evidence and arguments, it seeks to exclude numerous fabricated poems, which have been falsely attributed to Aref and have infiltrated literary research and studies, from his authentic collected oeuvre.
Extended Abstract
In 1993, Javdan Publications released a book by Haeri with the alluring title The Unpublished Works of Aref Qazvini. In this book, Haeri fabricated poems and falsely attributed them to Aref, creating a significant source of deviation in both the publication of Aref’s collected works and the literary study of his poetry and thought. Haeri’s fabricated poems, attributed to Aref, found their way into various collections of Aref’s works, leading researchers to base their judgments about Aref on these inauthentic pieces. Haeri included numerous related and unrelated details and images to bulk up the book, without attaching a single original document or manuscript by Aref to prove the authenticity of works. Instead, he provided only the assertion that "this poem has not appeared in any of the previous editions of Aref’s collected works and is being published for the first time", thereby misleading readers. Regardless of the evident inconsistencies between these poems and Aref’s poetic and intellectual style, it remains highly implausible that there would be no surviving manuscript of even a single verse from any of these dozens of alleged poems. Moreover, one may wonder why not a single verse from any of these dozens of alleged poems has appeared in newspapers or within Aref’s known letters or notes. For this very reason, Haeri has refused to offer an explanation on how he accessed these poems, as there was no authentic source he could cite. Being a poet with his own collections and manuscripts, he could easily alter the works of other poets—and indeed, he did. With conscious intent and varied personal motivations, and relying on his own personal flair, Haeri deliberately distorted and ruined Aref’s collected works. Disregarding the authenticity of the text, he took on the role of an arbitrary editor, removing the grammatical, metrical, and semantic deviations in Aref’s poetry in an attempt to accentuate the distinctions in his edition and elevate his own work. Haeri appropriated Aref's voice to fiercely criticize Reza Shah, defend Modarres, confront Iraj Mirza, and yield to the deceitful clerics. Aref, in his poetry, launched fierce attacks on two traditional power structures in Iran: the political institution (the Qajar dynasty) and the clergy. In turn, Haeri endeavored, through various means, to neutralize the sharpness of Aref's critique of the clerics and the religious establishment. Furthermore, Haeri, who harbored a deep disdain for Reza Shah, resolved to portray Aref as an anti-Reza Shah figure by distorting his poetry. To achieve this, he resorted to deletion, alteration, transformation, and fabrication of verses.
Haeri's motivations for deleting, altering, transforming, and fabricating verses can be framed as follows:
1. Religious Ideological Motives: To eliminate Aref's fiery criticisms of the clergy and religious institutions.
2. Political Ideological Motives: To portray Aref as an anti-Reza Shah and anti-monarchy figure.
3. Expedience-driven Motives: To remove obscenities and harsh language.
4. Taste-based Changes and Correction of Linguistic Errors: Grammatical, logical, semantic errors, and metrical inaccuracies.
Incorporation of Omitted Verses into Fabricated Poems.
The distortions stemming from religious ideological motives are sometimes so intertwined with political ideological motives that they become inseparable. The collected works of other poets like Bahar, Iraj, Lahouti, Farrokhi, Nasim-e-Shomal, and even Mirzadeh Eshqi, as well as other Constitutional-era poets up until today, have seemingly remained unaffected by such massive manipulations. In fact, no poet’s work in this century has been so profoundly disordered, nor has an enormous volume of fake poetry been attributed to them. The present study was an attempt to uncover a major literary forgery of the past century. By relying on textual evidence and arguments, it seeks to exclude numerous fabricated poems, which have been falsely attributed to Aref and have infiltrated literary research and studies, from his authentic collected oeuvre.
Article Type: Original Research |
Subject:
Stylistics
Received: 2024/08/19 | Accepted: 2024/11/16 | Published: 2024/10/31
Received: 2024/08/19 | Accepted: 2024/11/16 | Published: 2024/10/31
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