Paratopie in Iranian War Literature and Cinema: spatial strategies in war cinema and literature

In the years following the emergence of the ‘Sacred Defense’ genre in Iranian literature and cinema, a body of work has appeared that does not fully align with the dominant Sacred Defense discourse. These works often unfold in non-combat settings, feature a small cast of characters, and take place in enclosed, frequently elevated spaces. The central narrator is typically a lookout or a solitary soldier who adopts an anti-war stance, or at least maintains a conflicted attitude toward the war. Drawing on Dominique Maingueneau’s theory, literary discourse offers the writer a privileged position; yet, the writer can only inhabit this position authentically by constructing a specific space — a unique ‘paratopia’ — for themselves. To do so, the writer must draw upon their own paratopic capacity while adapting it to the multiple constraints imposed by the literary institution of their time. The artist, who perceives themselves as a creator and as standing above the ideological discourse of the era, cannot fully sever ties with society and its norms. The crafting of secluded spaces on the periphery of war, or the creation of a poetic, dreamer-like lookout, becomes a vivid expression of the artist’s inherently contradictory and dual position.