At session on Nations Literature, Reza Najafi said “The roots and history of western literature begins in ancient Greece and the first western literary works, from Iliad and Odyssey to great tragedies have rooted in Greece; while the history of western literature also begins with Homer’s ‘Iliad and Odyssey’.”

IBNA: At first session on Nations Literature that began Tuesday evening (10 August) in the Hall of the Literati, Reza Najafi first mentioned that general aspects of nations’ literatures differ according to sociopolitical issues and said, “Based on Hegel’s theory, each nation has a particular zeitgeist and we tend to review the dominant aspects of each nation based on that.”

He added, “Iliad and Odyssey are the first western texts we know. After the downfall of Greece and the middle ages when the western renaissance begins, there is a revival of interest in principles of ancient Greece and western literature is formed through imitating Greek literature.”

Najafi mentioned the specifications of middle age art and explained, “During the middle ages, literature and arts are totally banned and only art of the church is followed. After the Renaissance, literature is reborn and playwriting starts under the influence of ancient Greek models. French classical literature also follows classical Greek literature and that is why some refer to this time difference in terms of Classicism and Neo-Classicism.”

The translator of ‘In the Realm of Death’ also said, “The lingual and religious differences lead into literary diversity. The French language and literature is influenced by the literatures of Greece, Rom and Latin.

He then referred to different European Romances and verses and said most French romances involve themes like war, love and supernatural elements and as they move forward the war content gives in to lyrical content.

He then discussed avant-gardism in French literature and said, “Most literary schools are born in France. Therefore, there is a kind of avant-gardism in French literature and makes them experiences different things.”

Najafi referred to the characteristics of the first French Novel “Gil Blas” and explained “Gil Blas is the first French novel which has affected Iranian works as well as ‘Haji Baba Isfahani’.”

Author of “An Introduction to Contemporary Western Novel” said, “The eighteenth century in Europe is called the age of reason. In his “Art of Novel” Kundera says that the eighteenth century is not only the age of novelists, but the age of philosophers as well. The philosophical movements in this period criticize everything based on ration and tend to make doubt about the most obvious matters.”

He added, “The enlightenment rooted in the countries of England, France and the Netherlands and resulted in prevalence of encyclopedias and formation of literary cycles and halls. The sociopolitical movements resulting from these places could gradually limit the power of the court and the church.”

“In the 18th century, the enlightenment favored equilibrium of simplicity and rationality and so there is a balance between their classical literature and their rational trend”.

He said, “Heroes and consumers of Classicism were among the high class, as Classical music and drama was also to the high class appeal.”

Najafi regards the school of Romanticism as the reaction of the middle class and said, “Roussuau is the pioneer of Romanticism. He influenced enlightenment by advocating constitutional monarchy and contract-making.

He added, “For the enlightenment, literature was a means to express thought. Rousseau and Voltaire made the same use of literature. A part of Rousseau’s thought which influenced the Romanticists was the theory of return to Nature. He also taught them to self-express.”

“Individualism has no room in Classicism and only begins with Romanticism. Of course, Rousseau’s prose and language, despite the Classicists, was spontaneous and emotional and was later applied by the Romanticists.”

On the passage from Romanticism to Realism in Europe he said, “In the period of passage from Romanticism to Realism, we have figures like Standal and Flaubert - whose ‘Madam Bovary’ is an amalgam of realism and romanticism revolving on the main theme of love and internal conflicts.”

He also remarked, “With the beginning of the flux period and the effect of new social and financial changes on relations and pertinences, Europe gradually crept into a new literature called Realism.”

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