The Political and Social Conditions of Iran as Reflected in Contemporary Literature, with Emphasis on the Works and Thought of Allameh Dehkhoda

Abstract

Contemporary Iranian literature, particularly from the Constitutional Revolution onward, has served as a comprehensive reflection of the country’s political and social transformations. Among the prominent figures of this period, Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda (1879–1956), through his diverse body of work—including the satirical articles of Charand-o Parand, poetry, translations, and the most extensive dictionary of the Persian language—played an unparalleled role in critically representing the conditions of his time and shaping modern political and social thought. As one of the pioneers of committed literature and critical satire, Dehkhoda introduced the language of ordinary people into political literature through his Charand-o Parand column in the newspaper Sur-e Esrafil. This study examines the representation of Iran’s political and social conditions during the Constitutional period through the works of Allameh Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda. By analyzing selected examples from Charand-o Parand, his poetry, and the preface to the Dehkhoda Dictionary, the study demonstrates that Dehkhoda’s works were not merely reflections of existing conditions but also constituted a call for political and social action and for the establishment of a modern Iran. Accordingly, Dehkhoda may be regarded not only as a literary figure but also as a social reformer and a progressive intellectual in the contemporary history of Iran. The principal research question is: How, and through which literary mechanisms, did Dehkhoda criticize the bitter realities of Iranian society, and what solutions did he propose for overcoming them? The findings indicate that, through political satire, concision, dark humor, and recourse to the language of the people, Dehkhoda both exposed the corruption of the ruling establishment and foreign interference and traced the roots of national decline to ignorance, superstition, and the alienation of the masses. His thought was founded on the rule of law, freedom, patriotism, the pursuit of knowledge, and the revival of national identity through the Persian language. Employing a qualitative approach and a descriptive-analytical method, and drawing upon the texts of Dehkhoda’s works, this study investigates the representation of political conditions—including Qajar despotism, colonialism, the Constitutional Movement, and the parliament—and social conditions, such as ignorance, superstition, the status of women, poverty, and inequality. It further demonstrates how Dehkhoda used satire to challenge social injustice and the intellectual backwardness of society, thereby laying the groundwork for a fundamental transformation in contemporary Persian prose.