Sādeq Chubak ( fa, صادق چوبک, sometimes Sādegh Choubak; August 5, 1916 July 3, 1998), was an Iranian author of short fiction, drama, and novels. His short stories are characterized by their intricacy, economy of detail, and concentration on a single theme, leading some to compare them to
Persian miniature paintings. Choubak was a naturalist, and his novels reflected the dark side of society. He was a very close friend of
Sadegh Hedayat
Sadegh Hedayat ( fa, صادق هدایت ; 17 February 1903 – 9 April 1951) was an Iranian writer and translator. Best known for his novel '' The Blind Owl'', he was one of the earliest Iranian writers to adopt literary modernism in their care ...
who was an influential writer at that time.
Biography
Sadeq Chubak was born in
Bushehr
Bushehr, Booshehr or Bushire ( fa, بوشهر ; also romanised as ''Būshehr'', ''Bouchehr'', ''Buschir'' and ''Busehr''), also known as Bandar Bushehr ( fa, ; also romanised as ''Bandar Būshehr'' and ''Bandar-e Būshehr''), previously Antioc ...
, where he first studied before moving to
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...
and then
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
. For some time he was employed by the Ministry of Education and the Oil Company. Widely considered as the greatest naturalist writer in
Persian literature
Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
, he has written a large bulk of works including
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
s,
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
, and
plays
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
. The collected stories ''Puppet Show'' and ''The Monkey Whose Master had Died'' have exercised a profound influence on modern Persian literature. Chubak died on 3 July 1998, in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
, U.S.
Writing
![Hedayatroozbeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Hedayatroozbeh.jpg)
In his works, Chubak studies the lives of the downtrodden people of the society who are victimized by iniquities and natural deterministic forces. Sympathetic to the sorrows and miseries of such people, he offers one single solution, combating corruption and injustice.
His novel ''
Tangsir'' details the valorous acts of the fighters in Tangestan. It has been translated into many languages. The setting of this story is
Davvas (also دواس) inhabited mostly by people migrating from other parts of Bushehr province including Tangestan. Irked by social injustice, the protagonist, Zar Mohammad, takes justice into his own hands and fights social iniquities. Zar Mohammad has earned a considerable sum of money and embarks on trading but he is ripped out of his money by the governor. Bitterly despaired by the delay or absence of justice, he takes a gun and kills his enemies one by one. After the killing of the frauds, he is dubbed Shir Mohammad (lion-hearted Mohammad) by the villagers. The theme of justice and revenge fills the entire ambiance of the novel. Once the law is too slow to mete out justice to the ones who deserve it, anarchy will prevail with the consequence that people will decide their own fate and exercise justice in the light of their own definition of the concept. After long ordeals, Shir Mohammad escapes the grip of the law. Chubak laments the social injustice and the blind ignorance of the lawmakers. The quest for justice turns into a messianic mission for the protagonist who comes to be viewed by other villagers as a man who is tasked with liberating them from the tyrannous hands.
[Sadeq Choubak biography]
Iran Chamber Society. Retrieved July 6, 2015
After the publication of ''The Last Alms'' and ''The First Night of the Grave'' Chubak wrote his novel ''The Patient Stone'' which is a great modern novel in Persian literature. This novel details the events in a neighborhood. One of the neighbors called ‘Gohar’ is lost and the characters talk about her from their own point of view. Gohar is the wife of Hajj Ismail the merchant. Since her child has a nosebleed in the shrine, she is accused of adultery and driven out of her home. Now she earns her living on a
temporary-basis marriage with different men. The story begins with her loss and ends with the discovery of her body among the victims of Seif al-Qalam, the killer of whores. All the characters of the novel are infernally captivated by their desires and deterministic powers. They are all exposed to threats of death, rape, and violence. The destructive influence of superstitions is clearly discernible in their lives. The novel is divided into 26 sections, each section narrated through free association. The modern form of narration helps the reader to delve into the characters’ minds and gain a deeper understanding of their worlds. By including the plurality of consciousnesses in the story, Chubak illustrates the life of Gohar from different points of view. The story of ''The Patient Stone'' is based on the suffering and miseries of the downtrodden people that create a dramatic and complex reality.
Polyphony (literature)
In literature, polyphony (russian: полифония) is a feature of narrative, which includes a diversity of simultaneous points of view and voices. Caryl Emerson describes it as "a decentered authorial stance that grants validity to all voices. ...
Gohar is absent in the novel but she constitutes the main talk of the characters. Gohar which literally means jewel can be taken as a symbol for the lost jewel of humanity in the society. Chubak depicts a very brutal world in which people are extremely mortified and they cannot bear the sight of each other.
See also
*
Intellectual Movements in Iran
*
Persian literature
Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
References
Sources
* Deborah Miller Mostaghel, "The Second Sadeq: The Short Stories of Iranian Writer Sadeq Chubak," World Literature Today, 53, no. 2 (1979): 227-231
* Jahangir Dorri, "The Satire of Sadeq Chubak," in Critical Perspectives on Modern Persian Literature, ed. Thomas M. Ricks (Washington DC, 1984), 327-328
* Kinga Markus, "Experiments with the Kunstlerroman in the Modern Persian Fiction: The Patient Stone of Sadeq Chubak and The Night's Journey of Bahman Sholevar", The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies, 3 (1985): 225-239
External links
*
* F. R. C. Bagley
''Sadeq Chubak: An Anthology'' (Delmar, 1982)
*
* Liora Hendelman-Baavur, "Grotesque Corporeality and Literary Aesthetics in Sadeq Chubak's The Patient Stone"
''Iranian Studies'' Vol. 47, No. 4 (July 2014): 569-593
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chubak, Sadeq
1916 births
1998 deaths
Iranian male novelists
Iranian novelists
Iranian male short story writers
People from Bushehr
20th-century novelists
20th-century Iranian short story writers
20th-century male writers
Iranian expatriates in the United States