Clothes in the novel S.-M.-M. Kazemi “Tehran casemates”

Abstract

Iranian writer of the early 20-th century Seyed Mortaza Mosfek Kazemi (1904–1978) entered the history of literature as the founder of the first social novel in Persian literature "Terrible Tehran" in 1922. Absolutely new for Iranian works was the introduction of female images and the disclosure of their problematic existence in a patriarchal culture, on the one hand, and the revelation of the national mentality in the traditional social system, which destroys people in general, does not allow to live, on the other hand. The scientific problem is the understanding of the characters in the novel "Terrible Tehran", which will help to better understand the Eastern mentality. The aim is to highlight the details of clothing, which are an element of the portrait, revealing the psychology of the worldview of the characters. According to Islamic culture, it is forbidden to see a woman. The author uses a portrait to  create the characters of women in the composition. In Persian literature, this is an innovative step, even a scandalous (outrageous) provocation. S.-M.-M. Kazemi`s images are individualized, but the details of the clothes help to form socialization, establish connections with the environment and the status of the person. Details of women's and men's clothing reveal their psychology, the nuances of worldview. According to Iranian tradition, the details of clothing are sparse and few, compared to European works of this period. I interpreted artistic images on the basis of feminist criticism and imagology. This allows you to know "alien", highlights the emotionality, traditionalism and oriental mentality. The details of the clothes indicate the attempts of the Iranians to enter the European discourse, to join the European values, and emphasize the impossibility of this integration at the early 20-th century. S.-M.-M. Kazemi`s details of clothing are single, they concentrate intensity and eloquence.