Shahnameh, Re-Imagined: A Colorful New Vision of Old Iranian Folklore

Filmmaker Hamid Rahmanian's forthcoming illustrated tome will bring new, vivid life to the epic tales of the ancient Persian kings.

Courtesy Quantuck Lane Press and The Atlantic

by Steven Heller, The Atlantic

The ancient mythology of Iran is laden with heroic adventures of superhuman champions, magical creatures, heart-wrenching love stories, and centuries-long battles. Ferdowsi's 10th-century text Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), which at 60,000 verses weighs in as the longest epic poems ever written, is a foundation for this mythology, comparable to The Odyssey, Nibelungenlied, and Ramayana.

There has been a long tradition of depicting the stories of Shahnameh, even before Ferdowsi put them into verse. But that tradition reached its zenith in the 17th century and died out in the middle of the 19th. So, for more than 100 years, there has not been an illustrated Shahnameh, except for an occasional drawing of a story here and there.

That will change in May, though, with Quantuck Lane Press's publication of Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings, which was produced, designed, and obsessively illustrated over the course of three years by the filmmaker Hamid Rahmanian. The colorful and painstakingly produced tome aims in part to make Persian culture's oldest stories accessible to the Western world—especially to the children of immigrants, for whom these stories may be new.

 

 Courtesy Quantuck Lane Press and The Atlantic

"If you walk through a bookstore here in the US, you can find scores of books on Greek, Egyptian, Northern European, Native American, Chinese, even Pacific Island mythology," Rahmanian tells me in an email. "But there is nothing about Persian mythology. It just doesn't exist. Yet, it's a sophisticated, entertaining, relatable mythology. I wanted to create a book that [my daughter] and other second or third generation Iranian kids growing up outside of Iran could read and enjoy and be proud of to call their own and most importantly, share with the broader world."

To that effect, he says, "this new edition has been trimmed down to make it accessible to the lay reader." Working with editorial director Melissa Hibbard and translator Ahmad Sadri, Rahmanian focused on only two-thirds of Shahnameh, which starts with the beginning of civilization and ends with the death of the main hero, Rostam. He illustrated several plots and themes, including nightmares, dreams, and inner dialogue of the main characters that have not been illustrated before. "I have no idea why, but during the last 1,000 years of illustrating the stories of Shahnameh, no one has ever depicted these themes," he says.

Shahnameh continues to enthrall readers around the globe with its depictions of superhuman heroes, magical birds, heart-wrenching love stories, and fierce battles. Courtesy Hamid Rahmanian and Asia Society

Most of the book's images in its 500 pages are collages or composites of other artworks. Rahmanian created the "panels" in this edition, much like a movie editor or a DJ weaves together different components to create a new work of art. Instead of sampling sounds or frames, he used bits from miniatures and lithographs from different eras, schools, and stories. Every panel contains upwards of 120 elements that were digitally collaged into new illustrations. Little was drawn from scratch.

"Since I didn't have a budget to travel to where the original works were, I had to rely on art books," he says. "I think I bought every book that has been published on the subject of miniatures, lithographs and illuminations from the region." In the end, Rahmanian's library had more than 8,000 pieces of lithographs, miniatures, and illuminations that he would later cut out and recompose.

Inspired by the wealth of imagery he found in different editions of Shahnameh, artist Hamid Rahmanian experimented with bringing together images from different styles and periods. Courtesy Hamid Rahmanian and Asia Society

Amazingly, except for natural elements such as clouds, rocks, flowers, and cliffs, there are very few elements that repeat. "I wanted every page to be a surprise," he says. "I wanted the reader to explore each illustration with a sense of newness. I felt that if I used the same detail more than once, the element of surprise would be less, and that the reader might get bored."

As a child in Iran, Rahmanian grew up with Shahnameh and knew a few of the main stories but was not familiar with most of the book. He recalls being intimidated by the mass of the book. What's more, the stories are a bit mature for younger kids, but it's a book full of fairy tales, magical creatures and epic battles and the images are a feast for the eyes at any age.

"I definitely made this with my own daughter in mind," he says. "She's only one year old now but I plan to read this to her as she gets a little older."

 Courtesy Quantuck Lane Press and The Atlantic

Rahmanian admits the past three years working on the book was a combination of hard struggle and a lot of tedious labor: "I developed a mantra about halfway through the work and it was: 'Hamid, shut up and work!' You might laugh at this but the weight of the project was so heavy that there were moments when I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel."

But he adds it was nonetheless important that "this project highlight a different dimension of the Iranian culture to counter the popular images that prevail these days. Iran is misunderstood and vilified in those images. I wanted to underline the depth, the diversity and the universally of my culture. So, now that I look back I feel the project was well worth all those hardships."

Composed by the poet Ferdowsi between 980 and 1010, the work tells the story of pre-Islamic Iran, beginning at the time of the mythic creation through the Arab invasion of the seventh century. Courtesy Hamid Rahmanian and Asia Society

Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings is the great epic of Persia, composed by the poet Ferdowsi between 980 and 1010. It tells the story of pre-Islamic Iran, beginning at the time of the mythic creation through the Arab invasion of the seventh century. Grieved by the fall of the Persian empire, Ferdowsi sought to create a work that would capture the memory, culture and nostalgia of the golden days of Persia. A mix of mythology and history, packed with stories of triumph and courage, failure and cruelty, love and war, Shahnameh can only be compared to works such as Gilgamesh, the Mahabharata, Homer’s Odyssey or Dante's Divine Comedy.

 Courtesy Hamid Rahmanian and Asia Society

Hamid Rahmanian is an award-winning filmmaker and graphic artist based in New York City. Inspired by the wealth of imagery he found in different editions of Shahnameh, Rahmanian experimented with bringing together images from different styles and periods. The work grew and grew, different characters came to life, and 100,000 hours of work later, he had created an entirely new illustrated edition of the classic text. Culled from thousands of illustrated manuscripts, lithographs and miniatures dating from the 14th to 19th centuries, each page is a collage of traditional forms transformed into a wholly new work that Sheila Canby, Curator of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has dubbed "a Shahnameh for the digital age." Rahmanian's artwork is complemented, meanwhile, by a new English prose translation of Ferdowsi's verse by Ahmad Sadri, James P. Gorter Chair of Islamic World Studies at Lake Forest College.


Via The Atlantic and Asia Society

The Kafkaesque World Of An Iranian Cartoonist

Iranian Mana Neyestani, shown here in one of his works, now lives in exile in France. Image courtesy RFE/RL

by Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL

A cockroach landed Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani in jail and turned his life upside down.

In 2006, a cartoon by Neyestani that showed the pest speaking Azeri sparked riots among Iran's minority Azeris. The cartoon, which ran in the children's section of the state newspaper, "Iran," showed a cockroach asking, "What?" in Azeri. It was deemed insulting by many members of Iran's Azeri minority, who took to the streets to show their anger.

The government responded with force. Nineteen people reportedly died in the clashes and many others were arrested.

Neyestani and the editor of the paper ended up in solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin prison under conditions the cartoonist described as "Kafkaesque." Three months later, Neyestani used a temporary prison leave to flee the country with his wife. He finally ended up in exile in France after spending time in several other countries, including Turkey, Malaysia, and China.

Now, the 39-year-old cartoonist has recounted his time in prison in a graphic novel titled "An Iranian Metamorphosis," which was recently published in France. The book, whose title is a reference to Franz Kafka's famous story about a man who turns into a giant insect and is ostracized by his family, is also due to be published in other European countries and possibly in the United States.
 

In the novel, Neyestani's time in jail -- including the psychological torture he faced and numerous interrogations where he was purportedly asked to confess to having received money from foreigners and other fabricated charges -- is depicted in powerful black-and-white illustrations with his signature dark humor and, of course, many cockroaches.


In one scene, he tells his interrogator he decided to use the word "Namana" -- which is "what" in Azeri -- because many Iranians use it while speaking Farsi.

"I didn't have its Azeri origins in mind," he says.

The interrogator tells Neyestani that he's unconvincing and asks him to think of better motives, as well as to provide "all the information he has about his fellow cartoonists."

An architect by training, the real-life Neyestani says he decided to produce the book to illustrate the difficult and often absurd, tragicomic situation intellectuals in Iran face.

Running Commentary

To many Iranians, Neyestani is known as the creator of a comic strip called "The Engaged Family," which for the last two years has documented the life of a middle-class Iranian family. The family supports the opposition Green Movement and Neyestani chronicles their interactions with "the dictator."

The strip, which is published on a Persian news website based abroad, has gained enormous popularity for the way it shows how humor can help people cope with the painful realities of life in Iran.

A recent installment of "The Engaged Family" reflected the anger many members of the opposition felt after they heard the news that former President Mohammad Khatami had voted in the March parliamentary elections, which other reformists boycotted.

In the cartoon, the grandfather of the family has broken a mirror over a dazed-looking Khatami, who is standing next to a ballot box covered with bloody handprints.

Photo Gallery: Some of Neyestani's works:

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Neyestani's cartoons pulse with feelings of hope, lack of freedom, and frustration with the absurd social and political rules that Iranians face in their day-to-day lives. His drawings depict Iranian leaders as obsessed with nuclear power, show how sanctions hurt ordinary people, evoke the specter of war with Israel, highlight the plight of political prisoners, and, in general, draw attention to vexing issues on the minds of many Iranians.

Portraying Peace

Another recent cartoon was inspired by the "Israel Loves Iran" antiwar campaign. It went viral in late March after Neyestani posted it on his Facebook page.

The drawing shows two podiums facing each other, one with the flag of Iran and the other with the flag of Israel. Two men -- appearing to represent the leaders of the two countries -- are yelling at each other with words depicted in the shape of bombs. Underneath the men, outstretched hands are rising out of the podiums and exchanging red roses with each other.

The powerful imagery reflects how Neyestani feels about the idea of military conflict over Iran's nuclear activities.

"I think the majority of Iranians share this concern," he tells RFE/RL. "It's a serious threat and worry. We hear about it on a daily basis in the news. For me, it is a constant nightmare because I believe it might have very bad consequences."

'Iran's Modern History'

Columbia University professor and author Hamid Dabashi says Neyestani's work is so powerful because of the artist's "organic relation" to his homeland.

"I consider [Neyestani's] work as the illustrated memory of our time, the wide-awake conscience of our time," Dabashi says. "[Neyestani] is watching Iran's history closely with his creative imagination -- he's [producing] the illustrated satire of our time. When you look at his work, it is as if you were listing Iran's modern history day by day."

Such high praise is not uncommon. But the accolades and acclaim don't appear to have gone to Neyestani's head.

"The only thing I've done is to try to remain faithful to my beliefs and to be honest to myself," Neyestani says.

While Iran's leadership continues its negotiating dance with the international community, ... Neyestani plans to continue drawing cartoons. It's the best way he says he's found to express his views and make a living at the same time. 

Via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 

Iranian Comic-Book Artists Seek a Unique, Local Identity

by Marc Bennetts, The New York Times

From the grinning Statue of Liberty skull on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy to bloody scenes from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that cover entire sides of residential buildings, graphic art is everywhere in central Tehran.

But graphic arts, like most forms of expression in the Islamic Republic, are tightly controlled by the authorities, whose watchful eye extends even to Iran’s tiny but growing domestic comic book scene. Iranian graphic artists have won international acclaim but are still struggling for acceptance at home. 

A rare exhibition of comic book art was held in Tehran this spring. Amin Tavakoli, an illustrator in his 20s, participated. “We haven’t published much,” he said. “But we have great potential.” 

Many young Iranian artists admit to a passion for comic books from the United States and Europe. They can be purchased in Tehran, though they are expensive and often covered with the censors’ black ink. But local artists say they are trying to stamp their work with an Iranian identity. 

Life for them, though, is not easy because their creative aspirations are kept firmly in check by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, responsible for approving all publications in the country. 

“All our art has to conform to Islamic law,” said Mr. Tavakoli. “So our published art differs a lot from Western graphic novels. For example, women’s hair should not be visible, and all female characters have to be dressed in accordance with Islamic tradition.” 

And even then, their work can run into trouble.

One recent domestic release, “The Story of Ashura,” a graphic novel, tells the story of the slaying and decapitation of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in 680 A.D. It depicts the defining moment of Shiite Islam in 60 brightly colored pages complete with speech bubbles, one of which read, “By the holy name of God, seeking his grace, I leave this world, loyal to the creed of His messenger.” 

Hussein’s death at the hands of his enemies deepened the rift between Islam’s two major sects, Sunni and Shiite. It is commemorated annually by believers in 10 days of mourning known as Ashura, an outpouring of grief that features self-flagellation. 

But the book caused a minor scandal after its release earlier this year because Islamic law forbids the pictorial representation of holy figures. The authorities only allowed its publication after the book’s illustrator, Parviz Eghbali, convinced them that the depictions were “unique in their kind and cannot be assumed to resemble anyone.” 

An English-language version of “The Story of Ashura” was on show at the comic book art exhibition at Tehran’s House of the Artist, a popular gathering place for local intellectuals. The walls of the gallery were covered with blown-up pages of comic art covering subjects as diverse as environmentalism and Iran’s triumphant 1998 soccer World Cup play-off against Australia. But most of the art on show remains unpublished and was from private collections. 

The approach taken by the authorities means that most comic books published in Iran are either about religious themes or the Iran-Iraq War, Mr. Tavakoli said. 

The apocalyptic 1980-1988 conflict with Iraq led to about one million deaths on the Iranian side alone, decimating an entire generation. The war also saw graphic artists pressganged into the service of the state, producing dozens of cartoon-style posters urging the youth of the Islamic Republic to follow in the footsteps of Hussein and sacrifice themselves for Shiite Islam and Iran. 

A decade or so after the war’s end, satirical cartoon art began to flourish in the Islamic Republic under a reformist president, Mohammad Khatami, but a crackdown followed the 2005 election victory of his successor, the hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 

“A number of comic books published in Iran were outlawed with Ahmadinejad’s coming to power,” said Farian Sabahi, a professor at the University of Turin who specializes in the history of Islamic countries and is an expert on Iranian cartoon art. “Many cartoonists are currently working abroad and publishing their work on the Internet.” 

One prominent example of Internet-based Iranian art was “Zahra’s Paradise,” a work that depicts the violent aftermath of the Islamic Republic’s disputed 2009 presidential elections. The graphic novel by anonymous artists was published on the Web earlier this year and has won acclaim in the West. 

In a review posted on the blog of The New York Review of Books, Haleh Esfandari wrote last November that the novel’s drawings “represent a distinctly Iranian style of humor, a means of puncturing pretence and power.” 

While most Iranian works are still unknown abroad, “Persepolis,” the best-selling graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, drew international attention. The book tells the story of her childhood and teenage years in pre- and post-Islamic Revolution Iran and was made into a successful animated film in 2007. 

It describes Ms. Satrapi’s struggles as she tries to balance a love for Western rock and pop with life in Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s Islamic Republic. 

“That book is the story of my childhood,” said Ali, a comic book fan, sipping green tea in a hip cafe in wealthy north Tehran. “It’s so true.” He did not want to give his family name. 

Still, the criticism of the Islamic Republic’s leaders in “Zahra’s Paradise” and “Persepolis” means neither are permitted in Iran, though smuggled copies are available. 

“Persepolis” has also caused controversy elsewhere in the Muslim world. Blasphemy charges were brought against the owner of a television station that aired the animated film version in Tunisia last October. The offending portion was a scene in which the young Ms. Satrapi imagines herself scolding God. 

Another area that Mr. Tavakoli and his colleagues try to avoid is politics. “It’s not a good topic to work on,” he said. 

Despite the challenges, local artists hope for domestic success. Unlike in the West, where graphic novels are accepted, the Iranian comic book is struggling to make headway. 

Even so, Mr. Tavakoli stressed that Iranian comic books are about more than simply adopting American or European styles. “We try not to copy Western comic books,” he said. “We are creating a unique Iranian identity.” 

Via The New York Times

Magical Gallows Humour in Tehran

Expectations have been enormous for the follow-up to Persepolis. Would it be a new masterwork full of rebellion and subversion? Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud have instead taken a completely different trajectory with their new film "Chicken with plums." The result is a wonderful, surreal melodrama.

Scene from Marjane Satrapi's ''Chicken with Plums''

By Susan Vahabzadeh, Qantara.de

One thing has to be made clear from the start – food is a big deal for your average Persian. If you can't shake someone out of a gloomy mood with their favourite dish, it can only mean that they are desperately unhappy. Nasser Ali Khan (Mathieu Amalric), the mournful hero of the new film by Marjane Satrapi, the creator of "Persepolis" (once again in collaboration with Vincent Paronnaud), sees no meaning in life after the loss of his violin.

At first, he attempts to find a comparable instrument as a replacement, but when he does not succeed in his quest, his reaction appears quite drastic. He decides to die. That is the opening premise of "Chicken with Plums," and the rest of the film is an exploration of misfortune and melancholy, as well as a fabulous explanation of why some people simply have had enough of life.

Angels of death and a good dose of black humour

"Chicken with Plums" takes us on a journey to Tehran during the era of the Shah. The film actually has the look and feel of the cinema of that time. It is as if Douglas Sirk filmed a melodrama in Persian, yet, with a surreal touch and featuring mysterious antique dealers, angels of death, and a good dose of black humour.

"An exploration of misfortune and melancholy": Marjane Satrapi's "Chicken with Plums" tells the story of a man who decides to die after the loss of his violin

There is even a brief excursion into the future with a glimpse of what awaits Nasser's children. His daughter becomes a chain-smoking scoundrel and his son is stranded in provincial America. What we see from these lives in exile and how they both fade into the culture into which they have become entrapped would in itself be material enough for a full-length feature. In all likelihood, a comedy.

Yet, Satrapi wants to savour the sense of misery. She combines diverse thematic elements – emotional, societal, political, and the hopes and dreams of 1950s Iran, which contrast sharply with the sense of confinement and bourgeois mentality associated with Europe in the same post-war era.

A wild and original tapestry

Marjane Satrapi can't boast of a violinist among her relatives – while Nasser Ali Khan is a violinist and a renowned one at that – but she still did not have to stray too far from her own biography. She helps herself to her family's anecdotal treasure house and has spun together the memories into a wild and original tapestry.

The drama of Nasser's life is rolled out bit by bit and the viewer sees how he has only succeeded in making a failure of himself. We see him trounced by his brother and bossed about by his mother. And then there is Irâne, the great love of his life, played Golshifteh Farahani, one of the few Iranians to star in the film, who he failed to marry.

Of course, this is the woman who he could never forget, the source of all happiness and all evil. We are all the same when it comes to love, says Marjane Satrapi. If we have money, we can even alter death, but not love.

"Savouring the sense of misery": Iranian-born French graphic novelist, illustrator, animated film director, and children's book author Marjane Satrapi

A plethora of emotional failures

Nasser's mother pushed him into marrying the wrong woman, Faranguisse (played by Maria de Medeiros). He finds no pleasure in her company, apart from his favourite dish. It was she, who in a fit of jealousy, broke his violin.

Almost like a collection of slapstick sketches, Nasser contemplates all forms of death, which he finds either disgusting or degrading, until he finally decides to shut himself up in his room and wait eight days until he simply dies. Every day, we follow him on a journey into his past, and every day is an encounter with a different person and a different emotional failure.

Like her autobiographical animation film "Persepolis," Satrapi's "Chicken with Plums" is based on one of her graphic novels. The animation universe with its chimerical wafts of mist has here cleaved its way into live-action cinema. Despite this, there was a certain degree of disappointment at the film's competition premiere in Venice this fall. Many in the audience had expected a more subversive and rebellious line from Marjane Satrapi.

Little leeway for open politicizing

Yet, Satrapi and Paronnaud announced long before they had begun work on their second film together that it would be a very different project from "Persepolis." And, in many respects, this is true, not only because it is not an animated feature, but because it deals with a completely different period in Iran's history and there is less leeway for open politicizing.

However, the manner of narrative with its magical gallows humour and the way reality and the supernatural flow into each other is something that both films have in common. "Chicken with plums" does not pursue a single target but is more a tapestry of fairy tales built upon the interwoven stories from Nasser's life. This labyrinth structure is clearly intended. If one really wants to get to the bottom of the yearning for death, then there is no need to start with simplifications.

Last but not least, "Chicken with plums" is an ode to free will. Nasser's life is a reflection of the dilemma facing those who know they should rebel and fight injustice, but who often resign themselves to achieving very little in this world. And this in itself is hardly an apolitical question.

Susan Vahabzadeh

POULET AUX PRUNES, F 2011 – Director and screenplay: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud. Camera: Christophe Beaucarne. With: Mathieu Amalric, Maria de Medeiros, Golshifteh Farahani, Chiara Mastroianni, Isabella Rossellini, Jamel Debbouze. Prokino, 93 minutes.
Translated from the German by John Bergeron

Via Qantara.de