Writing neo-memoirs
11 December 2010
By Mahmoud Ebadian, writer and philosophy researcher
A distinctive feature of neo-memoirs is their direct contact with war events and the people related to war. Memoirs are mainly reports with thought provoking traces void of any discrete literary devices.
IBNA: The human move forward in the course of life not only encompasses different literary genres, it also develops requisite genres.
New genres form on the event of social movements. One of the examples of such movements was the outbreak of the Iraq-imposed war on Iran which led to the formation of a new literary form: memoirs.
Memoir writing addressed the memories written by soldiers and peoples in the front line and war bases.
Memory is a newly developed genre of war literature. It is comparable with short stories in length being disparate in theme and plot. Memories should be distinguished from memoirs which are a distinct literary genre which form a subclass of autobiography.
A distinctive feature of neo-memoirs is their direct contact with war events and the people related to war. Memoirs are mainly reports with thought provoking traces void of any discrete literary devices.
The event should be reported so vividly by the writer which resemble the same images in the reader''s mind as those who really engaged in the event.
The genre seems to be formed spontaneously and in pursuit of some aims: to report and record the events as the writer has seen them, to show the corresponding reactions and to disseminate the whole process.
Memoirs were more acclaimed during the war but it is very improbable that no further adoptions of the genre be assumed.
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Loss of Memory in Pahlavi Prisons
In total, [I was in prison] about 6 years in two arrests. For the first time after several years, a soldier arranged my escape. I do not know why! Maybe he was one of the influential elements of Islamic groups. They took me to the hospital for the treatment of my hand, which was broken due to the callousness of an officer.Hajj Pilgrimage
I went on a Hajj pilgrimage in the early 1340s (1960s). At that time, few people from the army, gendarmerie and police went on a pilgrimage to the holy Mashhad and holy shrines in Iraq. It happened very rarely. After all, there were faithful people in the Iranian army who were committed to obeying the Islamic halal and haram rules in any situation, and they used to pray.A section of the memories of a freed Iranian prisoner; Mohsen Bakhshi
Programs of New Year HolidaysWithout blooming, without flowers, without greenery and without a table for Haft-sin , another spring has been arrived. Spring came to the camp without bringing freshness and the first days of New Year began in this camp. We were unaware of the plans that old friends had in this camp when Eid (New Year) came.
Attack on Halabcheh narrated
With wet saliva, we are having the lunch which that loving Isfahani man gave us from the back of his van when he said goodbye in the city entrance. Adaspolo [lentils with rice] with yoghurt! We were just started having it when the plane dives, we go down and shelter behind the runnel, and a few moments later, when the plane raises up, we also raise our heads, and while eating, we see the high sides ...
