Kazem Kazemi

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Kazem Kazemi

Mohammad Kazem Kazemi ( Persian محمد کاظم کاظمی, DMG Muḥammad Kāẓim Kāẓimī ; * January 10, 1968 in Herat , Afghanistan ) is an Afghan poet , writer , literary critic and trained civil engineer . Kazemi is a board member of Dorr-e Dari ( Persian در دری, 'Pearl of Dari ') and Khat-te-Sevom ( Persian خط سوم, 'The Third Script') and is considered one of the most important Persian-speaking poets of our time. In 1991 he became known nationally and internationally for his iconic poem "The Return".

Since then he has written numerous books on Afghanistan and Afghan poets and writers. Kazemi currently lives in Mashhad , Iran .

Life

Origin and family

Kazem Kazemi was born on January 10, 1968 in Herat as the son of a socially and politically active Muslim businessman. His grandfather, Hādj Mohammad Kazem, was also a poet and writer.

Childhood and youth

Kazemi spent his childhood in Herat in a very simple family. In 1975, due to the increasingly unstable political situation in Herat, he moved to Kabul and went to school there. In 1984 he left Afghanistan and emigrated to the Islamic Republic of Iran. He wanted to avoid military service and thus an operation against the insurgents during the Soviet-Afghan war .

Education and beginning of literary career

In 1984–1987 he attended high school in Mashhad. He then studied civil engineering at Firdausi University in Mashhad from 1987 to 1991 . After completing his studies, however, he never worked as a civil engineer. During his student days, Kazemi came into contact with some famous Iranian poets who inspired him in his later career as a poet and writer. Although Kazemi had written lyrical texts as a child and wrote his first complete and professional poem at the age of fourteen, it was at literary and poetry events in Iran where he focused on works by well-known poets such as those of Abdul Qader Bedil , Khalilullah Khalili and Ali Moalem Damghani , became aware. These poets left formative influences in Kazemi's works.

Poetry

Some of Kazemi's poems appeared in school books. With the poem Baazgascht ( Persian بازگشت, 'The Return'), which Kazemi wrote in 1991, achieved national and international fame. “The Return”, which tells of the return of an Afghan immigrant to Afghanistan, is considered to be one of the most important and iconic poems of contemporary Persian poetry . The strong, but sometimes ironic metaphors in the poem, with which Kazemi describes the suffering of Afghan immigrants in Iran, but also the cultural and religious similarities between the two nations, make the poem an icon of an entire war generation. Kazemi begins the poem with the following four verses (translation by Ebrahim Fazly):

At dusk, when the breath of the street is still warm, I'll go
I came here on foot and I will go on foot
The spell of my exile will be broken tonight
and the sofa that was empty will be wrapped up.

In his literary and poetic style, Kazemi is influenced by poets and writers such as Bidil , Khalilullah Khalili and Ali Moalem Damghani . In an interview with an Iranian website, he once said that he could recite 3,000 verses from Bidil's poems by heart. Other famous poems by Kazemi are “Masnavi-e-Kufran” ( Persian مثنویِ کفران, 'Obscenity'), "Shatranj" ( Persian شطرنج, 'Chess') and "Shab Hamchenan Siyah ast" ( Persian شب همچنان سیاه است, 'The night stays black').

Other literary works

Kazemi dealt very intensively with Afghan or generally Persian literature and has written numerous reviews in this area in books and articles. He also has the book Rosaneh ( Persian روزنه, 'Window'), the fourth edition of which was published in spring 2012, was written as a specialist poetry book. In the book Ham-Sobani, Bi-Sobani ( Persian همزبانی ، بی‌زبانی, 'One Language, Not One Language'), Kazemi conducts ethnolinguistic research on the Persian language, examining the language in the three Persian-speaking countries of Afghanistan , Iran and Tajikistan .

Reviews

Kazemi and his works received mostly positive reviews. Many critics praised his works and his ambitious efforts to bring Afghan literature closer to the Iranians, but also to the international readership in general. Kazemi's dealings with politicians in Iran were viewed critically by some circles in Afghanistan and Iranians living in the diaspora. The poems that he dedicated to Ruhollah Khomeini were also received negatively in some Afghan circles. His participation in a poetry round organized by Ali Chamene'i was also very controversial in some circles.

Works

  • Poetry of Resistance in Afghanistan ( Persian شعر مقاومت در افغانستان), 1991
  • Persian poetry ( Persian شعر پارسی), 1st edition, 2000
  • One language, not one language ( Persian همزبانی و بی‌زبانی), 1st edition, 2003
  • The key of an open door ( Persian کلیدِ در باز), 1st edition, 2008
  • Obscenity, ( Persian کفران), 2nd edition, 2009
  • Selected Ghazals by Bidel ( Persian گزیدهء غزل‌های بیدل), 2nd edition, 2009
  • I came here on foot ( Persian پیاده آمده بودم), 3rd edition, 2009
  • The Sweet Persian Language ( Persian قند پارسی), 1st edition, 2010
  • Observation of the morning ( Persian رصد صبح), 2nd edition, 2011
  • History of stones and bricks ( Persian قصه سنگ و خشت), 6th edition, 2011
  • Window ( Persian روزنه), 4th edition, 2012

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Aria Fani: Poetry. One Tongue, No Tongue: 'Return' and Afghan-Iranian Dialogue. Frontline, May 13, 2012.
  2. ^ Iranian organization commemorates Afghan poet Mohammad-Kazem Kazemi. The IRAS Institute
  3. ↑ Zuzanna Olszweska: The Pearl of Dari: Poetry and Personhood Among Young Afghans in Iran . (Public Cultures of the Middle East and North Africa) Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2015, p. 121
personal data
SURNAME Kazemi, Kazem
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kāẓimī, Muḥammad Kāẓim; محمد کاظم کاظمی
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Afghan poet and writer
DATE OF BIRTH January 10, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Herat