The Role of Translation in Debut of Theatre on Iranian Stage and Evolution of Contemporary Persian Drama

Abstract

Evolution of contemporary Persian drama was not without a historical background. The Iranians were acquainted with dramatic conversations and performances, the indispensable elements of theatre. From among the Inranian traditional performances it was Ta’zieh which could deviate from its ritual path. Developed from a simple public mourning into a full-fledged national drama, Ta’zieh’s theatrical aspects increased; though in Qajar period the way was paved for Tazieh to evolve into a national theatre, it was not promoted to that position. Social and political changes under the Constitutional Revolution shaped a new order in the Iraninan society. With reshaping of the Iranian socio-cultural polysystem the young domestic model of drama (Ta’zieh) was shuned by influential social classes, pushed to periphery and a foreign model (Theatre) was adopted. In this process translation assumed a central position. Applying polysystem theory, this study is an attempt to investigate the role and position of translation in the process of the evolution of contemporary Persian drama. To this aim, after surveying the Iranian’s familiarity with dramatic conversations and the art of performance and their paths to developing into dramatic literature, the influential people, texts, events and trends which in specific historical moments paved the way for the evolution of contemporary Persian drama were accounted.