Ehsan Tabari and Literary Criticism

Ehsan Tabari (born February 8, 1917, in Sari – died April 29, 1989, in Tehran) was a writer, poet, and prominent Marxist-Leninist theorist. Tabari holds a significant place in the history of modern Iranian literary criticism. With an understanding of modern schools and concepts of criticism in world literature and by writing essays on literary and artistic criticism, he profoundly influenced a generation of Iranian intellectuals. His perspective on literary and artistic criticism through socialist realism became acceptable to a group of Iranian thinkers and artists. Tabari viewed criticism and research as tools for mobilizing contemporary thought toward the progress of Iranian society. Although his criticism and opinions were sometimes tainted by ideological motives, his direction was toward awakening and vigilance, with a focus on the future. Tabari’s contribution to promoting critical thinking and the expansion of modern Iranian literature and art is considerable. His essays on literary criticism, despite opposing the views of genuine free Iranian intellectuals, are critically analyzed in this book as a historical reality in the history of modern Iranian literary criticism.