Words and Silence

Mahmoud Kianoush, a poet, novelist, and literary critic, in introducing the novella “Words and Silence” with the subtitle “A Madman’s Long Talk in a Short Story,” says: “I wrote this story during my third year of residence in England, between March 25 and July 21, 1978, and published it in Tehran during a short trip home in October 1979. ‘On the surface,’ the story’s setting is Iran, the characters are Iranian, and the time is the era of power domination using the ignorance of the obedient majority and the suppression of the aware protesting minority. ‘At heart,’ it is the narrative of a questioning, searching, and dissatisfied human against the misdeeds of mankind in a society doomed to obey ignorance along a wrongful path at any time and anywhere on earth. The story begins as follows: ‘I apologize to many of you for speaking. I know you did not expect it. But believe me, I have no intention of disrespect or disturbance. They have mistaken about you. If they had a bit of sense and had looked beyond their own noses, they would understand that everyone has their own nature. For example, you do not want to speak. Well, what business is it of anyone…’ From here starts the story of ‘Words’ and ‘Silence.’