Motaleate Shahri

Urban Design

The Comparison between Sohrab Sepehri's Poetry and Famous Environmentalists: Substantial Themes of City and Nature

Volume 2, Issue 5 , March 2013, , Pages 73-79

Abstract

Concepts such as space, place and nature are important concerns to which poets frequently refer. Sohrab Sepehri, Nima Youshij and Shamlou are cases in point. Among contemporary poets who not only speak of nature and city aversion but also probe into city naturally and ecologically each in their own ... Read More Concepts such as space, place and nature are important concerns to which poets frequently refer. Sohrab Sepehri, Nima Youshij and Shamlou are cases in point. Among contemporary poets who not only speak of nature and city aversion but also probe into city naturally and ecologically each in their own ways, Sohrab Sepehri is a prominent figure. His natural and ecological approach to the Iranian cities and villages conveys a different mode of thought. Mainly aiming at investigating Sepehri's perspective on city, this paper sets itself the task of exploring the similarities between his approach with environmental artists and designers. Far from the conflicts and struggles of the first and second decades of the contemporary era, the urban middle class has fully immersed itself in pastoralism, introversion, nostalgia, individualism, naturism, and social aversion to find a calm and relaxed refuge; hence, it looks for a poet that strikes a chord with their internal potentials and, in their longing for such as voice, they inevitably come to Sohrab Sepehri. Sohrab Sepehri's nostalgia for nature and city reminds us of the unknown environmental designers such as Macharg and Spirn in the 20 th century. Their positions on the importance of nature in the city and urban spaces introduce a new paradigm which is poetically and emotionally stated by Sohrab, too. His different attitude towards the urban nostalgia parallels the urban ecology and greenery. Sohrab's attention to the ecosystems and living structures in city and village reveals his different understanding and sentiment of nature. This main object of this paper is to investigate Sepehri's resemblances with contemporary unknown environmental artists and designers such as Macharg, Spirn and Turner regarding city and nature. The method used in this paper draws on content analysis to analyse Sohrab Sepehri’s works and poetry. Afterwards, Sohrab's poetry is, first, investigated and, then, the extracted main concepts and themes are classified into four categories. According to this method and due to his affinity with environmental designers', Sohrab's central standpoint towards the city and nature indicates a naturalist viewpoint. This paper show that Sohrab tries to stand aloof from his identity and the society around him, seeking not only a nostalgic utopia that is the symbol of peace, composure but also returning to nature and becoming intimate with it. Sepehri looks for both a utopia in which the windows are opened to expression and a city that all its elements are in essence acceptable. In addition, Sohrab’s writings are pervaded by hidden natural and ecological values whose basics are immanent principles settled by God in universe and nature. Eventually, Sepehri senses homesickness and regret stemming from city and the country conditions in his society. In his solitude and calmness of terrestrial natural beauties, he esteems identity and ecological values and talks about the connection between mankind and the environment. Moreover, another finding of this paper substantiates the relationship between literary domains and environmental areas as an interdisciplinary researches. Thus, doing researches that properly emphasize this connection can help this area.

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Keywords = nostalgic utopia

The Comparison between Sohrab Sepehri's Poetry and Famous Environmentalists: Substantial Themes of City and Nature

Abstract