Absurdity in Akhavan Sales' Poem "Inscription" (Katibeh)

The theater of the absurd, with its roots in French theater, is one of the literary traditions influenced by the political events of the 20th century Europe. Fast spreading all over Europe, its effects were evident on other literary forms. At the same time, Iranian intellectuals developed an interest in it and introduced its masterpieces in translations to the Iranians. Having been influenced by the political events of the 1330s and the 1340s, absurdist works began to emerge in Iran too. Mahdi Akhavan-Sales was one of the early practitioners who tried his hand at this new form. This article deals with the intellectual and the historical backgrounds of absurdism in western literature, the meaning of the word ‘absurd’ and its place in the European literature, and its features and implications. In the following part, the socio-political situations of the 1330s and the 1340s, which are the historical background to Akhavan’s "Katibeh", are presented. The third part is dedicated to identification and an in-depth analysis of the absurdist features of this poem. Finally, it is concluded that Akhavan was quite familiar with this tradition and has almost used all its features in "Katibeh".