A Comparative Analysis of Nostalgia in Contemporary Local Poems

One of the distinctive aspects of Iranian local cultures is the local poems that are composed and sung in the local dialect. Even though they are different from formal literature, these poems are well known among tribes. Long and nostalgic poems are a new phenomenon in local poetry which emerged in the second half of the 19th century in different Iranian tribes. These poems, which mostly reflect the pre-modern age of Pahlavi, are indicators of nostalgia and sad loneliness among local poets and Iranian tribes. In this article, the nostalgic aspects of 40 recognized poems are analyzed. This analysis shows that the return to infancy or nature is the major feature of nostalgia in such poems, and the local poets try to revive the collective memories of the tribe and their local identity by pinpointing the environment, cultures, games, tools, people, and places. Other aspects of nostalgia such as mythology or complaints of life are reflected relatively less in these poems. The representation of the aspects of Iranian local culture in this research demonstrates that these components, regardless of being different, have numerous similarities as well.