Critical Analysis of Symbolism in Fereidoon Tavallali’s Nafeh

The expression of an experience beyond the ordinary experience of life gives the writing a real but indefinable nature, which can be conveyed to the audience only with the help of the infinite world of words and the capacity contained in the semantic circle woven around it and such indefinable words are nurtured in the symbolic space and become expressive. With a brief look at the religions, traditions, beliefs, and literature of different nations, we see human life full of symbols and symbolism; since the work of art can’t be imagined separately from its surroundings, the widespread use of the symbol in literature, which depicts various aspects of human life, does not seem far-fetched. Although Tavallali and some scholars strongly believe that symbols are not used in his poems, the present study, by expressing the functions of symbol and symbolic words and through the lens of symbolism reveals how he makes use of symbols in his poems in the collection titled Nafeh. The current research discloses the clear signs of symbolism in Tavallali´s poems by highlighting symbolic uses. In so doing, this study opens new and ignored horizons for those readers interested in his poems. The approach applied in the present research is descriptive-analytical emphasizing the socio-political issues as well. Accordingly, the study uncovers that Tavallali has used symbols in expressing lyrical concepts. As a result, the researchers believe that the decision to use symbols in the literary texts by the authors is not always made consciously. In other words, using symbols by the authors is inevitable. Thus, Tavallali and his works are no exception, and this is confirmed when the readers have a look at his poems, especially, the personal and private symbols which exclusively belong to the poet and his mind, and at the same time express his pure thoughts and ideas that have unintentionally taken on symbolic forms