 |
| Heydar Bayat |
Seyed Heydar Bayat emphasizes the limited shared spaces between Turkish-language writers and readers in Iranian Azerbaijan. Speaking to Voice of America from Qom, the literary scholar evaluated the relationship between poets and writers who publish in Turkish and their readers in Iranian Azerbaijan.
According to Heydar Bayat, for a proper connection to be established between writers and readers, it is essential that both share common spaces and environments.
The Turkish writer, who resides in Qom, notes that there are currently no opportunities in Iranian Azerbaijan to provide such connections between writers of Turkish literary works and their readers: “Even though there are professional literary magazines, they fail to establish this connection between writers and readers.”
Seyed Heydar Bayat explains that “the connection between a writer and their readers is based on their shared language and culture, as well as a shared educational system and media consumption. These are the environments where a writer connects with their readers. However, in the case of Iranian Azerbaijan, we have only one thing: our oral language, culture, and traditions, which form the bond between most of our readers and us.”
Bayat considers the renowned work Heydar Baba by Mohammad Hossein Shahriar an exception in this regard:
“In this respect, Shahriar was the only one who, in his Heydar Baba, effectively utilized our shared oral language, culture, and traditions to connect with a wide audience.”
However, he argues that under today’s conditions, it is no longer possible to create literary works solely based on the "oral language and culture" he refers to:
“Of course, as society and writers evolve, as topics diversify and people change, we can no longer rely on those shared traditions and the common oral language spoken among the people,” he explains.
In this context, Bayat highlights the disparity between the infrastructure and opportunities available for Persian literature in Iran and those for Turkish literature:
“In Iran, a Persian-language writer can read Kehyan, Shargh newspaper, or Bahar. If this writer follows every publication and trend or admires, for example, the films of [directors] Asghar Farhadi or Masoud Dehnamaki, they write for those types of audiences. A writer associated with Kehyan writes for a Kehyan reader, while one linked to Shargh writes for a Shargh reader. But we don’t yet have such distinctions or diversity.”
Seyed Heydar Bayat also addressed the challenges surrounding the distribution and sale of Turkish literary works in Iranian Azerbaijan. “Now, in cities like Tabriz, reliable bookstores do not bring in our Turkish books, or you rarely see Turkish books in Tabriz’s cafes,” he says.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Heydər Bayat: İranda türkcə yazarların oxucuları ilə paylaşdığı müştərək sahələr azdır