Poetry of Afghan women in exile. Rebel and questioner

Note: With the domination of the Taliban terrorist group over Afghanistan, like thousands of other citizens, many female poets and writers of the country were also forced to leave their homeland and live in exile. What effect has exile had on Afghan women's poetry? What effect does the poetry and literature of women in exile have on the life situation of women who live under the black rule of the Taliban? What will be the future of women's poetry and literature in exile?

For this purpose, Nimrokh talked with Sumia Ramesh, the founder of "Bammad - Poetry House in Exile" and reviewed the activities of this organization and the poetry and literature of Afghan women in exile.

Nimrokh: You have established the Afghan poetry house in exile, what are the goals and plans of this organization?

Samia Ramesh: Bammad - House of Poetry in Exile is a non-political organization that was created with the aim of supporting Afghan poets and against censorship and suppression of poetry. Today, Afghan poets and artists are facing ban and repression inside Afghanistan. Suffocation squeezes the throat of poetry and literature, and artists have no possibility to publish and distribute their works. Our effort is to create a space for the publication of works that are created in exile and prohibition.

Our other goal is to create a dialogue about the situation in Afghanistan among the poets of the world. Trying to unite the poets of the world with the poets of Afghanistan who are living in the worst possible conditions today. This movement is an artistic protest against the thinking that suppresses and censors poetry and art and seeks to remove art from the context of society.

As it is clear, Persian poetry has been a poem against oppression for more than a millennium. In various periods of the social history of the Persian language and in different schools and styles of Persian poetry, protest against dogma is one of the main and fundamental elements of this poem. If in the essence of Persian poetry we see protest against dogma and struggle against blackness, then we also try to expand this thinking.

Profile: Is the House of Poetry in Exile created in response to the Taliban group's ban on writing poetry?

Samia Ramesh: Whenever a writer cannot freely publish and distribute his work in his native land, when there is a ban on the way of thinking, the way of expression and the free creation of works of art, we call it exile. Today, poets and writers in Afghanistan experience exile in every sense. Exile does not happen only outside the borders of the motherland. When language and culture are attacked, when the right to write, speak and think freely is taken away from a person in his homeland, exile happens. The fact is that today, under the domination of the Taliban's thinking, artists experience exile in their own land. Also, some artists and poets who were forced to leave their homeland are living in exile in a different way.

Bammad - the house of poetry in exile - is a response to the anti-human thinking of the Taliban, who have gone to war with artists by "takfir" and issuing bans. "Morning" is a protest front against blackness and predestination, whose weapon is poetry and words!

Profile: What programs has the Afghan Poetry House in Exile had since its creation and what are these programs focused on? And who are the members of this organization?

Samia Ramesh: Bammad - House of Poetry in Exile is a newly founded organization and its members are poets from all over the world. It is a protest organization that works against censorship and suppression of poetry and for freedom.

As I mentioned earlier, this protest organization works against the idea of censorship, suffocation and banning of poetry and art. At the same time, we have sent invitations to the addresses of poets living in Afghanistan and asked them to send us their poems for publication and distribution. One of our programs is publishing the works of poets who live in Afghanistan, publishing electronic books as well as translating, introducing and recording the works created in exile are part of our activities.

Also, holding poetry training courses, holding poetry meetings and creating empathy between poets who live inside and outside the country.

In the following; We have sent letters to literary societies around the world asking them not to remain silent about the situation in Afghanistan. We have asked them to stand by us for freedom and justice. We have also published calls and asked the poets of the world to accompany us by writing poems to change the situation in Afghanistan. Poetry can inspire social changes and we want to continue our petition for Afghanistan by influencing the psyche of society!

Profile: How do you evaluate the poetry of Afghan female poets in exile?

Samia Ramesh: War, exile and social unrest have caused the greatest damage to women's lives. Exile is another part of the fate of female poets. The history of literature has always witnessed the suffering, repression, suffocation and exclusion of women, and poetry has always taken victims from Afghan women. From Rabi'a Balkhi to Nadia, the traces of blood and madness can be seen in women's poetry.

Women's poetry in exile is also created with many difficulties, but it has a lot to say. I believe that the poetry of women in exile is rebellious, questioning and at the same time inspiring, powerful and thoughtful. A poem that not only includes women's anger but also a sign of women's awareness; Women who experience different types of exile stand on the front line of the war by writing poetry and try to change the situation with their only weapon, which is the pen. This is very valuable.

Profile: What issues do female poets deal with in the poems they sing in exile? Do they only reflect the issue of women today or do they also deal with more fundamental and deeper issues?

Samia Ramesh: The poetry of women in exile by taking refuge in the language of metaphor and fantasy presents very different concepts. This poem is the result of the way of living, thinking and linguistic semiotics and cultural identity of women, which includes from ecology to metaphors in social, culture and politics.

Female poets in exile are mixed with anger and rebellion. Women who express their anger against the situation in the form of poetry. Rebellion against the thought that has imprisoned women is a large part of these poems. In my opinion, the image of the poem of women in exile is similar to the image of a woman whose hands are tied, but she draws wings for herself and dreams of freedom.

Next, I must say; The style, format, language and content are different in the poems written in exile. The poetry of women in exile has been written in the form of ghazal, couplet, sepid, nimai and makhams. From the point of view of content, some poems are protest-social and some are romantic.

Some poems raise fundamental questions. Some poems challenge religion, culture, religion and thinking that calls women second human beings. In fact, there are very deep concepts in women's poetry, some of these poems make people think as much as a philosophical concept. In some poems, a god is addressed who has a passive view on existing oppression

Profile: In your opinion, what effect can poetry and literature in exile have on the situation of women in Afghanistan? How much can it reflect their problems?

Samia Ramesh: Poetry is the expressive language of women poets. Poetry is a possibility in which a woman creates her own world. Sometimes the world is as beautiful as a woman, sometimes the world is as bitter as a woman's palate, sometimes the madness and love that only a woman can experience and create! Poetry is a possibility for women to live romantically. Poetry is a possibility for struggle. The fact that women do not give up in spite of all the prohibitions and restrictions and still stand and write with full power and one voice is a big event in itself. I believe that the poetry of women in exile is a narrative of awareness, courage and responsibility of female poets in Afghanistan.

At this time, poetry can be more inspiring and influential than ever. I believe that today's women's poetry, which is written in exile and ban, inspires freedom and justice!

Nimrokh: It has now been two rounds that women are exiled and displaced due to the domination of the Taliban. What difference do you see between the literature and poetry of women in exile in these two rounds? Has the way of looking at issues and concerns changed?

Somia Ramesh: From a social point of view, there are many differences between these two periods. During the first period of the Taliban, women were not as aware and in control of their destiny as they are today. You see that today women are standing in the front line of the struggle against the Taliban and women are the front line of the anti-Taliban front. These women fighters are from different social spectrums, of which poets are also a part.

Today's female poets are at a much higher level of knowledge, awareness and possibilities. For example, one of the facilities available in this course is the use of social networks and access to the virtual world, which was not possible in the previous course. It is very easy to interact with the outside world today, it is much easier to access poetry resources, books and even educational courses, and the poet can easily be nourished from a spiritual point of view.

For this reason, I think the poetry of this period is more rich and lively. But the point that is important to me is the presence of women's poetry in both periods of Talabani. That is, in both periods, women did not remain silent and did not accept silence. But to compare the poetry of these two periods, more discussion and reflection is needed, which is not included in this discussion.

Profile: Can life in exile be an opportunity for the growth of Afghan women's literature?

Samia Ramesh: If we take a look at the history of Persian literature, we see that poets and poetry have always faced exile, sojourn and emigration. Maulana Balkhi was also forced to leave his hometown, but he became the world's greatest poet in another homeland. Both in classical literature and in contemporary literature, migration and exile have always been one with the poet. Sometimes a poet's thought, sometimes a poet's language, and sometimes a poet's poetry have existed both outside the geographical borders and inside the borders of the motherland of exiled literature. In many cases, sometimes, leaving and suffering from landlessness has been an opportunity for better interaction with poetry and literature. Of course, this depends on the poet's perspective and interaction with the events of his environment. There were many poets and writers who turned exile into an opportunity to flourish.

Profile: How do you see the future of poetry and literature of Afghan women in exile?

Samia Ramesh: When we turn the pages of the history of women's poetry, we come across women poets who fought against all cultural and social restrictions and wrote poetry. In my opinion, exile is an undeniable part of women's poetry, and during different political and social periods, women have lived in hardship and suffocation, but they have chosen poetry to express their feminine existence. However, anonymity, the absence of women's names and images, the use of pseudonyms are all types of exile that can be seen in women's poetry. In some historical periods, even writing under a pseudonym was not an easy task. So we can say that one of the symbols of women's poetry is struggle. Women's poetry is dynamic poetry and in different historical periods it has been able to open a way to light from the heart of darkness and darkness. Exile is part of the ontology of women's poetry. In the past, women have written with many difficulties and have been able to bring poetry to our time as a sacred ritual, and without a doubt, in the future, women's poetry will be expressive, lively and thoughtful, and in fact, it will complement the roaring path that Persian poetry travels.