prefers to keep his love to himself and burn in the cauldron of his passionate love, albeit, there is more to it. Psychologically, Mandal is a sort of a voyeur who ...
Abbas Marufi (1957-) Born in 1957 in Tehran, Marufi was raised and educated in Tehran. He studied dramatic arts at Tehran University while teaching at schools and writing for the newspapers. He served as the editor in chief of the literary Gardun magazine from 1990 to 1995. His first published work was a collection of short stories entitled ‘Into the Sun’. He also wrote a few plays which were performed on stage. In his ‘The Last Superior Generation,’ he touched on social themes. His last collection of short stories, ‘The Scent of the Jasmine’ was published in the United States. Marufi came to prominence with the publication of The Symphony of the Dead (1989) which is narrated in the form of a symphony. The novel provoked a slew of criticisms from the critics. Some saw it as a great masterpiece in the Persian literature; still some others relegated it to a sheer imitation of William Faulkner’s Sound and Fury. Yet, the novel proved so influential that it came to be imitated by other writers. In this novel, Marufi uses the stream of consciousness technique very effectively. The Year of Turmoil and The Body of Farhad are among his other works. Marufi is currently living in Germany with his family. Some of his works have been translated in German. A Moonlit Night*, which follows in English translation, narrates the story of a shepherd boy called Mandal who is deeply in love with Nilupar. In this story, the writer touches on a main theme in a traditional society where a man finds it impossible to express his love to his beloved; rather he prefers to keep his love to himself and burn in the cauldron of his passionate love, albeit, there is more to it. Psychologically, Mandal is a sort of a voyeur who spends his *
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time secretly watching the naked body of his beloved, thereby gratifying his sexual urges. Voyeurism is a sexual perversion but the hero resorts to it because he cannot achieve his object of desire. Mandal is not a kind of character the reader may wish to identify because he is weak and undecided. There are moments in the story where he can open his heart and divulge his long-harbored secret. Yet, he prefers to keep it to himself as if he takes delight in inflicting pain upon himself, as if we were faced with a masochist.
