The Emergence of Native-Cultural Identity in Children’s Book Illustration in the Forties1 (With Emphasis on the Works of Perviz Kalantari)

Abstract

Illustration is an art that in accordance with cultural structures and educational needs of different societies establishes a close link between visual arts and literature. In Iran, this art has enjoyed a long and bright history that with a boom in children literature in post-constitutionalism era as well as the use of lithography could acquire an independent identity. The works presented in the twenties were accompanied with western and non-native feedback and that was the reason our writers and artists focused on indigenous feedback relying on the Persian culture in the forties. That is one of the important periods and effective on the national Persian art and culture. The need to return to national self literature in the literary field led to valuable results and following to that children literature and illustrated books, too, with a realistic approach and influenced by the native culture could open its space among other existing arts. The current paper tries to explain the hypothesis that the emergence of native elements in children illustrations during the forties was in accordance with the necessity of the national identity and hence; Perviz Klantari is the most prominent native Persian illustrator. Documents have been collected through library resources. The results of this study indicate that the need for the Persian cultural identity in the work of writers and illustrators and to promote reading culture by intellectuals most of whom were writers of that time as well as the support of private publishing houses and entry of printing machine led to the growth of children books and transformed the illustration of the forties into an era the most effective on the history of children illustration books. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n2s1p212