Leila Rezaei

Bakhtin's theory of 'polyphony' effectively studies realistic and community-oriented novels that represent the intellectual and cultural life of nations and the changes they experienced. Bakhtin used the term "voice" to refer to beliefs and ideologies in this theory. Throughout its contemporary history, Iranian society has experienced fundamental changes that caused the emergence of new ideas, beliefs and approaches. Ahmad Mahmoud is one of the representatives of the social realist novel in contemporary Persian literature. He depicts Iranian society and its changes through about 30 years of Iranian contemporary history (from the last years of the twenties to the end of the fifties), especially in his four novels "Neighbors," "The Story of a City," "Zero Degree Orbit" and "Scorched Earth." In these works, he has provided suitable conditions for 'polyphony,' so his works can be considered good examples of polyphony in Iranian novels. This article has studied these four novels by descriptive-analytical method and by applying Bakhtin's theory of 'polyphony.' The result shows that the three voices of "Islamism," "Marxism" and "Nationalism" are the prominent voices in the three novels "Neighbors," "The Story of a City" and "Zero Degree Orbit," which have been strengthened or weakened according to political and social developments. But the "Scorched Earth" events occurred during the Islamic Revolution and the war between Iran and Iraq. This novel has two opposite voices: agreement and opposition against war.