Introduction

Childhood, as a sociocultural construct, is shaped by various discourses, with children’s literature, including poetry, playing a pivotal role in both reflecting and shaping this concept. Within Iranian children’s and young adult literature, Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād stands out as a figure whose poetry has been instrumental in constructing the concept of childhood. As children’s poetry has evolved into an independent and respected genre within the history of Iranian literature for young readers, female poets like Shaʿbānʹnizhād have been at the forefront of this transformation. Her contributions not only advance the genre of children’s poetry but also signify a cultural shift toward recognizing childhood as a complex and meaningful stage of human experience. This acknowledgment is particularly noteworthy as it elevates the voice of childhood; a voice that has historically been marginalized in literary and cultural discourses. Through her work, Shaʿbānʹnizhād not only participates in shaping the idea of childhood but also affirms the inherent value of the child’s perspective, thereby promoting children’s literature as a legitimate and essential literary form. Her role as a female poet in this domain underscores the importance of female agency in redefining and celebrating childhood within the broader cultural context.

As a female poet in children’s and young adult literature, Shaʿbānʹnizhād offers a perspective on the crucial role of women writers in this field. She asserts that women form one of the foundational pillars of children’s literature, contributing to a substantial and esteemed body of work. According to Shaʿbānʹnizhād, her success is largely attributable to the profound emotional bonds that women often share with children, alongside their heightened sensitivity to the behaviors, language, and emotions of young readers. She contends that this sensitivity has allowed women to excel in crafting literary works for children. However, she acknowledges the significant challenges women face in this domain. She notes that the demanding responsibilities of household and family management frequently impede their professional advancement. This burden, she suggests, can result in interruptions in their career trajectories, hindering the full realization of their creative potential.¹Fātimah Sālārvand and ʿAlī Kāshifī Khvānsārī, Chihrahʹhā-yi adabiyāt-i kūdak va nawʹjavān: Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād [Figures of children’s and young adult literature: Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād] (Tehran: Rūzgār, 1379/2000), 27–28.

This article explores Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s contributions to children’s literature, with a particular focus on her role in shaping the representation and construction of childhood through poetry. The discussion is organized into two main sections. The first provides an overview of her personal and literary background, situating her within the broader landscape of Iranian children’s and young adult literature. The second offers a close analysis of her poetic depiction of childhood, structured around four key themes: childhood as innocence, organized innocence, empowerment and creative agency, and relational identity. The article argues that Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s work challenges dominant adult-centered literary paradigms by presenting children as imaginative, relational, and empowered subjects. Rather than portraying childhood as a static or sentimental stage, her poetry reimagines it as a dynamic space of creativity and epistemological insight. Through this lens, Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poems make a significant contribution to the evolving literary construction of childhood in contemporary Iranian culture, offering a unique perspective shaped by the voice and vision of an Iranian woman poet.

Shaʿbānʹnizhād: Her Life and Contributions

Shaʿbānʹnizhād was born in 1342/1963 in Shahdad, Kerman Province, as the youngest of eight children. Her father, Mahmūd, was involved in palm cultivation and gardening, while her mother, Khadījah Ghazanfarī, known as Bībī Shawkat, managed the household. Both parents were educated and literate, with a profound appreciation for the poetry of Hāfiz, Saʿdī, and Rūmī. From an early age, Shaʿbānʹnizhād showed a keen interest in reading poetry and literature. She earned a high school diploma before pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Persian language and literature at Tarbiyat Muʿallim University. She continued her studies with a master’s degree in Dramatic Literature at the Faculty of Art and Architecture, Azad University. She also obtained a first-degree certificate in literary fiction and poetry (equivalent to a doctorate in art) from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

At the age of nine,  Shaʿbānʹnizhād composed her first poem during a family trip to Mashhad. While her family intended to visit the shrine of Imām Rizā, a severe snowfall prevented them from taking her along. As she sat alone in the room, she had a moment of inspiration and wrote something on a piece of newspaper, which she later recognized as a poem. At the age of twelve, she began illustrating her stories, compiling and binding them into volumes. Her high school years coincided with the Iranian Revolution in Bahman 1357/February 1979, during which schools were temporarily closed. She utilized this opportunity to write poetry and stories. At eighteen, she authored her first book, Nah man nimīʹtarsam (No, I am not afraid), a collection of short stories published by Payām-i Āzādī in 1362/1983.

Her debut in children’s and young adult literature owes much to Mustafā Rahmān′dūst.²Mustafā Rahmān′dūst is a celebrated Iranian poet, author, and storyteller, best known for his significant contributions to children’s and young adult literature. He is widely recognized as the author of Sad dānah yāqūt (One hundred rubies) with “ruby” serving as a metaphor for pomegranate arils, a beloved poem that has become emblematic of his poetic engagement with childhood themes. Renowned for his ability to connect with young readers through expressive and imaginative language, Rahmān′dūst has received numerous accolades from Iranian literary institutions for his enduring influence on children’s literature. Over the course of his career, he has held several key positions in the cultural and literary sectors, including managing the children’s division at Amīr Kabīr Publishing House and serving as an advisor to the President of Iran’s National Library. He was also instrumental in founding the Association of Writers for Children and Youth, a pivotal organization supporting literary production for younger audiences. In addition, Rahmān′dūst established and served as editor-in-chief for several prominent children’s magazines, including Surūsh-i Kūdakān and Rushd-i Dānishʹāmūz, playing a critical role in shaping children’s media in Iran. His works are frequently included in school curricula, ensuring their continued presence in the educational experiences of generations of Iranian students and solidifying his legacy as one of the foremost figures in Iranian children’s literature. While still in Kerman, Shaʿbānʹnizhād sent some of her poems and stories to Rahmān′dūst, who responded by recognizing her talent for writing poetry for children and adolescents. Following her marriage in 1361/1982 and subsequent move to Tehran, she encountered greater opportunities to engage with the circle of poets writing for children and young adults. This transition marked a more formal and influential entry into the world of children’s literature. This progression was further solidified by Rahmān′dūst’s invitation to contribute to Kayhān Bachchahʹhā magazine. It was the pivotal moment that marked the formal beginning of Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s career.

Distinguished poets and writers of children’s and young adult literature, including Biyūk Malikī, Asad Allāh Shāhʹbānī, and Shukūh Qāsimʹniyā, were prominent figures at these sessions. During these gatherings, poems were recited, and those deemed exemplary were selected for publication in Kayhān Bachchahʹhā magazine. Among them, Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s first published poem in Kayhān Bachchahʹhā in 1364/1985, titled Pidaram bāghʹbān-i īn bāgh ast (My father is the gardener of this garden), stands out as a poignant tribute to her father’s years of devoted labor. The motif of the father is recurrent in Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s works, reflecting the period of her schooling in Kerman, during which she and her family were separated from her father, who resided in Shahdad. Despite her residence in Tehran, the ancestral origins of Shahdad have consistently held profound significance for Shaʿbānʹnizhād. She perceives the indelible influence and traces of both Shahdad and Kerman throughout her literary corpus. Shaʿbānʹnizhād asserts that while her physical presence is in Tehran, her spirit remains anchored in Kerman, with every vision and dream she envisions unfolding within the embrace of this cherished homeland.³ʿAbbās Taqīʹzādah, “Guftugū bā khānum-i Shaʿbānʹnizhād” [Interview with Mrs. Shaʿbānʹnizhād], Nashriyah-ʾi Mudiriyat dar Islām 79 (1379/2000): 22–27.

Simultaneously with her ongoing collaboration with Kayhān Bachchahʹhā, she was also actively involved in children’s radio programming. Initially, she worked as a writer for a children’s radio show produced by ʿAzrā Vakīlī, and later advanced to the position of editor-in-chief for the same program. She eventually left radio broadcasting after being offered the role of editor-in-chief at Rushd-i Naw′āmūz, a magazine under the Rushd publishing group, where she continued her professional career in children’s media. Despite this transition, her poetry remained a staple in children’s broadcasting, serving as theme songs for numerous radio and television programs, including Parparak (The little butterfly) and Sīb-i khandah (Laughing apple). Over the years, her poems and narrative works have been adapted into various animated and puppet productions. Notably, her story Hūhū Khān, Bād-i mihrabān (Hoho khan, the Kind wind) was made into an animated film, which has been regularly aired on Pooya, a children’s television channel of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). In addition, her novel Sidā-yi sanawbar (The voice of the poplar) was adapted into a television series directed by Shāpūr Gharīband and broadcast on Channel 3 of the IRIB, further cementing her impact on Iranian children’s media and literature.

Her first poetry collection to be published was titled Pūnihʹhā va parvānihʹhā (Pennyroyals and butterflies), released by Sūrush Publications in 1369/1990 with illustrations by Ghulām ʿAlī Maktabī, a prominent Iranian illustrator of children’s and young adult literature, as well as a respected lecturer in illustration, color theory, and painting at various faculties of art.⁴Maktabī earned a bachelor’s degree in painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tehran and later pursued six additional years of study in painting in Paris. His professional career began in the 1960s with contributions to Payk magazine and the Franklin Institute, and he continued his artistic work after the revolution through collaborations with the Rushd series of magazines. A prolific illustrator, Maktabī illustrated more than fifty children’s books and was frequently recognized at national and international festivals. Notably, he was twice awarded at the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava for his work on Āsmān hanūz ābī ast (The sky is still blue) and Ablaq. His illustrations are marked by strong draftsmanship, bold use of color, and dynamic compositional structures, while capturing the simplicity, imagination, and emotional expressiveness characteristic of childhood. Sūfiyā Mahmūdī, Adabistān: Farhang-i adabiyāt-i kūdak va nawʹjavān [Adabistān: The encyclopedia of children’s and adolescent literature] (Tehran: Farhang-i Nashr-i Naw in collaboration with Nashr-i Āsīm, 1392/2013), 129.

She earned a master’s degree in Dramatic Literature, a pursuit that significantly impacted her professional development. She has authored approximately 17 volumes titled Bāzī, shiʿr, namāyish (Play, poetry, drama) for young children, wherein movement and play assume pivotal roles. These books are utilized by educators in kindergartens. As already mentioned, in 1386/2007, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance awarded Shaʿbānʹnizhād the First-Class Certificate of Art in Fiction and Poetry, a distinction equivalent to a Doctorate in art. Following this recognition, she became involved with the Rushd (Development) magazines.⁵The official publishing efforts of Iran’s Ministry of Education began in 1919 with the launch of the journal Usūl-i Taʿlīmāt (Principles of education), which later evolved into publications such as Taʿlīm va Tarbiyat (Education) and Māhʹnāmah-ʾi Farhang (The cultural monthly). In 1341/1962, the Educational Publications Office was established, and by 1342/1963 it had introduced the Payk series, targeted magazines designed for children, youth, teachers, and families. These publications were subject to scientific review and pre-testing across Iran, including pilot programs conducted in 86 villages. By the early 1350s/1970s, the series had expanded to include titles such as Payk-i Kūdak, Payk-i Nawʹjavān, and Payk-i Javān. After terminating its collaboration with Franklin Publishing due to persistent delays, the Ministry of Education partnered with Surūsh Publications in 1354/1975. Following the 1357/1979 Revolution, the Payk magazines were gradually phased out and replaced by new titles under the Rushd brand. The first of these, Rushd-i Muʿallim (Teacher’s development), appeared in 1360/1981, soon followed by Rushd-i Dānishʹāmūz (Student’s development) and Rushd-i Nawʹjavān (Youth development). Over time, the Rushd series surpassed Payk in quality, diversity, and circulation. Today, Rushd includes over thirty specialized publications for students, teachers, and education professionals, spanning the humanities, sciences, and technical disciplines. It remains the most widely circulated educational publication in Iran. Rushd, accessed May 23, 2025, https://www.roshdmag.ir/fa/aboutus/introduction. She served as editor of Rushd-i Nawʹāmūz (Development of the beginner) for a period. Subsequently, she joined the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, where she initially worked as a poetry expert. She later ascended to the position of Head of the Institute’s Poetry Council, collaborating with a select group of colleagues to review and choose poems for publication. After dedicating 25 years to the Institute, she resigned and founded her own publishing house, Lūpihʹtū. The name Lūpihʹtū, derived from the Kirmānī dialect, means cloth doll. In addition to her publishing work, she initiated a storytelling festival in the underprivileged region of Kahnuj, Kerman, furthering her commitment to cultural enrichment and community development.

Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s professional endeavors span a wide range of fields. She has made contributions to poetry for various age groups, including children, adolescents, and adults. In addition to her poetic achievements, she has also engaged in the translation of diverse literary works and nonfiction texts. Her multifaceted contributions have earned her both national and international recognition, highlighting the breadth and impact of her literary and intellectual pursuits. Notably, in 2010,  Shaʿbānʹnizhād  was nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s most prestigious literary prize for children’s and youth literature. In 1375/1996, she received the Book of the Year Award of the Islamic Republic of Iran for her work Shīshah-ʾi āvāz (The glass of song). Furthermore, at the 13th International Radio Festival and the 5th World Sound Summit, she was recognized for her collaboration and engagement with radio networks. Her book Māst-i shīrīn (Sweet yogurt) was included in the White Ravens Catalogue of the International Youth Library in Munich in 2015.⁶Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, accessed May 22, 2025, https://ketabak.org/content/340-افسانه-شعبان-نژاد

In her writings, Shaʿbānʹnizhād strives to create a space where hope, emotion, and intimacy can thrive. She places particular emphasis on the family, intricately depicting the roles of siblings and parents. Several of her works evoke the lush beauty of nature, drawing on her own childhood, which was spent in close connection with the natural world. She gravitates toward poems that arise spontaneously, unfolding organically and reaching their conclusions without premeditated structure or design. This approach reflects her deep trust in the natural flow of creative expression. For instance, she composed Yik shiʿr-i bīʹtāqat (An impatient poem) (1398/2019) in just ten days, a testament to its swift creation. This urgency, she asserts, arose from her deep affection for nature:

Given my interest in nature and the environment, it took me ten days to compose the collection of poems in this book. The implied readers of the poems in this collection are adolescents. They must learn that life is full of joy and, at the same time, full of sorrow, and it is appropriate to learn from some sorrows in order to achieve happiness in order to gain the necessary experience in life.⁷Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād (Yik shiʿr-i bī-tāqat), accessed May 22, 2025, https://afsanehshabannejad.com/product/یک-شعر-بی-طاقت/.

While Shaʿbānʹnizhād adopts a more contemplative approach in her writings for adolescents, she strives to avoid contriving her poetry. She holds the belief that authentic poems arise organically, emerging naturally from the mind without artificial construction. While her works subtly incorporate educational objectives, these aims are not explicitly stated in most of her poems. Rather, children may grasp these concepts through the vivid descriptions, playful elements, and humor intricately woven into the poems. The themes she explores in her poetry for young children are diverse and encompass nature and environmental awareness, representations of animals⁸Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Maʿ va maʿ va maʿ va maʿ mīʹkunam (Sidā-yi hayvānāt) [I go moo, moo, moo, moo] (Tehran: Lūpih-tū, 1401/ 2022). and various professions, social integration, numerical and color concepts, fruits, children’s clothing,⁹This poem, for example, explores the themes of clothing and colors: Āftāb mahʹtāb chih rangah?/ Dastʹkash-i man qashangah/ Nāranjī rangah, bah bah/ Vāy chih qashangah, bah bah/ Ūnʹhā kharīdah bābām/ Garmā mīʹdah bih dastām (Sun and moon, what color are they?/ My gloves are so pretty!/ They’re orange—wow, wow!/ Oh, how lovely—wow, wow!/  My dad bought them for me/ They keep my hands warm!). See Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Afsānah, Āftāb mahʹtāb chih rangah [What color are the sun and the moon] (Tehran: Hunar Ābī, 1401/2022). promotion of positive behaviors, emotional awareness,¹⁰Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Khvushʹhālah jūjah jīk jīkī (Ihsāsāt) [The cheerful chick, peep peep chirp (emotions)] (Tehran: Lūpih-tū, 1401/2022). riddles, children’s rights, hobbies, recognition of objects and phenomena, religious topics such as prayer, and lullabies¹¹An example of the many lullabies that Shaʿbānʹnizhād has composed is Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Lālā guldūn, Lālā māhī [Lullaby for the flowerpot, Lullaby for the fish] (Tehran: Kitābʹhā-yi Shukūfah 1392/2013). among others. She frequently draws inspiration from traditional songs and lullabies, reworking and reimagining them in many of her pieces. Regarding her focus on folk literature, she has adapted a collection of Iranian folk tales, translating them into various Iranian dialects to preserve and celebrate the nation’s rich cultural and linguistic heritage.

Shaʿbānʹnizhād has also shown a keen interest in rewriting classical Persian literature. She is one of the authors of the Nāmah-ʾi nāmvar collection a twelve-volume series that offers a rewritten version of the Shāhʹnāmah tailored for young readers. In this collection, she is the author of a story titled Rustam va akvān-i dīv (Rustam and Akvān the demon).¹²Nāmah-ʾi nāmvar retells the epic stories of Firdawsī’s Shāh’nāmah in simplified, contemporary prose, making these timeless narratives accessible to adolescent readers. Edited by Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, the series is published by the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. It comprises the following volumes: Rustam va Suhrāb, Rustam va Isfandiyār, Rūyā-yi Gurdāfarīd (Gurdāfarīd’s dream), Haft′khvān va Haft razm (The seven labors and the seven battles), Zāl va Rūdābah, Bāzī-i Ahrīman (Devil’s game), Khvān-i hashtum (The eighth labor), and Dāstān-i Furūd (Furūd’s tale). She has also undertaken the task of rewriting the stories of the Masnavī-i Maʿnavī by Rūmī. Shaʿbānʹnizhād emphasizes Iranian culture in her poems and stories. She integrates cultural elements such as the Sufrah-ʾi haft sīn¹³The Sufrah-ʾi haft sīn is a central element of Nawrūz, the Persian New Year celebrated at the spring equinox. It features a ceremonial table set with seven items, each beginning with the Persian letter sīn (س), chosen for their symbolic meanings related to renewal, health, and prosperity. Common components include sabzah (sprouted greens), symbolizing rebirth; sīb (apple), representing beauty and health; sīr (garlic), signifying protection and medicinal strength; samanū (a sweet wheat pudding), conveying power and fertility; sinjid (dried oleaster fruit), associated with love and wisdom; sirkah (vinegar), symbolizing age and patience; and sumaq (a crimson spice), representing the rising sun and the triumph of light over darkness. These core elements are often complemented by additional symbolic items such as mirrors, candles, painted eggs, a bowl of goldfish, and sacred or poetic texts, creating a richly layered tableau that reflects themes of hope, continuity, and the cycles of nature. Drawing on this cultural tradition, Shaʿbānʹnizhād has written stories inspired by Haft sīn, including Hapalīhapū va Haft sīn (1396/2017), which engage young readers with the symbolism and spirit of Naw′rūz. setting and the customs associated with Naw′rūz (the Iranian New Year), wedding celebrations, and Yaldā Night.¹⁴Yaldā Night, also known as Shab-i chillah, is an ancient Iranian festival celebrated on the winter solstice, marking the longest night of the year and symbolizing the triumph of light over darkness. Rooted in Zoroastrian and Mithraic traditions, the celebration features family gatherings, the recitation of poetry, particularly the works of Hāfiz, and the sharing of symbolic foods such as pomegranates and watermelons, both representing the sun and the promise of renewal. The term Yaldā derives from the Syriac word for “birth,” underscoring the festival’s association with light, hope, and new beginnings. Yaldā night fosters intergenerational connection and cultural continuity, remaining a cherished tradition in Iran and across Persianate communities worldwide, including those in the diaspora. Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād has contributed to the literary representation of Yaldā through poems and stories inspired by its themes. Among her works is the book Shab-i Yaldā: Zimistān (Yaldā’s Night: Winter), published in Tehran by Mihrāb-i Qalam in 1377/1998. Shaʿbānʹnizhād strives to bridge the world of children with the rich cultural and literary traditions of Iran, ensuring that young readers not only enjoy her stories and poems but also connect deeply with Iran’s cultural heritage.

Portrayal of Childhood in Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s Poetry

This section examines the representation of childhood in Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry. To do this, a selection of her most significant poems was made using a maximum variation sampling method, ensuring a broad range of themes and perspectives. The selected poems were then subjected to both inductive and deductive content analysis. In the inductive phase, the texts were analyzed without preconceived theoretical assumptions about childhood, allowing codes and thematic categories to emerge from the material. Following this, the categories were contextualized within established theoretical frameworks on childhood, reflecting the deductive element of the analysis. This process thus involved an interplay between inductive and deductive content analysis. The identified categories are as follows:

1. Childhood as Innocence: Experience of Joy, Play, and Playfulness
2. Childhood as “Organized Innocence”: A Dialectical Process
3. Childhood as Empowerment and Creative Agency
4. Childhood as Relational: Navigating Interactions with Self and Others.

While the categorization of childhood in Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry encompasses a variety of significant dimensions, it is crucial to recognize that her portrayal of childhood extends beyond these defined categories. Her poetic exploration also carries themes such as the connection between childhood and nature, children’s experiences within educational contexts, and childhood in urban environments. Moreover, Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s work prominently engages with educational themes, offering profound insights into literacy, pedagogy, and their interrelation with childhood. Therefore, while the identified categories provide valuable perspectives on her representation of childhood, they are not exhaustive.

1. Childhood as Innocence: Experience of Joy, Play, and Playfulness

In children’s literature, innocence is frequently considered the defining characteristic of childhood, often expressed through the joy derived from play and playfulness depicted in the texts. In Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry, this innocence, infused with play and joy, emerges as a central theme, encapsulating childhood as a realm of freedom, curiosity, and boundless creativity. A prominent manifestation of this innocence is evident in her nonsense poetry, which illustrates how play and joy are integral to the concept of innocence. By transcending conventional logic and embracing absurdity, her nonsense poetry aligns seamlessly with the intrinsic nature of childhood, a period characterized by an unrestrained imagination free from rigid structures and rules. In these poems, language becomes a playground for exploration and joy, and its manipulation through wordplay, rhyme, song, and rhythm becomes an expression of innocent delight. Poems like Anūchah va manūchah¹⁵Anūrah and Manūrah / Cookies in the oven/ Breakfast full of flavor, Daddy’s gone somewhere far / Anūchah va manūchah / Daddy reached the alleyway / Out of the oven came a cookie / Oh, that cookie! Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Hīch hīch hīchānah: 52 Shiʿr az haft shāʿir [Hīch hīch hīchānah: 52 poems by seven poets] (Tehran: Ufuq [Kitābʹhā-yi Fanduq], 1389/2010), 71. and Ālūchah va mālūchah¹⁶Atak-matak on the little mat / Who’s there? A little crow / Sitting in the garden bed /  It came from the alley / It wants an unripe plum / Truly by Auntie’s life / The plum is green and hard / The little crow eats with a munch, munch / Oh, how carefree it is! Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Hīch hīch hīchānah, 66. exemplify a playful departure from conventional logic by crafting imaginative worlds where reality and fantasy merge effortlessly, inviting children to engage in a joyful exploration of language. In Gurg-i kalak (Crafty wolf), the whimsical depiction of Mr. Wolf’s eccentric behaviors such as having a neighbor with a “stain” and Mr. Wolf riding a Ferris wheel introduces a layer of charming absurdity and boundless delight.¹⁷Ap apke dop dopke / this Mr. Wolf is quite a trickster / indeed, in the tales, he’s a piece / loves stone bread, looking for cool water/ the neighbor with a stain / rides on a Ferris wheel, in his hand a tambourine/ oh, how charming he is / oh, how amusing he is. Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Hīch hīch hīchānah, 68.

2. Childhood as “Organized Innocence”: A Dialectical Process

In contrast to the idealized and delightful vision of childhood as a realm of pure joy and unconstrained play and imagination, another category of Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry navigates a more complex terrain where the innocence of childhood is juxtaposed with the inevitabilities of life’s harsher realities. While these poems may still celebrate childhood’s playful and joyous essence, they simultaneously introduce children to the more sobering aspects of existence, blending lightheartedness with life’s more poignant moments. Here, the concept of innocence is neither untouched nor romanticized; it is an “organized innocence,” a term introduced by Murtizā Khusrawʹnizhād in his analysis of the idea of childhood.¹⁸Murtizā Khusrawʹnizhād, an Iranian scholar specializing in children’s literature and the philosophy of education, conceptualizes both childhood and the philosophy of children’s literature through the lens of William Blake’s notions of innocence and experience, alongside the concept of organized innocence. Drawing on these ideas, Khusrawʹnizhād proposes that childhood itself can be understood as a state of organized innocence, a condition in which the simplicity and openness of innocence are preserved while being informed by an awareness of life’s complexities and darker realities. In his seminal work, Khusrawʹnizhād employs this framework not only to theorize the nature of childhood but also to develop a comprehensive philosophy of children’s literature. He particularly applies this perspective to his analysis of contemporary Iranian children’s poetry, examining how literary texts portray the child’s evolving journey toward organized innocence. Murtizā Khusrawʹnizhād, Maʿsūmiyat va tajrubah: Darʹāmadī bar falsafah-ʾi adabiyāt-i kūdak [Innocence and experience: An introduction to the philosophy of children’s literature] (Tehran: Markaz, 1382/2003). He borrowed this notion from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, employing it to elucidate the concepts of childhood and children’s literature, with particular reference to Iranian children’s poetry.

William Blake defines innocence and experience as two contrary states of the human soul in his seminal collection Songs of Innocence and of Experience. This phrase appears explicitly in the subtitle of the 1794 edition: Songs of Innocence and of Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul.¹⁹William Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul (London: W. Blake, 1794). Innocence, as portrayed in Blake’s poems, represents a state of youthful naivety, purity, and joy—qualities often associated with childhood. It is characterized by a harmonious relationship with nature, spontaneous happiness, and an uncorrupted perception of the world. Blake’s Songs of Innocence envision a life in which children are free, connected to the divine, and untouched by societal constraints. For example, in the “Introduction” to Songs of Innocence, the piper plays “songs of pleasant glee,” bringing joy to children and symbolizing the carefree, imaginative realm of innocence.²⁰Blake, “Introduction,” to Songs of Innocence. In contrast, experience is the state reached when innocence is confronted, and often corrupted, by the harsh realities of the world, including restrictive social norms, moral repression, and institutional authority. Blake’s Songs of Experience lament how adult life and societal injustice erode the goodness found in innocence, introducing suffering, self-awareness, and moral complexity. In poems such as “The Tyger,” Blake explores the presence of darker, more powerful forces in the universe—forces that innocence cannot fully comprehend or confront.

What has been termed the “struggle between innocence and experience” can, when interpreted through Blake’s writings and poetry, be understood as a conflict between emotion (the heart) and reason (pragmatism), between generativity (creativity) and destructive forces, and between unbridled creativity (mastery over the environment) and mere social conformity (unquestioning acceptance of societal norms). However, in Blake’s later works, these opposing forces are synthesized and reconciled through a monistic worldview, where the dichotomy is integrated into a unified whole. Within this paradigm, the state of innocence and childhood joy cannot be sustained indefinitely; to attain a higher state of existence, one must inevitably endure the painful process of experience. Innocence, in its quest for continuity, must necessarily navigate and assimilate the stage of experience as an unavoidable reality.²¹Khusrawʹnizhād, Maʿsūmiyat va tajrubah, 49. As M.H. Abrams notes, in Blake’s later writings, these opposing states manifest a dialectical tension, wherein pure and naive innocence must pass through and incorporate experience to achieve a third state, a synthesis that both encompasses and transcends the initial duality and Blake refers to this higher state as “organized innocence.”²²M. H. Abrams, Natural Supernaturalism: Tradition and Revolution in Romantic Literature (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1971), 253–75, cited in Khusrawʹnizhād, Maʿsūmiyat va Tajrubah, 50.

This concept is reflected in certain poems by Shaʿbānʹnizhād, where the child is compelled to confront reality. Experience ultimately disrupts the child’s pure state of joy, yet simultaneously fosters the child’s growth and maturation.

Buzghālah jān (Dear kid) exemplifies the concept of organized innocence by presenting a narrative where the innocence of a young goat is disrupted by the presence of danger but ultimately navigates through it with resilience and support from others.²³Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Man, va ʿarūsak [The doll and I] (Tehran: Mihrāb-i Qalam, 1388/2009). This aligns with the idea of organized innocence, where the child’s naive joy is tempered but not destroyed by the complexities and threats of the real world. In the poem, the young goat, driven by a simple desire to drink water, falls into a pond, a moment symbolizing the initial, untainted innocence. However, this innocence is soon challenged when a wolf appears, intent on preying upon the vulnerable goat. The appearance of the wolf introduces the harsher realities of life, representing the threats and challenges that are an inescapable part of growing up. The poem does not leave the young goat in peril without recourse; instead, the response of other animals, such as the crow’s anxious cawing and the intervention of Zangūlahʹpā (Bell-footed goat) highlights the communal aspects of navigating dangers. Zangūlahʹpā’s successful intervention, causing the wolf to flee, illustrates how experience, rather than simply destroying innocence, can be managed and overcome with awareness, empathy, and action. In this way, Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poem beautifully captures the synthesis of innocence and experience, embodying a balanced, mature view of childhood that incorporates both joy and the wisdom gained from life’s challenges.

Another poem is Bachchah sīb (Little apple). It begins with a depiction of the apple falling from the back of a truck.²⁴Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Salām! Ādam fazāʾī [Hello! Alien] (Tehran: Kānūn-i Parvarish-i Fikrī-i Kūdakān va Nawʹjavānān, 1394/2015), 10–11. At this initial moment, the apple embodies the essence of innocence. It feels “happy and free” despite the jolt of pain. This response captures a pure, untroubled joy that characterizes innocence. The apple’s joyful reaction to its newfound freedom reflects a childlike wonder and a spontaneous delight in exploring the world. There is a natural, carefree quality to this innocence a sense of excitement and liberation that comes from discovering new possibilities, even when faced with minor setbacks. However, as the narrative unfolds, the apple’s journey introduces elements of experience. The tranquility of innocence is soon interrupted by the presence of a speeding car, which causes the apple to experience fear for the first time. This shift marks the transition from a simple, joyful existence to a more tangible reality. The fear and danger introduced by the car’s approach bring a more profound, often harsh understanding of the world. The apple, confronted with the threat of being crushed, must now navigate this new, more threatening environment. In response to this danger, the apple’s swift reaction rolling into a ditch and learning to swim represents a critical moment of adaptation and survival. Here, the initial innocence is challenged and reshaped by the realities of life. The apple’s fear and its subsequent learning to swim symbolize a deeper engagement with the world, marked by the need to develop new skills and strategies in response to adversity. This process of adaptation and learning signifies a departure from innocence, as the apple confronts and adjusts to the complexities and demands of its environment.

In some of the poems from Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s collection Man va ʿarūsak (The doll and I), the world of childhood is depicted as a realm filled with joy, play, and delight. However, the realities that children encounter are never entirely absent. For example, when a bee falls into the pond, it follows its natural instincts and stings the child, causing pain and distress.²⁵Lī lī lī hawzak / A yellow buzzing bee / Fell into the little pool / This child said: “It’s absent-minded.” That child  said: “Oh, how noisy it is!” That one said: “Whatever it is, it’s our guest.” / This one laughed loudly/ Looked at the little bee / With a big laugh / a whole lot of water / He splashed on it / splash, splash! / The bee slowly flew away / Stung two times, hands and legs! / He puffed up like a balloon / And it gave the little pool a great glee. Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, “Zanbūr va bādkunak” [The bee and the balloon], in Man va ʿarūsak [The doll and I] (Tehran: Mihrāb-i Qalam, 1388/ 2009). When a piece of candy falls into the pond, even though the children want to eat it, the candy dissolves in the water.²⁶Lī lī lī hawzak / A bouncy round candy / Fell into the pool /One said: “What was that? Who dropped it?” / Another said: “Was someone playing marbles?” / A third one said: “No, not a marble, It’s candy/ sweeter than sugar crystal!” / When the big-headed one heard the news / He came runningfast, no time to lose! / But when he reached the pool to peek / He found nothing, no candy to seek!Oh /  how his heart just broke in pain/ The candy had melted in the water plain. Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, “Āb-nabāt” [Candy], in Shaʿbānʹnizhād,  Man va ʿarūsak.

Shaʿbānʹnizhād does not shy away from depicting the child’s confrontation with reality. However, her poems in this category consistently maintain a sense of safety and optimism, often imbued with tenderness and hope. To achieve this, she employs humor as a technique to transform potentially distressing situations into sources of amusement. By presenting these realities within playful and humorous contexts, she effectively softens the impact of discomfort and suffering, replacing sorrow and distress with laughter. This approach preserves a positive and hopeful outlook for her young reader.

The poem Qilqilak (Tickle) exemplifies this orientation.²⁷I had closed my little eyes / When sleep came and took me away / It handed me to the wolf / In my dream / the wolf ate me! / Thank God, my daddy came / And tickled that sneaky wolf! / Laughter burst ha ha ha! The wolf just couldn’t help it! / When he opened up his mouth / I ran out, happy and fast! / I woke up, it was all over / That scary dream I had at last. Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, “Qilqilak” (Tickle) in Tarānah’hā-yi khvāb va khiyāl [Lullabies and dreams] (Tehran: Kānūn-i Parvarish-i Fikrī-i Kūdakān va Nawʹjavānān, 1387/2008), 19. In the poem, the child experiences fear and anxiety as a wolf captures her in a nightmare. The situation is initially tense and frightening. However, this fear is transformed into humor when the child’s father intervenes by tickling the wolf. The wolf’s sudden laughter and the comical image of it being tickled shift the mood from one of terror to amusement. This unexpected and playful resolution alleviates the child’s fear, turning a menacing dream into a source of relief and joy. Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s approach to depicting the somber aspects of life while maintaining hope and humor aligns with Roni Natov’s observations in The Poetics of Childhood, where she argues that even narratives addressing the darker aspects of childhood strive to uphold a sense of hope and balance.²⁸Roni Natov, The Poetics of Childhood (London: Routledge, 2003), 220.

Although Shaʿbānʹnizhād strives to balance the expression of (sometimes somber) realities with hopefulness in most of her poems, this balance is not always fully achieved. In some instances, the darker aspects of truth-telling become somber, as seen in the poem “Chih guftī (What did you say?), which presents a somewhat melancholic perspective on seasonal transitions, focusing on the arrival of winter and its effects on the natural world.²⁹You were riding the wind / When you arrived at the village / You went into the garden / Plucked flowers, leaves, and greens / You chilled the entire village again / Turned the garden and fields yellow once more / The flowers, the nightingale, and the swallows / All hurried away / What did you say to the trees / That they all fell asleep?!  Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Chatrcī az gulbargʹhā [A canopy of petals] (Tehran: Kānūn-i Parvarish-i Fikrī-i Kūdakān va Nawʹjavānān, 1396/2017). The poem portrays childhood as intertwined with nature’s cycles, particularly the somber changes brought by winter. The poet personifies the wind as a force of change and transformation, one that profoundly impacts the environment. Its arrival in the village and its effect on the garden, turning flowers and leaves yellow and causing both plants and animals to retreat, symbolizes a shift from warmth and vitality to cold and dormancy. This transformation is conveyed with a sense of loss and wistfulness, as the garden’s former vibrancy yields to the starkness of winter.

3. Childhood as Empowerment and Creative Agency

This category emphasizes the active role of the child as an empowered agent capable of transforming their environment through creativity and imagination. Rather than being passive recipients of the world around them, children are portrayed as active creators who can alter and redefine their realities. The poem Rangʹhā va parandahʹhā (Colors and birds)³⁰In my imagination, there’s a bird / Its wings the color of water / At the tip of my blue pencil / It always twists and turns / That bird, silent and captive / My pencil box is its cage / Oh! My poor bird / It can’t breathe in the cage/ I think my bird / Must be freed from the cage / It should fly from my pencil / And join the other birds / With my colored pencils / I run toward the streets / In a street on the other side / I arrive at a group of children / The children of the street, waiting / Their hands full of pencils / Draw shapes in the street / Shapes of happy birds / A bird the color of the sky / A bird the color of greenery / A bird red and beautiful / Like the color of our smiles / Wherever I look / In front of me, there’s a bird / A yellow-pink bird / Who is this pencil bird? / Suddenly my blue pencil / Works with such haste / It draws a beautiful bird / Its wings the color of water / The children, the colors, and I /Laughing in the street / Quickly and hurriedly / We fill the street with birds / Suddenly our birds / Form into flocks / From the joyful street / They flap their wings and fly / They fly and they fly, oh! / The sky becomes beautiful / With the feathers of our birds / As if it’s being painted / It bursts into the streets / With the joyful colors of their wings / Wherever there’s a window / It opens to the sky. Laughter, laughter, laughter / Fills the houses and the streets / The sky is full of birds / In the joyful gaze of the children / I wish the tip of our pencils / Would once again fill with birds / So that once more our streets / Would be filled with the sound of laughter. Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Sāyahʹhā-yi mihrabān [Kind shadows] (Tehran: Mihrāb-i Qalam, 1383/2004). poignantly illustrates this concept of childhood through the child’s imaginative engagement with their environment. In the poem, a child embarks on an imaginative journey with a bird that appears trapped within the confines of a blue pencil, a metaphor for the constraints that limit freedom and creativity. Initially, the bird is perceived as silent and imprisoned, unable to breathe or move freely. However, the child’s imagination transforms this state of confinement into an act of liberation, symbolizing a yearning for autonomy and self-expression. The child, along with others, uses colored pencils to draw vibrant birds on the streets, turning their surroundings into a lively celebration of freedom and creativity. The imagery of birds in various colors (blue, green, red) flying freely reflects the boundless potential of the child’s imagination and their power to bring joy and vibrancy to their world. As the birds take flight, the neighborhood becomes a canvas of shared joy and artistic expression. The poem concludes with a wish for the pencils to be filled with birds once more, symbolizing the ongoing desire for creative expression and the sustenance of joy and freedom through art.

4. Childhood as Relational: Navigating Interactions with Self and Others

In Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry, the concept of childhood is deeply rooted in the child’s interactions with both human and nonhuman entities, highlighting relational experiences that shape their understanding of the world. Through portrayals of connections with family members, intergenerational interactions, and relationships with imaginary and unknown creatures, her work demonstrates the child’s sense of connection, belonging, and empathy. This relational focus encompasses both a quest for identity and the significance of nurturing relationships that foster community, support, and shared understanding. By highlighting these dynamics, her poetry reflects a conception of childhood as a time of meaningful connection and interaction, where the self is continuously shaped by the presence of others.

A) Self: Search for Belonging

The poem Bād khānahʹī nadāsht (The wind had no home) explores the theme of childhood self and the search for belonging, using the wind as a metaphor to embody this journey.³¹The wind had no house/ it ran and ran/ until it reached a lovely nest/ perched on a branch/ inside sat a kind crow/ The crow gave its house to the wind/ but the wind could not settle there/ so it went and placed the house back on the branch/ No one but the crow/ knew of its sorrow. Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Salām! Ādam fazāʾī, 24–25. The wind is portrayed as a restless entity that lacks a home. This lack of a fixed place represents a sense of displacement or the desire to find a place of belonging, reflecting a child’s emotional quest for a sense of security and connection in the world. As the wind runs, it reaches a beautiful nest on a branch, where it encounters a kind crow sitting inside. The nest symbolizes a potential space of comfort and acceptance, a place where the wind or metaphorically, the child might feel a sense of belonging. The kind crow, which offers the nest to the wind, represents a welcoming figure, a source of potential friendship or understanding. However, even with this act of kindness, the wind cannot settle there, suggesting that belonging involves more than just external invitations or spaces. It highlights the complex nature of belonging, where an external offer of acceptance does not necessarily guarantee an internal sense of being at home. This poem deviates from the more common themes found in children’s literature, where the narrative typically culminates in the child finding a place of safety, home, or family. In many traditional children’s poems and stories, the journey or search for belonging ends with the child achieving a sense of comfort, security, and identity, often symbolized by finding a home or being embraced by a familial or communal setting. This structure reinforces a reassuring idea that no matter how difficult the journey is, there is a safe place or a happy ending waiting for the child. However, in this poem, Shaʿbānʹnizhād subverts this expectation by presenting a narrative where the search for belonging remains unresolved.

Others: Family

In Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry, childhood is deeply connected with the concept of family. Her work reveals how relationships with family members shape and define a child’s experience, showing how family dynamics influence childhood. By highlighting these familial bonds, her poetry illustrates how they contribute to a child’s sense of identity and belonging, making the child’s journey through life rich with connection and emotional depth.

In her poems, family is portrayed as a source of emotional depth, mutual care, and the reciprocal nature of relationships between children and their immediate family members. Children relate to their parents, with a particular focus on the roles of mothers and fathers, as well as the interplay of emotional sensitivity and care. The father occupies a central role in the child’s emotional life. In poems like Tāb-i bābā (Dad’s swing), the father’s playful interactions with the child highlight his importance in creating joyous and memorable experiences.³²Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Tarānahʹhā-yi bābāʾī [Daddy’s songs] (Tehran: Kānūn-i Parvarish-i Fikrī-i Kūdakān va Nawʹjavānān, 1388/2009), 14. His presence is depicted as a source of comfort and emotional security, contributing significantly to the child’s sense of well-being. Conversely, the father’s absence, as reflected in poems such as Dār dār khabarʹdār (A loud call for attention), brings about a profound sense of longing and emotional void.³³Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Tarānahʹhā-yi bābāʾī, 12. The child’s longing for the father’s presence during routine activities highlights his vital role in offering emotional stability and companionship. Nostalgia also plays a significant role in the poems, particularly when the father is depicted as absent. In such instances, the child yearns for the past sense of familial unity.

Motherhood in Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry is portrayed with a focus on the mother’s dedication and care. Poems like Hadiyah³⁴Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Tarānahʹhā-yi māmānī [Mommy’s songs] (Tehran: Kānūn-i Parvarish-i Fikrī-i Kūdakān va Nawʹjavānān, 1388/2009). (Gift) and Dandān dard³⁵Shaʿbānʹnizhād, “Dandān dard” in Salām! Ādam fazāʾī, 16–17. (Toothache) illustrate the mother’s central role in addressing both the practical and emotional needs of the family. The child’s actions, such as cleaning the house to ease the mother’s burdens or comforting her during a time of discomfort, reflect a deep sense of appreciation and empathy. The reciprocal nature of care is evident as the mother’s acknowledgment of the child’s efforts reinforces a nurturing environment. Additionally, in Māmān jūnam chī dārah. (What does my mommy have?), the child’s understanding of the mother’s hard work and the expressions of gratitude highlight the emotional bond and mutual respect between them.³⁶Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Tarānahʹhā-yi māmānī.

The poems also explore the relationships between children and their close relatives, particularly focusing on the interactions with aunts and uncles. The aunt is depicted as a nurturing and engaging figure. For example, in Khālahʹbāzī (Playing house) the aunt’s role is marked by mutual enjoyment and emotional support, fostering creativity and positive engagement.³⁷Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Bāzī bāzī bāzī [Play, play, play] (Tehran: Kānūn-i Parvarish-i Fikrī-i Kūdakān va Nawʹjavānān, 1393/2014), 3:22. The child’s joyful response to the aunt’s playful interactions highlights a warm and affectionate bond. In contrast, interactions with the uncle are portrayed differently, reflecting another dimension of familial relationships. The poem ʿAmmū jān āmad va bāz shabī mihmān-i mā shud (Uncle came again for a night visit) illustrates the occasionally strained and somewhat conflicted relationship between children and adults.³⁸ʿAmmū jān āmad va bāz/ Shabī mihmān-i mā shud/ Dūbārah kārʹhāʹyash/ Shabīh-i bachchahʹhā shud/ Nishast va pāzalʹam rā/ Nigāhī kard va khandīd/ Dū tā az tukaʹhā rā/ Ghalat pahlū-yi ham chīd/ ʿAmmū jānʹam namīʹdīd/ Gham tū-yi dilʹam rā/ Bāʹham zad bī-ijāzah/ Tamām pāzalʹam rā (Uncle came again and stayed the night as a guest / Once more, his actions resembled those of children / He sat down and looked at my puzzle, then laughed / He misplaced two pieces beside each other / My dear uncle did not see the sorrow in my heart / Without permission, he disarranged my entire puzzle). Shaʿbānʹnizhād, Salām! Ādam fazāʾī, 26–27. On the surface, the uncle’s actions seem friendly and playful. He attempts to connect with the child through a shared activity working on the puzzle. However, this interaction is marred by a lack of sensitivity and understanding. The uncle’s failure to see the child’s hidden distress and his decision to take over the puzzle without permission shows a gap in empathy and respect for the child’s autonomy and feelings.

A significant aspect of Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry is the portrayal of emotional sensitivity, particularly through the experiences of young girls. In her poems, such as Zanbīl-i mamān³⁹Shaʿbānʹnizhād, “Zanbīl-i mamān,” in Salām! Ādam fazāʾī, 22–23. (Mother’s basket) and Sūzān⁴⁰Shaʿbānʹnizhād, “Sūzān,” in Salām! Ādam fazāʾī, 20–21. (Needle), the young girls exhibit a profound sense of empathy and concern for their family’s well-being from an early age. They are depicted as deeply worried about their parents’ daily hardships, such as the father’s meals at work, his endurance of difficult conditions, and whether he has an umbrella to shield him from the rain. This early manifestation of empathy and concern underscores the feminine compassion and understanding of familial responsibilities. Interestingly, similar expressions of worry and empathy are less commonly observed in the portrayals of young boys. This gendered emotional response may reflect the poet’s own gender, experiences, and concerns from her childhood, especially given the theme of paternal absence that recurs throughout her work.

In Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry, when depicting family relationships within a rural setting, the elements of nature enhance the intimacy and depth of these familial connections. For instance, in the poem Rūstā-yi zindigī (The village of life) by likening the father to a mountain, the mother to the sun, and the brother to droplets of water, Shaʿbānʹnizhād creates a metaphorical landscape that emphasizes the supportive and nurturing roles of family members.⁴¹Shaʿbān′nizhād , Sāyihʹhā-yi mihrabān. The child, depicted as a sapling leaning on the mountain, symbolizes growth and dependency on these familial figures, with the rural environment enhancing this sense of connection and stability. The rural home is presented as a “village of life” where simplicity and community bonds create a nurturing and supportive environment.

Imaginary Creatures: Mundane and Extraterrestrial

In Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry, the child’s interactions extend to others, such as imaginary and extraterrestrial creatures that inhabit the child’s mind. These interactions are not merely fanciful or whimsical; they are rooted in an epistemological framework that shapes and informs the child’s understanding of the world. It allows the child to transcend the boundaries of reality and engage with the unknown, exploring concepts of self, other, and the broader universe. The presence of these imaginary and extraterrestrial beings reflects the fluidity of the child’s perception, where the line between the real and the imagined is blurred. Through these engagements, the poetry reveals how children construct meaning, navigate their sense of identity, and relate to the external world in complex, multidimensional ways.

In this line, the poem “Ghūl”⁴²Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, “Giant,” in Salām! Ādam fazāʾī, 17–18. (Ghul) presents a scene where the boundaries between reality and imagination blur. The child narrator sees a Ghul inside a wardrobe. Instead of being afraid, the child treats this encounter as something quite ordinary and immediately engages with it by fulfilling its simple request for ice cream. When the child fetches “a lot of ice cream” from the refrigerator, the narrative takes a turn with the mother’s arrival. The giant flees in fear of the mother, which represents the intrusion of the adult reality into the child’s imaginative world.

In Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry, the child’s interactions with imaginary and extraterrestrial others can reflect Karin Murris’ concept of the “posthuman child” (2016).⁴³Karin Murris’s posthuman child challenges the humanist and developmentalist view of the child as a deficient being on the way to becoming a rational adult. Grounded in critical posthumanism, this figure is relational, emergent, and intra-active not pre-existing as an individual with fixed properties, but materializing through relations with human and nonhuman others. Murris draws on Karen Barad’s concept of intra-action to argue that agency and knowledge production are always entangled and collective, not located within an isolated self. The posthuman child is thus seen as rich, resourceful, and resilient, actively participating in meaning-making across material-discursive entanglements, rather than being a passive receiver of adult knowledge. Murris critiques ontoepistemic injustice in education where children are denied recognition as knowers and proposes philosophy with picturebooks as a way to disrupt adult authority and create epistemically just pedagogical relationships. See Karin Murris, et al., “Interview with Karin Murris,” in Posthumanist and New Materialist Methodologies: Research After the Child, ed. Claudia Diaz-Diaz and Paulina Semenec (Singapore: Springer Nature, 2020), xii-xiv, 12–13, 77–78,  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2708-1_8. Rather than viewing the child as an autonomous individual or as a passive subject to be shaped, Murris reconceives the child as a dynamic phenomenon; an emergent configuration of entangled relations among human, non-human, material, and imagined forces. This perspective aligns with the imaginative landscapes in some of Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poems, where the child engages with beings such as extraterrestrials and giants not from a place of detachment, but through an ontological fluidity. In “Ghūl,” the child’s casual encounter with the giant inside a wardrobe resists categorization as either real or unreal. The gesture of bringing ice cream to the Ghul, rather than reacting with fear, exemplifies a non-hierarchical openness to alterity. This scene dramatizes what Murris calls the ‘iii’, a porous self that emerges through intra-actions with others, including entities that exist only within the folds of imagination or speculative space. The child’s world is not bifurcated into the rational and the fantastical; instead, it is constituted through continuous worlding with both visible and invisible agents.⁴⁴Karin Murris, et al., “Interview with Karin Murris,” 87–98.

Drawing on this view, such poems do not merely reflect a rich inner fantasy life but articulate a mode of knowing that is deeply relational and more-than-human. The extraterrestrial in “Ādam fazāʾī” functions similarly: not as an external visitor to the child’s world, but as a co-participant in the child’s becoming. Such creatures are agents in the child’s epistemic and affective navigation of existence, echoing Murris’s relocation of agency from individualized control to mutual constitution.⁴⁵Karin Murris, The Posthuman Child: Educational Transformation Through Philosophy with Picturebooks (London: Routledge, 2016). Imagination here is not a withdrawal from reality but a medium of participation in the unfolding of worlds. It performs the posthuman function of dissolving rigid boundaries between self and other, matter and meaning, adult reason and child wonder. Through such poetic encounters, Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s child is never a solitary ‘I’ but a relational node; what Murris theorizes as always in the midst of becoming, shaped through ongoing contact with spaces, creatures, objects, and ideas. This orientation radically decenters anthropocentric views of childhood, offering instead a vision of childness as something emergent, entangled, and fundamentally world-producing. However, the arrival of the mother in “Ghūl,” prompting the giant’s flight, stages the moment when adult-defined reality attempts to reassert its authority over this more fluid terrain.

Conclusion

This article has examined the representation of childhood by the female poet, Afsānah Shaʿbānʹnizhād, shedding light on the sociocultural dynamics that have historically relegated both femininity and childhood to marginalized positions.  Femininity and childhood have long been intertwined in a complex web of cultural and social constructs, often perpetuating a narrative of vulnerability, dependency, and a lack of agency. This parallelism is rooted in the patriarchal ideologies that have dominated many cultures, positioning both women and children as “other.” The consequence of this positioning is a double marginalization, where the voices and experiences of both women and children are frequently overlooked, silenced, or trivialized. The study of childhood through the lens of a female poet like Shaʿbānʹnizhād is important because it challenges these dominant discourses and offers a counter-narrative that validates the agency and subjectivity of both women and children.

Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s poetry represents a significant contribution to Iranian children’s literature, offering rich insights into the multifaceted concept of childhood. Through her portrayals, she challenges the conventional dichotomies often associated with childhood and its representation, particularly the simplistic binaries of innocence versus experience, joy versus adversity, and agency versus vulnerability. Her exploration of childhood as an interplay between innocence and experience emphasizes that childhood is not merely a state of naïveté but involves navigating societal norms and expectations. Shaʿbānʹnizhād’s work also serves as a conduit for examining themes of relationality and belonging. The intricate relationships depicted in her poetry highlight the importance of familial bonds and social interactions in the developmental journey of a child, aligning with contemporary understandings within childhood studies that prioritize the interconnectedness of children’s experiences.

Moreover, her representation of the child’s agency and creative potential invites a critical engagement with the works of posthumanist scholars such as Karin Murris, who argue that children’s imaginations allow them to negotiate their identities and realities in ways that transcend established adult frameworks. By depicting children interacting with both familiar and fantastical entities such as animals and extraterrestrial beings, Shaʿbānʹnizhād elucidates a broader epistemological stance that embraces a holistic understanding of childhood as an active, transformative stage of life.

As observed, Shaʿbānʹnizhād champions the voices of children, advocating for their perspectives and experiences while challenging the traditional paradigms that have historically marginalized them. In doing so, Shaʿbānʹnizhād stands as a pivotal figure in the evolution of Iranian children’s poetry, embodying the potential for transformative change through literary expression.