A Fresh Reading of the Book Fair: Re-identifying a Social Field

According to the Iran Book News Agency (IBNA), the unveiling ceremony for the book ‘Ordibehesht Book; Ethnography of the Ordibehesht Tehran International Book Fair,’ authored by Mahdi Kamouz, was held on Thursday, Aban 29 (November 20), at Saray-e Ahl-e Qalam (House of Writers).

The following report contains the text of Mohsen Kazemi’s speech: Mahdi Kamouz is an author, researcher, and literary critic who holds a considerable position in the field of children’s and young adult literature. One of his important efforts is the compilation and editing of the 10-volume series ‘Oral History of Children’s and Young Adult Literature in Iran’; a project that seeks to provide an accurate and historical picture of this field through interviews and recording the memories of influential figures in children’s literature.

One of Kamouz’s most valuable works is the book ‘Foundations of Children’s and Young Adult Literature,’ which was co-authored and published with my dear late mentor, Mahmoud Hakimi. Another important book by him is ‘Foundations of Fictional Biography,’ a reference book that I have frequently consulted, used, and cited.

In addition to his activities in children’s literature, he is also active in theater; for instance, in 2022, he was appointed as the secretary of the National Conference on Youth Theater. In 2024, he wrote the play collections ‘Iranian Human,’ ‘Revolutionary Islamic Human,’ and ‘The Cultural Future of Beloved Iran,’ which were published by Soroush Publications, and although only 5 volumes of it reached me.

The approach of Kamouz’s works demonstrates his sensitivity to the role of ethics, religion, and meaning in literature. He believes that religious children’s literature should reflect revelatory thought and should not be evaluated merely quantitatively.

The combination of research and diversity in Mahdi Kamouz’s writing has transformed him into an important and influential figure in contemporary Iranian literature, especially contemporary children’s and young adult literature in Iran.

About Ordibehesht Book

This book attempts to view the book fair not as a simple cultural event, but as a multi-layered social field. A sentence from the text serves as the book’s perspective and point of departure: ‘The book fair is a sign consumed instead of a book.’ From this, it is understood what Kamouz is pursuing.

Although the Tehran Book Fair recurs annually, it has been less often seen from within and through the eyes of its participants. Usually, narratives are managerial or professional. However, Kamouz enters with an anthropological perspective and shapes his main question: What is the behavioral quality of participants at the book fair?

This question contains three analytical axes that form the foundation of the book:

First Axis: Book Fair: Dominance or Freedom?

In the first approach, Kamouz raises the question of whether the book fair is a hegemonic space; that is, a space whose rules, paths, architectural signs, and structure ‘regulate and domesticate’ people’s behavior?

Here, the author draws on the theories of Henri Lefebvre, who considered space a political matter and a social product. According to Lefebvre, every space carries power, and the exhibition is no exception to this rule. Therefore, attending the exhibition is not just browsing a book market; it is an encounter with a space and the power within it.

But the opposite question also arises: Do people behave rebelliously in this space? Is the exhibition an archipelago of different behaviors, groups, and tastes?

Through participatory observation, Kamouz shows that both aspects exist: the exhibition standardizes behaviors to some extent, but people challenge this order by walking, stopping, not buying, taking photos, exploring, sitting, watching, and even wandering aimlessly.

Second Axis: Book Fair: Cultural Event or Society of the Spectacle?

This axis raises a question derived from Guy Debord’s ideas and the theory of the ‘Society of the Spectacle.’ Is participation in the book fair a kind of collective performance? Are participants merely consumers of books, or are they ‘performing themselves’ in a public space?

Kamouz, relying on lived post-Corona experience, shows that for many people, going to the book fair is a kind of return to the social body and presence in a public space. After a period when physical presence was restricted and avatars replaced bodies in cyberspace, the book fair became the stage for the return of daily life.

Spectator behaviors, taking photos, sitting in the Musalla courtyard, long strolls, taking selfies, stopping in front of stalls are signs of the book fair’s performative function.

Third Axis: Book Fair: Economy of Politics or Symbolic Capital?

In this axis, Kamouz approaches the topic from a Bourdieusian perspective: Is the public’s goal at the fair ‘buying books’? Or is the fair an arena for displaying taste, cultural acquisition of status, and increasing symbolic capital?

Conclusion: The exhibition is a multi-purpose field; for some, a book market; for others, a leisure and recreational opportunity; for a group, a place for meetings; and for some, a place to solidify cultural identity. The book shows that cultural consumption at the fair is not necessarily equivalent to buying; watching is also a form of consumption.

Theoretical Framework: Why is this book analyzable?

One of the book’s strengths is linking ethnographic data with cultural and urban theories.

• Lefebvre: Triad of perceived, conceived, and lived space
• Kevin Lynch: Readability of place identity, vitality, accessibility
• Bourdieu: Symbolic capital and lifestyle
• Habermas: Public sphere and the link between politics and culture

These frameworks have given the text sociological depth, although the book is more narrative-driven than theory-driven.

Narrative Method and Ethnographic Style

What might draw attention more than the theories is the book’s writing style; a combination of field observation, literary monograph, and personal narratives. The author is simultaneously a ‘student observer’ and a ‘narrator-actor.’ He puts together his notes, memories, momentary glances, and descriptions. This style is a strength of the book because it gives voice to the lived experience of the exhibition.

Strengths

Bringing the audience closer to the lived experience of the exhibition; creative use of urban space theories; ethnographic recording of a large cultural event; and literary, readable narration.

Points for Discussion

Lack of hard data and absence of detailed methodological descriptions, dominance of literary sections over field analysis in some parts, limitation of the research to one period of the exhibition, and difficulty of generalizability.

Key Points

• Due to its reliance on lived narrative, participatory presence, participatory observation, and linking data with personal narrative, this book can be considered ethnography. We know that ethnography seeks ‘meaning,’ not ‘statistics.’
• Due to the theoretical framework of Lefebvre and Bourdieu, which analyzes power and hegemony, it must be said that the author’s perspective is critical, not political.
• This narrative ethnography requires more data for applied policy research.
• Since the exhibition is a temporary but meaningful field, ethnography is also applicable in transient and crowded spaces.
• Since theories are not the pillars of analysis but the context for understanding, it must be said that the book is more ‘theory-informed than theory-forming.’
• Since the research is limited to one period of the exhibition, and since ethnography does not seek generalization but rather depth and meaning, it can also be said regarding this ethnography that it is not generalizable, but it is inspiring. ‘To tell you the truth, from the soul.’