Persian Language and Literature

Publication Information

Safīne, Majmūʻe, and Jong The Historical Transformations of a Literary Genre

Mohammad Afshinvafaie

The terms “majmūʻe”, “safīne”, and “jong” are presently used in the senses which may differ from their past meanings. Some related terms in Arabic and Persian languages, such as “bayāż”, “jarīde”, even “korrāse”, “daftar”, “mofrad”, and “jozv” have been coined for special concepts, which are hardly definable in some cases. Therefore, acquiring a relative perception of these terms, with regard to their application in the texts and documents of each period, is indispensably necessary. Some of these terms have been inserted into each other’s semantic fields or have lost their exact meanings in various periods; therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to their semantic evolution. In this paper, firstly the oldest uses of the three basic terms “majmūʻe”, “safīne”, and “jong” are studied in Persian texts up to the end of the ninth century A.H. For this purpose, the literati and poets’ references in the texts, and the old anthologies (safīnes and jongs) are examined to clarify the meanings of the terms and their semantic changes during several periods. In addition, the relationship between the terms and their common uses in other eras are referred to in brief.

Rhetorical Replica (Badal Bilaqi) and Its Variants in Hafez’s Sonnets

Ali Heidari

One of the stylistic features of Hafez’s sonnets is the repetition of a part of the meaning of the first line in the second line. His knowledge of the rhetorical and semantic relations of vocabularies enabled him to repeat the meaning with the least verbal repetition. One of the ways that has helped him to achieve this goal is replicating the concepts in two parts of the couplet based on rhetorical relations between them. The replicated concept, in addition to referring to the first concept or a part of the meaning of that, retains its original meaning. We call this method "Rhetorical Replica" (Badal Bilaqi). In this research, based on the three traditional offices of rhetoric, we have categorized different relations existing between the two sides of the replica. In Hafez’s poetry, methods of arranging the “rhetorical replica” vary. Sometimes Hafez substitutes a few concepts for each other in a verse and creates several rhetorical replicas. Sometimes he creates several rhetorical relations between two concepts, and extents the domain of significance. Also, occasionally he replaces a concept with multiple references which generate numerous significance and ambiguity in the poem. In what follows, through examples from Hafez, the authors of this paper categorize and explain the multiplicity and diversity of rhetorical replicas in his poetry. The frequency of rhetorical relations on the two sides of the rhetorical replica in the three different offices of rhetoric is as follows: invention, 3%; arrangement, 69%; and style 28%. About one third of Hafez’s poetry contains rhetorical replica. And, the high frequency indicates that this is a stylistic feature in Hafez’s poetry.

An Analytic Study of the Implicit Meanings in Tangsir

Gholamreza Salemian

Semiotics is one of the theories of reading literary texts. This theory systematically studies the causes and factors involved in the process of production and interpretation of the signs. One of the main topics in semiotics deals with implicit meaning wherein the scholars examine the implied significance of the signs in addition to their explicit significance. Sadegh Chubak’s Tangsir is one of the most successful contemporary Iranian literary novels. Most of the events in this fiction, characters, actions, scenes, and names have implicit and connotative meanings that by analyzing them, the underlying layers of the texts will be discovered. This study attempts to investigate the implicit significance of the novel. To this end, first, a brief explanation of semiotics and implicit significance is put forth. Then the implicit significance of Tangsir will be presented in three categories of: the anticolonial, sociological and mythical. The results of this study indicate that the implicit anticolonial significance of the novel raises the issue of the conspiracies of British colonialism in the southern regions of Iran. The sociological significance of the novel portrays a community drowned in misery, poverty, suppression, and oppression. And the mythical significance of the novel indicates the ritual of sacrificing a cow in Mithraism and the archetype of crossing water in myths.

Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy: The Discourse of the Power of Genghiz

Habibullah Abbasi

The Discourse of the power of Genghiz was formulated in a specific social and political context. Although it was well articulated in the seventh century AH, its roots go back even before its discursive life, that is, to the Seljuk period, especially to the attack of the "Ghoses" to Khorasan and the "Kharazmshahi" period. In this article, we examine the development and dominance of discourse of the power of Genghiz based on Ata-Malik Jovayni’s historical narrative in Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy. To this end and considering from among different approaches, Laclau and Mouffe’s discursive approach proved to be the most effective in examining the development and evolution of the discourse. The relationship between power holders and writers has always been central and Ata-malik Jovayni is no exception. In the position of an observer and historian, he recorded the adversities brought by the Mongols, while he remained loyal to the Mongol court. The point is that Jovayni adopted an approach different from other historians, especially Bayhaghi, in delineating the characteristics of Genghiz, the central figure of the text. The main task of the historian is to select a particular narrative from among available narratives. What is Jovayni’s method of narration for establishing the meaning of his text? What comes out of this history is the reverberation of Genghiz’s unparalleled power in the regions under his rule which is different from other voices narrating the horrible events in Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy. In the end, we conclude that, according to the aforementioned theory, the text of Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy has a consistent semantic system, and this ability helps to fixate the meaning of the text. This harmonious system functions to modify Genghiz’s image and justify his violence.

The Process of Individuation in the Story of Khosrow and Shirin (With Special References to the Character of Khosrow)

Zolfaghar Allami

Khosrow and Shirin is the second of five long narrative poems by Nezami and is one of the finest love stories in Persian literature. This story has been examined so far from different aspects and with different approaches. One of the approaches overlooked in the analysis of this story is the process of individuation from Carl Jung's point of view. Therefore the aim of the present paper is to psychoanalyze the development of the character of Khosrow Parviz and other central characters. This will be done through analytical-descriptive method while drawing upon the archetypes of anima and animus, shadow, persona, anima, wise old man, etc. The result of the study suggests that to achieve the individualism and unification of Khosrow's personality, as the hero of the story, it is necessary for him to enter the unconscious so that through the symbolic indexes of the inner self and the forces that produce consciousness, the hero would obtain self-knowledge, and his way to throne and Shirin is smoothed.

Reduplication in Persian Language and Literature

Mansoureh Karimi Ghahi

The Reduplications are made by repeating part of the base. The repeated part does not make sense and will never be used alone and is just popular in spoken language. In recent times, they have been used in some texts of poetry and prose, in particular, in stories written in vernacular. This research, with a historical approach, and with an analytical-explanatory method, examines the information obtained from literary and historical sources; and while analyzing the use of reduplication in Persian language and literature, it investigates three hypotheses: first, the effect of the changing of the face and meaning of the ancient Persian vocabulary on the formation of reduplication in Persian language; second, the effect of the Arabic syntax on the formation of reduplication in Persian language; and third, the effect of Arabic vocabulary and synonyms on the formation of reduplication in Persian language and literature
According to the findings of this research, the history of the use of reduplication dates back to the thirteenth century AH. Most of the compositions, from the first to the thirteenth century AH, are seen in poetic and prose works, and the writers of dictionaries have described them as examples of reduplication but in fact they are synonyms connected by conjunctives which due to a change of face and passage of time are mistakenly claimed to be reduplication. Reduplication has been introduced into Persian language since the thirteenth century AH. This was due to the prevalence of Arabic vocabulary in Persian language and also people’s habits of using synonyms in speaking. Along with developments in Persian prose and the tendency of writers to simplification and vernacularism, these compositions were introduced into Persian texts, especially satirical fictional works.

A Structural Analysis of Musical Gnostic Prose works with an Emphasis on their Lyrical Contents

Mahbubeh Mobasheri

Gnostic prose works cover a wide range of subjects, contents, styles, structures, languages, and manners of expression. They might, therefore, be all categorized under one single literary genre. Applying the general term "gnostic prose works" to these oeuvres hinders our understanding of their true nature. Despite that many gnostic prose works belong to Gnosticism, they have special characteristics that make these works different from other gnostic texts. The present study has been done comparatively and analytically and with the help of library sources such as books and pamphlets on central topics, such as "Love". While examining the common characteristics, this subset was introduced as another literary genre like theosophical and lyrical prose texts. The purpose of this study is not to divide Sufism into theosophical and romantic, but it intends to study theosophical works according to their ways of expression, structure, language, figures of thought and subject to exhibit their real identities. The study indicates that they are closely comparable on three grounds: 1. In being prose and related issues (mixing oral and written tradition and interpretation), 2. In being Gnostic and in issues related to epistemology, ontology, irregularity, love, beauty, and influence from earlier works, 3. In being romantic and poetical in expression regarding questions related to musicality, imagery, and poetic logic.

Analysis of “Gol -o- Norooz” by Khwaju Kermani According to the Jungian Archetype of Individuation

Mohsen Mohamadi Fesharaki

Carl Gustav Jung, the founder of the analytical psychology in the twentieth century believes that under the appearance of human consciousness exists an eternal collective unconscious which is part of the hereditary psychological factor common in the entire human race. He successfully introduced the common archetypes in the mythology of the different nations and opened up a new trend in psychology. This article intends to study "Gol-o-Norooz" in light of Jung’s archetype of individuation. Attention to archetypes for decoding "Gol-o-Norooz" is necessary because this collection is entirely explainable based on these archetypal symbols. Norooz is a symbol of Piroozshah’s unconscious forces and Piroozshah is in turn the activated representative of his own archetype. After many dangerous voyages, he finally reached his beloved, and by the birth of his children the cycle of individuation is completed.

The Fantastic and Superrealism in Kashf-Al-Asrar by Ruzbehan Baqli

Alireza Nabiloo

Fantastic literature is one of the most popular genres in the world. Due to its wide scope, literary theoreticians have put forth numerous theories to explain its various dimensions. On the other hand, many Persian literary texts make use of these features, but they have not been sufficiently investigated yet. In the field of mysticism, due to the connection with supernatural affairs, numerous works have been created by the mystics, which are related to fantastic and supernatural issues. Kashf al-Asrar is of this kind, which includes the writer's revelations and spiritual journey. In this spiritual journey, he encounters super-real creatures and visits fantastic places, and most importantly, has meetings and talks with God; a range of events that gives a fantastic, super-real and phantasmagoric structure to the book. In this article, in addition to explaining the super-real and fantastic literature, using the elements and methods used by Ruzbehan Baqli, such as symbol, metaphor, etc., the authors describe and explain the elements of the fantastic literature in Kashf al-Asrar. It is said that, in order to explain this journey and spiritual experience, Ruzbehan uses various tools in three realms of the inner, outer, and super-real worlds to illustrate his connection with the unseen world and its extraordinary creatures.

A Discourse Analysis of “The Prince and His Companions” in Kelileh and Demneh Based On Semio-Semantics

Ismaeil Narmashiri

Despite showing an overtly simple structure, the semantic process in classic literary-narrative discourse conforms to complicated semiotic systems. As a result, semio-semantics is deemed as one of the most scientific, reliable tools since it helps intradiscursive semio-textual propositions be phenomenologically, and even epistemologically, analyzed. Consequently, the narrative discourse in “The Prince and His Companions” is studied in order to find how much sign elements have semantic capability and how effective they have been in revealing the narrator’s thoughts and discourse.
This study is a library research, trying to address a) what situation and function linguistic backgrounds and parameters have in quality and fluidity of discursive meaning in line with narrator’s mindset; and b) how sign-individuals exist in the semantic process and epistemological discourse. In general, findings reveal that the narrator has intentionally formed this narrative discourse, compiling all semiotic systems and elements in an attempt to describe deterministic mental representation.

Borrowing the Verb “ast” and Its Varieties in Arabic Dialect of Sarab

Hamed Norouzi

“Borrowing” is a lingual process that is studied in diachronic linguistics. In this process a language borrows elements from another language. This process usually occurs in areas that two languages make contact with each other. In a dialect spoken in South Khorasan the language borrowing happens. Arabs living in this part of Iran probably have immigrated in the early centuries of Islam. In this paper, the process of borrowing the verb “ast” and its varieties in “Sarab” village will be studied. In this village, this Farsi copular verb is used in three ways: est (with the phonetic, morphological and semantic transformation), hast (without any transformation) and mest (as a participle). In Arabic dialect of Sarab “ast” and its varieties are used in three modes of predictive, subjunctive and imperative. The use of Arabic identifiers in construction of “ast” is different in this dialect and its Farsi structure.

Intellectual Links between Mawlānā Jalāl ad-Dīn and Sultan Walad in the Realm of Hadith Interpretation: A Case Study of Masanvi Manavi and Sultan Walad’s Masnavies

Davood Vaseghi

Interpretations are of the most fundamental principles of mysticism (Sufis). Masters of taste with their scientific and intuitive power go beyond the surface structures and present real and unfathomable meanings of the Quran and Hadith in ways that may not cross the mind of ordinary people. Masnavi Manavi is one the works that has an interpretation look toward the Quran and Hadith. Delving into this great work reveals that Mawlānā, in many cases, goes beyond the surface structures of Hadith and attaches a profound meaning to them. Sultan Walad, Mawlānā’s son and follower, in his Masnavies adopted an interpretative view toward Hadith. Though he has innovative views about the interpretations of the Quran and Hadith, in most of the cases he was influenced by his father’s work.
The authors in this study investigate Mawlānā’s interpretive approach in Masnavi Manavi and reveal how they affected Sultan Walad’s Masnavies. The results show that Mawlānā and Sultan Walad rejected superficial thinking and reliance on the surface of religious works. They believed that because of the fact that they overcome their humanistic desires and self-love, the true Allah lovers are infallible in their speech because Allah reveals to them the truth. And they can express the profound meaning of religion through their intuitive powers and based on their mystic experience.
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The Classicist Approach of Yaghma Magazine toward Contemporary Poetry

Morad Ali Vaezi

Yaghma, The literary magazine in the field of poetry, started its activity with the aim of preserving ancient achievements and countering every kind of unapproved innovations and novelty. This was in spite of the fact that many years had passed since the beginning of modern poetry and there have emerged famous figures in Nimaei poetry. The present article intends to see how much Yaghma was successful in following its initial policy in the field of poetry delineated in its very first number. This will be done through a review of the theories of poetry published in this magazine and also content-statistical analysis of forms and contents of the poems and identifying the poets who were considered and heeded more than others in Yaghma. Had Yaghma been successful in following classicism regardless of modernism, or had it been affected by modern trends in poetry? Results of the current study, which was done by content analysis and descriptive-analytic method, show that although Yaghma had serious attempts to print and publish classic poems and had great cooperation with dogmatic poets, and much of it comprised of Ghazal (33 percent), Ghasideh (25 percent), classical contents and Akhavaniat, yet it could not ignore public demands for modern trends in poetry and sometimes made cautious innovations to satisfy contemporary needs and occasionally eulogized and praised innovative (or modern) poets due to expediencies of the age, and even published some of their poems. However, to defend and respect its classic followers who form the main body of its audience, Yaghma prevented this from becoming a regular approach in the magazine.