Persian Language and Literature

Publication Information

Half-Yearly Persian Language and Literature

A Study of Death and Its Effect on Life in Saadi’s Works Based on Irvin Yalom’s Existential Psychotherapy

leila Azarnivar

Death is the most definite end that can happen at any moment and at any point in life, a horrible truth that humans respond to with horror of death. Many psychotherapists, including Yalom, consider it to be the main source of anxiety, which greatly affects a person’s behavior and psyche. History has shown that poets and writers have thought deeply about death and spoken about it. Saadi, an Iranian thinker who has gained world fame by expressing his moral and philosophical wisdom, in addition to telling anecdotes in his works “Bustan” and “Gulistan” and even in his “Ghazaliat”, has discussed the meaning of death and the anxiety caused by it. Due to the importance of the subject of death, its certainty and inevitability, the current study used Saadi’s works, along with a descriptive-analytical method based on interdisciplinary studies to investigate how Saadi and Yalom help human beings to overcome the horror of death and to live happily or save themselves from its fear despite knowing about death and to face the crises and their mental and psychological problems. The findings show that facing and remembering death not only reduce death anxiety but also make life meaningful, more precious, and valuable. As a result, with such a perception, one can make death enjoyable not only for oneself, but also for others.

Analysis and Symbology of the First Part of The Blind Owl (Bufe Kur) Using Lacan’s Theory of The Real

Asad Abshirini

The narrative of The Blind Owl (Buf-e Kur) goes through scattered “writings” in which the “painter” narrator, in captivity from the burden of his “wall of the house” shoulders through the entire story and tells the “swallowing shadow” of himself. It is only in the first part of The Blind Owl that the “ethereal girl” “manifests” through the “ventilation hole” of the closet of the same “house” which is located “on the other side of the ditch”. In the present study, the psychoanalytic theories of the French Jacques Lacan, of which language-centeredness is also one of the basic premises, are effective tools that pave the way for reflection on the linguistic aspects and related symbols in The Blind Owl. What explanation Lacan’s “The Real” provides for the progress of the plot of this modern story as well as how the result of such a view sheds light on the interpretive nature of The Blind Owl and its prosaic aspects constitute the author’s concerns.

The Role of Grammatical Components in the Linguistic Ambiguity of Ghalib Dehlavi’s Ghazals

Hossain Ettehadi

Ghalib Dehlavi is among the most famous poets of Indian style in the 13^th century. As noted by some critics, he belongs to the group of poets whose speech is often ambiguous and complicated. Using a descriptive-analytical method, the present study attempts to clarify the causes of such linguistic ambiguity through analyzing the most important part of Ghalib’s works, his collection of Ghazals. The results show that creating various descriptive compounds, omitting a part of a sentence, and some lexical and syntactic inaccuracies, and specifically, creating conflict among words are the most significant components which have led to his speech ambiguity. Meanwhile, in terms of their high frequency, using innovative compounds and creating conflicts are regarded as features of Ghalib’s style. On the other hand, the great desire of the poet to present new and complex themes has led him to invent many new nominal, adverbial, and especially descriptive compounds.

Reification of the Described and the Five Patterns of Description in Nizami’s Haft Peykar

Seyed Saeid Ahmadpour Moghaddam

While Nizami’s adroitness and expertise in detailed illustration and description have always been the focus of attention of the analysts of his works, so far there has been no due analysis of his artistic techniques and the various patterns he has used in description and image-creating. Choosing Haft Peykar as one of the most prominent works of Nizami and using a descriptive-analytical method, this study aims to answer the two fundamental questions of what aesthetic, rhetorical, narrative, etc. functions, Nizami’s skillful illustrations and detailed descriptions in the text are and whether it is possible to determine cogent and verifiable patterns in Nizami’s descriptions and illustrations. As a result of this research, it became clear that Nizami made his work tangible and realistic for the audience by objectifying and reifying what was described. This objective entity itself has secondary functions that can be investigated in the areas of rhetoric, aesthetics, or narrative logic in the text of Haft Peykar. Most of the descriptions and illustrations of this work can be classified under specific patterns.

A Comparative Analysis of Collective Mobilization of Birds in Manṭeq-al-Tayr and Pigeons in the Story of the Torquate Pigeon in Kalile-va-Demneh

Mohammad Khosravi Shakib

“Collective mobilization” is one of the most widely used models in the field of contemporary political sociology, which makes it possible to study and analyze the internal mechanisms governing social movements, revolutions, and political unrest. In the present study, the narrative of “Birds of the World” in Manṭeq-al-Tayr as well as the story of “Torquate Pigeon” in Kalile-va-Demneh are successful instances of collective action and mobilization in classical Persian literature aimed at restructuring the status quo. Therefore, it is necessary to study the quantitative and qualitative variables governing their internal organization. The application of indicators such as the principle of wise actor, the principle of public relations, the principle of structure of collective action, the principle of quantitative and qualitative coherence, and the principle of motivations and behavioral patterns, etc. reveal the structural complexity of such collective actions. In this article, an attempt is made to study the internal mechanisms governing the two narratives using qualitative comparative analysis to assess the degree of coherence as well as the explanatory and interpretive capacities of each story.

A Study of a Couplet from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh Based on Avestan and Middle Persian Texts

Mojtaba Doroudi

The present article is an analysis of a couplet from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, about which scholars have expressed various opinions so far. This couplet, which was also recorded by Saadi in Bustan, begins with the hemistich “mayazar muri ke danekesh ast” (Don’t harm an ant that is seed-carrying). Later, according to the recorded form of this couplet in the Florence version and two other versions containing the hemistich “makosh muraki ra ke ruzikesh ast” (Don’t kill a small ant that is daily-bread-carrying), Khaleghi Motlagh based his revised version of Shahnameh and stated that it was the closest version to the original Shahnameh. The researchers have since expressed their opinions on rejection or acceptance of this revision. While investigating other views, this study focused on Avestan and Middle Persian texts and considered the frequency of some words of this hemistich and concluded that the phrase “mure danekesh” (seed-carrying ant) is an ancient and descriptive compound that has its roots in Old and Middle Persian texts and its domain is extended into New Persian. The two other phrases “makosh” (Don’t kill) compared with “mayazar” (Don’t harm) and “muri” (an ant) compared with “muraki” (a small ant) have superiority, which correspond with one another in each hemistich. However, the phrase “mayazar” can be regarded as one of Ferdowsi’s poetic innovations.

A Study of the Concept of Dād (justice) in Six Stories of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh with a Cognitive Approach

Ashraf Seraj

Dād (justice) is one of the abstract concepts that is not tangible in the world outside the mind and thinkers have dealt with it from various perspectives throughout history. Ferdowsi paid special attention to justice and mentioned it as one of the most important and required attributes of the kings. From the perspective of cognitive linguists, the human mind, using the metaphor mechanism, understands the abstract concepts through objective concepts. For an abstract concept, several different source domains may be used. Physical experiences, physical environment, social and cultural environment, and personal and social background are among the factors involved in the diversity of metaphors. The current research is an attempt to investigate Ferdowsi’s views about justice by studying conceptual metaphors used in six stories of Shahnameh and to identify the factors influencing the diversity of the source domains by analyzing the relationship between metaphor and types of context. The results of the research indicate that, in Shahnameh, justice, depicted as a priceless object and everlasting wealth, is spread by the king among the people and in the world. Justice leads the kingdom and state towards order and development, and it is a guardian that keeps the realm of government safe, and like water, the progress and renewal of the world and the happiness of the people depends on it.

An Intertextual Approach to the Types of Influence in the Narrative of Ghoz Riot

Mostafa Alipour

There is a difference between a historical event and the historical narrative of that event, whether it is oral or written. That is why an event is something that happened once in a specific time and place, but the historical narrative is multiple and numerous and does not completely agree with the historical event and is an interpretation of the original incident. Using the descriptive-analytical method and the intertextual approach (based on the three intertextual axes of Genette) in this article, the repetition, reconstruction, and reproduction of the past have been analyzed in two historical narratives of Zahiri Nishaburi and Rawandi about the incident of Ghoz riot, two narratives which are temporally and expressively different. Moreover, it has been shown that these two texts, which have a common theme and are related to each other have been influenced by each other and much communication has taken place between them. In addition to relying and emphasizing on the linguistic features of Rahat al-Sudur, especially its syntactic system, the intertextual relationship of the two works, similarities, and differences in the way of their reporting and narrating of Ghoz riot have been discussed. The result of the research highlights the influence of Seljuq Nameh on Rahat al-Sudur in the historical report, which accuses its author of plagiarism.

An Anthropological Analysis of Keykhosrow’s Character in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh

Arman Fateh Dowlatabadi

Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh is full of stories which are rooted in myths. The characters of stories can be analyzed from different viewpoints. Keykhosrow is one of the eminent characters of myths. In this paper, relying on desk study, document and content analysis, and the adoption of Marcel Mauss’ anthropological approach and Eliade’s theory about magic doctors we have analyzed Keykhosrow and his magical actions. The findings of this paper show that the Iranian-Turanian Keykhosrow is a potential witch. He also has characteristics and actions which can be found in witches. Keykhosrow, like a king-priest who dominated Classical Elements and adept in witchcraft, conquers Afrasiab with unusual magical tricks and ends the Great War.

A Mythological Criticism of Manaqib al-Arefi Based on the Theory of Mircea Eliade

Ramin Moharrami

Manaqib al-Arefin, authored by Shams al-Din Ahmad Aflaki, describes the life of Mawlawi family and the elders of Mawlawiyya Order. In this book, Aflaki portrayed mythological and surreal characters of the predecessors and contemporaries. Many mystical issues of Manaqib al-Arefin are consistent with mythological concepts; and mythological beliefs play a role in the formation of the contents of this mystical biography. This research has raised the question of which components of mystical themes of Manaqib al-Arefin are proportional to the mythological themes of Eliade. In this paper, Manaqib al-Arefin has been analyzed using a descriptive-analytical method and a mythological approach based on Eliade’s perspective to explain the extent of conformity between mysticism and myth. The results show that in this work, the hero has already been designated as a savior according to the archetypes. In Mawlawi’s life cycle, one can clearly see the stages of purification, renewal of life and manifestation; he performs the ritual of holy washing before entering his subconscious domain and prepares himself to join the assembly of holiness, and on his inner journey, he transcends the human requirements and attains the witnessing of God Exalted, the angels, prophets, and spirits. Moreover, in Manaqib al-Arefin, the roof of school and the bath pool are exemplary types of the center of the world where the earthly world and spiritual world join.

Analyzing Signs of Women’s Activism in Marzban-Nama Based on Fairclough’s Approach

Shiva Kamali-Asl

Despite the marginalization of women throughout history, their influence remains in ancient texts. The purpose of this article is to represent the role of women and their signs of activism in three anecdotes of Marzban-Nama based on Fairclough’s approach to critical discourse analysis, and to find the answer to this question: did women, given the patriarchal rule in society, accept the status quo, or change it in their favor? If so, how did they do it and what were the components of this activism? In this study, Marzban-Nama has been examined at three levels of description, interpretation, and explanation, and the signs of women’s power and how they exerted their agency have been represented. Considering the cultural and social situation in Iran at the time of writing the book, the results indicated that women had access to a kind of latent power in these anecdotes and played an active role in the development of the anecdote process. In Marzban-Nama, women often played an active role by symbolizing prudence, wisdom, and morality. Based on the social situation at the time of writing or rewriting this work, while power inequality between men and women was evident, women had access to power as silent rulers and their active role in shaping the process of the story was manifest. In sum, many signs of women’s power and agency were found in these anecdotes, such as having the right to choose, tact and decision-making power.

Historicity and the Issue of Relativity in Poetry Theory

Batul Vaez

One of the areas in literary studies whose definition and principles have been subject of considerable disagreements among philosophers, writers, and linguists is poetry and its nature. Differences of perspectives in defining poetry are a result of differences in methodologies, intellectual fields, and elaboration of poetry function. The present research takes a descriptive–analytic approach to reviewing the existing definitions of poetry, and through studying different types of poetry in Persian literature and, by basing the discussion on indicators such as the speaker’s mentality, listener’s mentality, language, genre studies, various discourses of each era, the prominent literary element, and critiquing the masterpiece-oriented perspective, attempts to question the perspective which considers poetics to be a definite and non-historical phenomenon, and introduces poetics as a fluid, relative, and history-dependent phenomenon which requires a different definition in various eras based on the abovementioned indicators. Through such an approach to poetics, demarcating verse and poetry based on similar indicators and in all eras will not enjoy scientific rigor and credit. Based on the perspectives elaborated in the present research, a new poetics must be proposed in each era to be able to provide a definition of poetry in that era.