The Journal of Epic Literature
Year:2012 | Volume:8 | Issue:13|Papers Count:18

Persian romantic verses as texts composed over the centuries have common characteristics which upon their structural analysis one can analyze their inter-textual connections. Attempt is made in this article to describe the farewell scenes of lovers in order to arrive at their common converse in these texts, since the main theme is love and this fundamental feature confers a mutual function to the lovers’ death. According to the inter textual theory, the texts with common theme in different historical periods are interconnected and their images, descriptions and their poetic thoughts are emanated from a common language even if at first they seem distinct. This common language provides the logic and the basis of the colloquy and living in such circumstances. In other words the language of love necessitates that farewell scenes have common language and ambiance although differences arise in accordance with the story and the relationship between the lover and the beloved. In one place, after the death of his beloved, the lover stands by her grave and weeps till his own death. And in other place, he opens his chest with a dagger. It is such that in studying the farewell scenes one arrives at the subject of synchronic death of the lovers. The focal point in these verses is the bitterness and the dilemma of separation which the lovers cannot tolerate and shortly after the other say farewell to life and end the dialogue of love.

Among the contemporary traditional poets in the domain of lyrical literature, in form and in structure, in meaning and content Mehdi Hamidi Shirazi has unique style. In all his works “ashk -e Ma’shough” in particular, every linguistic term, literary device, meter, music of poetry, diction, figurative construction, imagery, form and structure is at the service of element of emotion. In this research attempt is made to study the construction method of his imageries which is the employment of variety of allusive similes such as mythological, epic, religious, romantic and historical ones. He uses such elements to reveal his emotional feelings in the most passionate construction and apart from figurative foregrounding, he has breathed a new life to these structures. The appropriate connection between these allegorical and allusive elements and the flow of love between him and his beloved is the characteristic feature of his poetry.

Hindi style whether in terms of form or content has a more fascinating characteristics compared with other Persian poetry styles. Regarding form, there are certain linguistic factors which renders the language quite complicated for instance the very existence of peculiar figurative devices creates ambiguity in the poetic language of Hindi style. These structures are words which lie next to each other and cause defamiliarization and complexity of language. Scholars and researches recognize the existence of these peculiar structures as the integral and unique features of the Hindi style and believe that making of such structures is the outcome of the vivid imagination and creativity on the part of poets of Hindi style. In this article specific figurative structures employed by Khaghani and Bidel Dehlavi, the two giants of Hindi style have been investigated in terms of language and the substructure of such compounds with their vast structural dimensions have been analyzed.

The story of Amir Arsalan Namdar is a nightly storytelling in the chamber of Nasereddin Shah Ghajar which was told by the narrator of his court, Naghib al-Mamalek and then was written down by the pen of Shah’s daughter. Despite the aristocratic ambience of its origin it was rapidly turned into the most popular and admired Persian folk tales. Unfortunately such works precisely due to being folkloric have never been truly analyzed in terms of literary and dramatic aspects. However in this article first the European equivalent of this genre of literature namely romance is dealt with, then certain theories of Northrop Fry, the great literary critic regarding the structure of such stories are presented, and finally the main story of Amir Arsalan is told and its outstanding dramatic points and theatrical potentialities are analyzed.

Amid the variety of literary genres, lyrical literature as one of the oldest poetic genres encompasses a vast spectrum of human emotions and feelings. Among the literary figures of this country, Nezami Ganjavi shines as the one of the most brilliant stars of our classical literature in terms of composing love stories, romances and Saghinameh, and therefore is highly regarded. Among his works, the three romantic verses khosrow and Shirin, Laily and Majnoon, and the grand work of Haft Paykar are considered as the most significant lyrical works in the Persian literature. In this article, two domes of Haft Paykar as examples of the most beautiful and enchanting lyric-epic romantic verses have been selected and structurally analyzed. For this purpose first the theoretical principles of narratology and morphology and Props functions in this domain were presented then, the narrative structure of two tales namely the tale of the unconscious city and the king in black from the first dome and the story of good and evil from the sixth dome based on Props’ narrative model is analyzed and compared respectively in terms of morphology, motifs and characters.

Every nation and race throughout history and in its own land has certain resources which provide the means for its material, welfare and spiritual advancements. One of these spiritual resources which makes culture and civilization of that nation is the written texts encompassing various subjects particularly history which in its own right portrays a large part of the peoples’ lives in all the following aspects such as welfare, architecture, morality, politics, customs, individual and social character, ideas and temperaments, traditions, proverbs, and many others. Unfortunately in some countries such as Iran, many of such writings have been neglected and thus forgotten. In this article however the aim is to introduce, rewrite, and correct Tarikh al-vozara, one of the ancient historical manuscripts of our country. In addition the proverb section of this grand work is also studied.

The presence of aristocratic terms alongside imagery and imagination of the composers is quite a distinct and undeniable feature in the poetry of Persian literature poets in the first era. One of the poets whose connection with the court and his aristocratic life has undoubtedly reflected such terms in his poetry is Abu al-Najm Ahmad Ebn Ghos Ebn Ahmad Manoochehri Damghani (432 Hj). Till present most scholars have been concerned with his imageries and the common grounds he shares with Arab poets whereas the existence of remarkable aristocratic terms is the foundation of imagery in his poetry. There have been few attempts regarding the inter-textual researches in terms of diction in his poetry. Recently a commentary has been written on Manoocheri’s Divan without paying particular attention to these aristocratic terms and their true significance in the heart of the poems hence they have been misinterpreted. The present research seeks to pinpoint their importance in connection with the imageries in Manoocheri’s poetry and to present a decent interpretation of those terms. In other words an attempt is made to answer the following question whether or not the poet’s life and his environment has had an impact on the imageries used in his poetry.

The endpoint of Gnosticism is the unity with the ultimate existence and comprehension of presence. To taste such spiritual presence, scholars have enumerated certain abstinences including silence. Not only in stages of suluk (the way) in which silence has a more pedagogical role in store, but also in vesal (attainment) the wayfarer obliges himself to immerse into a silence which is the outcome of sufi contemplation in mystical experiences. This obligation often finds meaning in connection with the eternal beloved as the silence emanating from the bewilderment in the presence of the divine glory and beauty and sometimes is expressed in connection with the people as in hiding the secrets. Attar Nayshabouri has clearly described the stages of the suluk upon contemplation of the essentials of suluk and in his compositions has repeatedly dealt with the origin and the role of silence in the spiritual journey.Regarding the keen interest of Moulana in Attar’s pioneering works in spiritual matters and also the connection and the manifestation of the unique spiritual thoughts in the compositions of these two visionary mystics, the analysis of the “principle of silence” from Attar’s perspective seems essential. The present article seeks to study and analyze the reasons for silence, and enquire the role of silence from attar’s point of view in order to give an overview of this concept in the sufi tradition.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the esthetic aspect of the death of one of the Ferdowsi’s epic characters, in order to reveal only a glimpse of the dynamic potentialities and the scope of interpretation of this grand masterpiece. The historic – mythic structure of the epic texts apparently does not lend itself to interpretation however the texture of stories in Shahnameh is such that renders the text quite interpretable. Ferdowsi’s epic has a paradoxical texture: On one hand there are signs that point realistically to concise, consistent, and systematic features, and on the other hand there are endless interpretations, and it is extremely decontextualized, produces multiple layers of meanings and it is filled with ambiguities. It constantly seeks to remain without an ultimate texture and to remain detached from history, to be non-spatial and hence be eternal. Selection of Bahram’s death and glorified esthetical death of this epic hero is an occasion to illustrate the post structuralist nature of Ferdowsi’s epic despite the fact that the characteristic feature of Shahnameh is inclined towards a consistent structure.

Among books and treaties ascribed to Khayyam, there is a treatise in the name of Noruznameh which has been ascribed to Khayyam since the antiquity. Mojtaba Minovi in 1312 published it in the name of Khayyam and in its introduction, he has recognized no one as worthy of the title author but Khayyam. Shortly afterwards certain individuals such as Minoverski, the renowned orientalist due to certain reasons opposed to the idea, till Mohsen Farzaneh in the article he wrote in Ayandeh magazine claimed that the author of Noruznameh is not Khayyam but is a person in the name of Kaykhosrow shirazi. While studying Jamali’s Farrokhnameh, written by Abubakr Motahar Jamali yazdi in the year 580 Hj, Farzaneh realized certain similarities in phrases of the book with that of Noruznameh which the writer quoted on the behalf of Kaykhosrow Shirazi. Based on a few similarities between the two, Farzaneh believes that the writer of Noruznameh is Kaykhosrow Shirazi but he also writes that apart from Farokhnameh he has not come across this name and that he does not know who he really is. In this article Farzaneh’s assumption has been verified and strengthened based on other lines of evidence. Kaykhosrow’s real identity was also revealed.

One of the most enchanting genres of Persian poetry is Saghinameh. It is employed to express a variety of subjects. Hakim Nezami has a number of Saghinamehs which are more often concerned with mystical, moral and romantic issues. The purpose of this article is to trace Nezami’s intellectual development in two Saghinamehs, included in two romantic verses of Laily and Majnoon and Sharafnameh. According to social, political and cultural circumstances he raises various subject matters with a mastery of style which is the outcome of his intellectual sophistication and maturity. Sometimes upon expressing mystical concepts he takes his audience to heavens and at times he takes them to the Eden of love and invites them to the impeccable pure world of piety.

The story of Khosrow and Shirin is told in two different metrical romances. The composer of the one is an epic poet, a commander in battle fields, and the composer of the other is the cupbearer in feasts. Ferdowsi, however has shown remarkable skill in combining the love story with the epic story. Nezami is a storyteller and has experience in love and with utmost mastery he has portrayed this detailed romantic verse.The summary of both romantic stories is presented then their common features and points of differences are illustrated. Using Tarikh Tabari as an old reliable source, the historical accounts in the two versions are evaluated to show to what extent the composers were true to the actual historical events. Further difference may be sought in their narrative styles.

The fourth Book of Masnavi like other five Books in a series is filled to the brim with variety of themes. It is known that in each Book there are thousands of concepts hidden in phrases and Moulana’s stream of consciousness constantly vacillates from one concept to the other. The reader of this great voluminous book is usually lost in between its profound verses and in the labyrinths of Masnavi’s anecdotes and cannot follow Moulana’s fleeting mind and seldom finds time to cast a look from the above at Masnavi. The attempt has been made in this article to analyze the content and the themes of the fourth Book of Masnavi in terms of frequency using the holistic approach in order to present the most significant and dominant thoughts in this Book.

The purpose of this article is to explain management and leadership in Islam according to Nahj al-Balaghe. Moreover the responsibility of governors in governing the society and their manner of conduct towards different social groups with particular emphasis on Imam Ali’s recommendation to Malek Ashtar have been analyzed.

The present article is concerned with the fictional narrative or the narrative fiction from the perspective of Gerard Genette, the French literary theorist. A controversial concept variously interpreted by the critics ever since its appearance. His major work on narrative best known in English as “An Essay in Method” deals with five main concepts discussed in detail in this article. The difference between fiction and dialogue in Genette’s eyes, conceptual divisions and their various elements are also elaborated on.