Journal of Comparative Literature
Year:2013 | Volume:4 | Issue:8|Papers Count:13

Rhetoric is the science which evaluates the eloquence of discourse. Through the rules of this science, any discourse is evaluated as to three aspects of Ma’ani (rhetorical figures), Bayan (utterance) and Badi’ (figures of speech). Ma’ani is one of the main branches of rhetoric which studies different aspects of a sentence such as its secondary meanings and its relevance to the situation. Persian scholars of rhetoric have always paid attention to Arabic rhetorical books. Negligence of grammatical and rhetorical differences between Persian and Arabic has led to some mistakes regarding definitions, divisions and examples. The category Enshaye Gheire Talabi (declaratives in the form of performative or a performative with declarative interpretation) is one of the issues which has not been defined and delineated clearly in rhetorical books. Analyzing such a category in the field of Ma’ani, this study aims at explaining its position with regard to grammatical and semantic characteristics of various kinds of performatives.

Following acomparative, quantitative study of English to English and English to Persian dictionariesof linguistics, it was found that the number of terms in Persian is too limited compared to the English ones; Persian language also lacks clear definitions and descriptions for many terms. Therefore, developing a comprehensive linguistics dictionary based on principles of dictionary compilation and terminology is an urgent need. Using word formation rules and principlesapproved by the Academy of Persian Language and Literature, this study suggests some equivalents for words which have not been translated yet. The study also indicates that diversity in number and meaning, andusing one term to refer to many concepts are among serious problems in this regard which, in turn, lead to limitation in knowledge, meaning contradictions and disorder in process of symbolization and in recovering data. It is concluded that standardization is one of the main instruments in promoting a language and bringing order backto the terminology, definitions, and system of concepts.

Utopia is a reflection of the writer’s desire for evolution and survival. It seems that poets’ utopias have common features regardless of their nationality, because of the fact that literature and consequently poetry is rooted in human spirit and that the features of utopia are based on the principles of human life. Today, comparative literature provides the ground for research in this field. Based on the American doctrine of comparative literature, with its trans-boundary view on the similarities of literary works emerging from common human spirit, this article examines the views of two contemporary Iranian and Iraqi poets- Forough Farrokhzad and Nazok-ol Mala’ekeh- regarding utopia. Firstly, Forough and Nazok's main concerns which have resulted in the creation of utopia are examined and then the features of their utopias are mentioned. The research's most important achievements are the following:1. Cultural, religious and geographical closeness play an important role in the similarity of the two poets’ views.2. Both poets were able to express their nation's suffering by illustrating their own utopia.3. Their utopian poems are mostly created in their maturity.4. Despite the common component factors and specialties of Forough and Nazok’s utopias, some differences have been recognized.5. Forough and Nazok's utopias are reflections of their social and emotional concerns.

Fereydon Moshiri and Nizar Qabani are great names incontemporary Persian and Arabic lyric poetry. “Love”, being the oldest, yetmost complicated theme of lyric literature, has a genuine outlook in their poetry. Nizar Qabani- the poet of “women and wine”- blends the traditional and modern view toward women and “love” and portrays a new picture of “the beloved”, a picture that ultimately intends to purify the masculine view of Arab society toward women. His language is so delicate and simple that the society communicates with it so well in many different ways.Although “women and mistresses” are not as significant and outstanding as in Nizar Qabani, the blend of traditional and modern view is well evident in Moshiri’s poetry. On the one hand,Moshiri abides by the current traditional lyric poetry; accordingly, “the beloved” in his poetry is still a cliché and naming “her” is considered as a taboo; on the other hand,women's personality to him is promotedbeyond the boundaries of the “body”. The simple and impossible language of Moshiri is another similarity ofhis poetry and that of Nizar Qabani. This study attempts to study the theme oflove in the works of these two contemporary lyric poets and to compare the characteristics of love and beloved in their works.

Comparative approach to humanities has a long history. The new concept of comparative literature in the modern sense of the word is, however, an achievement of modernism and a new attitude to literature. Since many obstacles diminish the efficiency of comparative studies in literature, the status quo of interdisciplinary studies in our society is far from the ideal. These obstacles include exclusivity, interpretive view of comparative literature, superficiality, sheer comparison and description….This study aims at exposing these obstacles and proposing solutions such as appeal to phenomenology, pluralism….

Regrets for the sweet past and its contrast with the present is called "Nostalgia". This old pain that started with the fall of Adam has been the theme of many literary works from old times. Bahar and Zahawy, the two nationalist contemporary poets of Iran and Iraq who did not like the tyranny and oppression of the rulers of their times and had suffered from exile, prison, deprivation of rights etc. have composed a lot of poems for each of the mentioned occasions.This is a comparative study of the political nostalgia and its origin in the poems of Bahar and Zahawy. The result shows the very near resemblances in the social-political ideas of the two poets. However, Bahar's presence in the political scene and his different occupations as the Minister of Culture and a member of the parliament, and also his extensive knowledge of history and literature as an outstanding scholar and university professor makes his political nostalgia more comprehensive than that of Zahawy’s.

Since the eighteenth century, Rumi's Mathnavi has been translated into several different European languages, especially into English. This process along with the translation of other poems byRumi has accelerated in the last two decades. Therefore, Rumi's poetry, both in terms of quantity and quality, has a unique position around the world, and has fascinated multitudes of Rumi's enthusiasts. The translations, of course, are not of the same authority. The first translations of the Mathnavi, such as those by Winfield, Wilson and Nicholson, enjoyed more accuracy and trustworthiness; contemporary translations, however, are looking to attract more readers through verbal beauty rather than precision in meaning, to the extent that some of them, such as Barks’ and Helsinki’s, are rewritings of the previous translations. One of the newest translations is a poetic one by Mojaddedi; because of both its trustworthiness and maximum transmission of concepts and the observance of poetic techniques, it provides a better communication between Rumi and the English-speaking audiences. In spite of this, Coleman Barks, an American poet, has provided the best-selling English translations of Masnavi. Without any acquaintance with Persian language, and with the help of older English translations, has translated Rumi's poems-especially many sections of Mathnavi-into contemporary English.

Literary critics have benefited from different literary theories, such as aesthetic criticism, for a comparative study of works of literature. Aesthetic criticism, which is achieved through the experience of beauty in the literary work, provides an opportunity for the analysis of conceptual phenomena.One of the basic conceptual phenomena in literature and specifically poetry is “love” which has obsessed critics in the form of the question “What is love?”, to the extent that at times two poets with apparently different views, such as Shamloo and Ghabbani, may arrive at a common idea.The present study, first, Therefore, the theoretical explanation of the subject, the thoughts and attitudes of the two poets in the field, and mining are analyzed separately and then the overall conceptual objects of their thinking, in comparison, is analyzed.

Equivoque is considered as the worthiest and most artistic figures of speech. In equivoque the speaker generates different levels of meaning through the expansion of meaning for a word. Equivoque is defined as using a word with two meanings andintending for the second far-fetched one while the listener supposes that the first and the clearmeaning should be noted. There are different types of equivoque: solitary (abstract or single), disclosed, proportional, antagonism, complex, double inverse proliferation, and ….This study tries to investigate equivoque and itscreation process in the different typesmentioned. The differences among classifications-from rhetorical point of view-in Arabic and Persian languages are studied as well.

Based on the idea that Persian and Arabic language and literatures are among those formed within the patriarchal framework of discourse, this study attempts to investigate the roots and manifestation of misogyny in contemporary poetry of Iran and Arab countries by focusing on the powerful discourse of gender in literature. The results show that the relative change of idea about woman in the contemporary poets of Iran and Arab countries does not have power to fight the gender stereotypes which aim to undermine and humiliate women, and despite the development in the mind of contemporary poets, it seems impossible to prevent the development of traditional beliefs which focus on the male superiority and female inferiority. Though not evident, there is still overt and covert misogyny in contemporary Iran and Arab poetry.

Due to their correspondence with nouns−regarding function, number, gender, determinateness, and indeterminateness−adjectives in Arabic are distinct from adjectives in modern Persian. Unlike Arabic, adjectives in modern and ancient Persian are divided into two categories of preceding and following adjectives and, apparently, there is not any significant difference between adjectives and some other parts of speech like adverbs. In Persian, adjectives are recognized mainly according to syntactical features; in Arabic, however, both structure and syntax play important roles.One of the axiomatic topics in Persian grammar books is the fact that the correspondence between adjectives and nouns in Persian is taken from Arabic and it has never been a rule in Persian; however, constantly in ancient Persian and frequently in Iranian Mid-west Persian and Dari Persian, adjectives had been consistent with their corresponding nouns regarding number, gender and manner.This study tries, in the first step, to state some grammarians’ ideas and the history of adjective-noun correspondence. It also seeks to offer a general definition for adjectives both in Persian and Arabic and to compare them regarding lexis and syntax.

Onsori is one of the greatest poets in composing odes and eulogy. He was the poet laureate of the court of Mahmoud Ghaznavi through whom other poets presented their poems to the court. Due to his familiarity with Arabic literature, many of his themes are derived from the Arab poets especially Motanabi. The present study examines some common themes and images in the Divans of the two poets.