Journal of Literary Studies
Year:2012 | Volume:45 | Issue:1 (176)|Papers Count:7

Nihayatul- irab fi akhbarel -fors val- arab is the name of a book whose author(s) and the authoring time are uncertain. In compiling this book, authors such as Amer Shabi, Ayyoub ibn-i Gherriyah, Abdullah ibn-i Moghafa, Asmai and Ab ol-bakhtary have contributed. There are three different speculations concerning the time of authorship: 1) 75 A.H. 2) before the year 142 A.H. 3) around 170-193 A.H. However, this book-- especially the parts narrated by ibn-i Moghafa—are the most important sources in our understanding Siyar ol-molouk and subsequently the Khoday-name in the Sassanid period. Since Ferdowsi’s Shah-name is also connected to the Khoday-name through the Abu-Mansouri Shah-name, the story of Dara and Alexander have been chosen from Nihayatu’l- irab and the Shah-name in order to determine the main source of the two narratives. The comparative study of the structure of the story of Alexander and Dara in these two books reveals that Ferdowsi’s account is exactly like ibn-i Moghafa’s but Ferdowsi has eliminated some details and has added some more to serve his storytelling purposes.

Kayumarth is one of the fundamental figures in the mythological history of Iran. Although he does not figure in Zoroaster’s Gathas and the Hindu Rig Veda, he plays an important role as the prototype of the human beings in the Sassanid Zoroastrian culture. In the Khoday-names, the Shah-name and the historical texts of the Islamic era, Kayumarth is referred to as the first king. Drawing on the mythological approach, this paper tries to analyze and compare the structural pattern of Kayumarth mythical functions in mythology with the corresponding narratives in different cultures in order to shed further light on the archetypal dimension of these accounts. To that end, the mythological functions of Kayumarth have been classified under three categories: Kayumarth as the archetype of the first human; the primordial couple and Kayumarth as the first cultural hero. Examining the patterns of philosophical and pre-historical origins of the narratives and their relationships with the Zurvanic prototype have revealed that in the Zurvanic-Zoroastrian branch of the Sassanid period and the sects such as “Zurvanyeh” and “Kayumarthyeh” which had a profound impact on deterministic and astronomical beliefs of this era, Kayumarth narrative is simply the repetition of the ancient pattern of the collapse of the first giant god in Zurvanic culture, a personality who can be deemed as the "microcosm" resulting from the repetition of the “Macrocosmic” prototype (i.e. Zurvan).

One of the important and fundamental problems relating to the emendation of the old texts which has many claims to our attention is the recognition of the pseudo-archaic forms of the words in the manuscripts. Such readings, because of their tempting forms, sometimes, mislead the editors in identifying the original one. The reading of "mar-in" (مر این) in the second line of the first couplet excerpted from the Shah-name is one of such pseudo-archaic forms: اگرکشته گشتی تو در چنگ اوی/ مر این گرز و این مغفر کینه جویچگونه کشیدی به مازندران/ کمند و کمان تیر و گرز گران Amongst twelve manuscripts of the Shah-name used by Dr. Khaleghi-Motlagh in editing the second volume, the reading of "mar-in" has been recorded only in Florence manuscript and the editor has opted for this form as a lectio difficilior, whereas other original manuscripts (including the recently discovered manuscript in the Oriental Library of Saint Joseph University NC. 43, Beirut) instead of "mar-in" have "man-in” (من این) whose correctness and genuineness is confirmed by various evidences reported and commented on in the present article.

Bahman-name, a late 5th-century (A.H.) or early 6th-century (A.H.) epic poem is one of those significant poems that used the Shah-name as a model. This story was composed by Iranshah in four parts. The first part recounts the adventures of Bahman, son of Esfandiar, who, at the behest of Rostam, marries Katayūn, the daughter of the king of Kashmir. Although generally this poem belongs to the epic genre, the first part is more lyrical in nature than heroic. In fact this part comes close to being a distinct love story. By comparing the narratives of Vis and Ramin and Bahman-name, the author, in this study, is trying to show that Iranshah, in writing his book, not only benefited from Vis and Ramin as a model, but he also used this book for depiction of scenes, developing the characters, selecting stories and themes, types of events, styles of narrative, parables.

Mithraism and Zoroastrianism, the ancient Iranian religions, are rooted in the culture of this country; consequently, their reflections are vividly evident in Persian literature. The prominent Iranian poet Nizami Ganjavi utilized these cults allegorically and symbolically in his two prominent versified stories of Haft Paikar, and Khosro and Shirin. This paper aims at discussing the primary samples of allegorical and symbolic uses in Nizami’s Haft Paikar, a number of which are as follows: Bahram in his multiple aspects as the name of a deity in Mithraism and a king in Zoroastrianism; the frequent use of Gonbad standing for the fire temple in the story; Seven Palaces for seven Princesses; seven as a significant number in Mithraism and Zoroastrianism; the comparison of the seven princesses’ portraits on the Khovarnagh palace ceiling with the seven stars on Mithraic temples; and finally an analogy between Bahram’s passage from the first Gonbad to the seventh in Nizami’s story with the initiation rituals of going through seven steps in Mithraic tradition.

New epic poetry is a modern version of the mainstream epic tradition whose features have changed to meet the requirements of modern taste. The most outstanding poet in employing this form is Ahmad Shamloo, one of the most renowned contemporary Iranian poets. To highlight the changes in the content and formal linguistic features of the traditional and new forms of epic, the present study compares the stylistic aspects of the Shah-name with Shamloo’s poetry to reveal how the “passage of time” can account for such changes. Shamloo has composed his epic within the framework that can typically be termed as “Shamloo”esque. Shamloo’s characteristic epic features are reflected both in content and form. With regard to content, Shamloo’s poetry is characterized by: idealism, humanism, collective feelings, narrative form, myth-making, heroic elements, and the battle between the forces of good and evil. The formal linguistic features include: diction, “epic combination” of lexical items, old syntactic structures, and mythical images, images of weaponry, epic atmosphere, and brevity of expression, hyperbole, antithesis, taxis, and splendid music. These features can be viewed as important elements in the new epic form.

Apostrophe is a figure of speech by which the poet breaks away from the common form of enunciation. It has also a very effective role in awakening and absorbing the audience. In many Arabic and Persian books on rhetoric, apostrophe is referred to as a “change of view”. There are a few types of apostrophe each of which can be studied in two areas of rhetoric (badi’ & ma’ani) and grammar. Considering the wide implications of the concept, this article has tried to suggest a new definition and to come up with a clear distinction of various forms of apostrophe. Making much of the advantages of the traditional books on rhetoric, the present study also aims to point to new aspects of the concept such as defamiliarization, deviation, text coherence, artistic ambiguity…. The article has shown that the traditional badi’ with its outdated approach can no longer address the needs of contemporary literature. Therefore, a comprehensive critical analysis of badi’ figures including the apostrophe seems to be inevitable.