CULTURE AND FOLK LITERATURE
Year:2019 | Volume:7 | Issue:27 |Papers Count:10

The Iranian folk culture originates from ancient time so that Iran can be considered the origin of ancient rituals and beliefs. Kermānshāh province is one of the regions rich in cultural heritage. Therefore, the beliefs of its inhabitants may well reflect the folk culture of this region. In the same vein, as an important element of folk culture and literature, the crystallization of this rich culture in these deeds is highly important and remarkable. By adopting a descriptive-analytical research methodology, the current research investigated the attributes of folk culture and literature in five deeds of Qājār Era in Kermānshāh Province. The results indicate that these texts are the best indicator to observe people's thoughts during Qājār period and can be clearly seen in the reflections of folk culture and literature. The expressions of professions, instruments, weight and quantity, titles, curse and prayer, measurement and religious rituals are among the material and spiritual elements that have been analyzed, identified and investigated in these deeds.

The combination of ancient Iranian cultural elements and Islamic beliefs has had different effects on the history of Iranian civilization. The convergence between Iranian themes and Islamic concepts and the efflorescence of the Islamic worldview have created a new style of Islamic- Iranian products that convey both an ancient culture and meet the goals of Islam. One of these productions is the history of “Shast –Bastan-e Div” which has been predominant in religious rituals, especially in the Ta'zīya ceremony. In this story, the eclecticism of the ancient evil concept "Demon" is clearly seen in conjunction with the history of Islamic hero; Imam Ali (AS).To this end, the writers of these narratives aim either to highlight the virtue and superiority of Imam –Ali in comparison with other ṣaḥābah or present the notion of evil in Iranian and Islamic culture as crystalized in texts. The texts of this story are related to less than 500 years and the earliest known source goes back to the 9th century. In this research and by comparing six narratives of these collections, the authors have tried to describe the points of divergence and convergence of these texts at content and structural levels.

The folk tales (Matals) are part of the Bakhtiāri oral literature, which include many beliefs, customs, lifestyles, history and ethnic and national myths. These stories are actively present in the unconsciousness of people and belong to the language of rural population and their narrators. They have an active presence and have meaning in their educational life and entertainment. Throughout history of Iran, the recording and analysis of each of these folk tales contribute not only to protect them from the danger of destruction, but also to enhance the country's cultural and literary capacities. In this research, the authors have selected “Sar Arreh- Pā Tishei” folk tale (Matal) from the Bakhtiāri’s people myths written by Katāyoun Limouchi. They have then analyzed and validated its narration from the viewpoint of mythical deep structure by adopting field study research methodology. In this folk tale, a sister swallows all living creature either livestock or humans in Ahriman way. This folk tale finds its root in Persian myths especially in Div (demon) , būšâsp and Soroush.

Analyzing mythical content analysis of myths is one of the most important issues in the field of folk tales research. Birds are so important to humans in the distant past that they have been present even in the myths of different nations. In this research and by adopting the content –analysis research methodology, the authors have tried to investigate mythical content of birds among Luri’s myths gathered around Chahārmahal and Bakhtiāri, Kohgiluye and Boyer Ahmad and Lorestan provinces. The objective of the current study is to analyze the functions of birds on the one hand and the manner the mythical beliefs can influence the birds’ place on the other hand. In this research and in comparison with mythological beliefs, the authors have studied the reasons for the transformation of the roles of certain birds in Luri’s myths. The results showed that out of a total of 140 Luri’s myths in 48 myths, birds such as eagle, Simorgh, crow, owl, swan, pigeon and asparagus are present with positive functions among Luri’s myths which may indicate their popularity among the people. It is worthwhile to mention that mythological and religious beliefs alongside the eco system exert the great influence on the place and function of the birds.

One of the distinguishing features of Khāghāni’s Divan is the reflection of various people’s beliefs, socio-cultural customs of the people of that time including childish games, and superstitious beliefs .The popular and sometimes superstitious beliefs that have been prescribed in the past for the treatment of various disease have been reflected among the ancient Persian literary works especially Khāghāni’s Divan. One of these ancient medical beliefs about the treatment of animals and insects bites and stings, the treatment of some other disease, such as plague and colic, was the use of a tired cock which has run a lot before Dhabīḥah. In Folk medical and traditional books, different ways have been examined in order to use them in the case of this medical belief. To make run the old cock with other animals, however and according to ancient beliefs makes their meat tender. This research investigates these cases based on verses of Khāghāni’s Divan.

In his book; Nashvār al Mohāzirah and Akhbār al Mozākerah, Tanoukhi – the judge and Arabic literary writer speaks about a puppet called “Dobārkeh”. This short report shows well how this puppet is made in Baghdad and is placed on the housetop at Nowrouz night-the ritual which is closely tied to the ancient ceremony of new year especially saint marriage. By relying on the evidence gathered from Tanoukhi’s re-interpretation and extra textual signs of New Year in Babylon and puppet rituals of Iran, this paper tries to unveil the nature of “Dobārkeh” and its link to the goddess of fertility. The most important result of this research is that Baghdad’s inhabitants hold this ceremony and “Dobārkeh” is the goddess of fertility represented in the body of this puppet. Therefore, it is possible to take into account “Dobārkeh” and its rituals in the same vein as Nowrouz theatrical rituals.

Folk poems are an important part of oral literature, resulting from feelings, sufferings, joys, wishes, prayers and love of the public. From generation to generation, they represent the culture, thinking, beliefs and traditions of the given region and have remained intact. Due to the diversity of its climate and environment, the sea, the mountains and the plains, Bushehr province is one of the rich and popular- cultural regions. People’s life of this province has always been accompanied by many poems, from birth to death, to which these folk poems have been applied in the dialect of the population for various purposes. By adopting a descriptive- fundamental research methodology, the authors seek to identify, collect, categorize and analyze different types of poems from Bushehr province. To this end and to carry out this research, the authors used a combination of two research methods called field study and library-based. This research aims to answer the following questions: What are the most current types of folk poems in Bushehr province? What time were these poems being read? Who were the narrators and their audience? The results showed that these poems were of seven types including lullaby, game poem, work , lyric and mourning songs. These poems have always been accompanied either by music played with a special instrument, or by using voice length and different sounds which gave them special rhythm and intonation. The narrators of these poems were usually women.

Each nation has its origins in the manifestation of the beliefs and customs of its people. Literature is the mirror par excellence of each nation's past. The history of each nation or people is not discontinuous and, if a message of a text of folk literature is related to its historical realities, it will always be transmitted over time to the following periods and will be periodically reconstructed. One Thousand and One Nights- the prototype of world’s tale- has been always a remarkable source in folk literature. Throughout the history and over time, these stories have been emerged under diverse meanings and shapes. Farīd ud-Dīn Attār, the mystic poet- has taken the advantages of folk literature in order to express mystic thoughts. The existence of common signs and points as well as formal and content aspects of these tales show the inter-textual relations of both histories. It is possible to describe structural pattern of these stories by investigating their lyric structure. According to their theme, stories have different content (epic, romantic and mystic). In this research, the authors have compared two histories from Elahi-Nāmeh and One Thousand and One Nights according to Gérard Genette theoretical framework and inter textual relation by insisting on the their impressionability from folk literature.

In order to explore the smallest structural units, structuralists analyze the inter- related and contrastive relations among texts’ constituents. In this study, the authors seek to investigate and criticize the structure of “Head” Folk Tale – from Khorram Abad – based on Vladimir Propp Morphological model. To this end and at first and by analyzing and investigating tale’s protagonists, the authors have discussed the structuralist approach and Vladimir Propp’s morphological model. This story is composed of two movements and two types of heroes: the hero - victim and the hero- searcher. The general structure of the story with a small number of displacements corresponds to the Propp morphological pattern. The last function of this story is totally different from the last function proposed by Propp. According to the main objective of structuralism which investigates the hidden layers of phenomena; in the end of this article, the authors have tried to analyze the most important contents such as fatalism, zurvanism, virgin birth , the natural son, and abandoned child.

With a variety of themes, approaches, functions and poetic forms in different periods of history, Shiite poetry has stabilized itself as a kind of continuous and dynamic flow. The lovers of Ahl al –Bayt have created the most passionate and diverse themes, and forms of Shiite literature before the establishment of Safavid dynasty in spite of obstacles and threats. Despite the lack of comprehensive research done in this field , the recent and new-born fields of research in this area shows the significance of Shiite poetry and its themes either in form or in function and can enrich the diversity of forms in Persian literature. The authors have tried to introduce the genesis of genres and sub-genres of this field according to samples extracted from manuscripts. This literary genre has been totally current among the lovers of Ahl al –Bayt in Shiite residential area (town, alley …). By this means, they were trying to prove their love for Alī ibn Abī Ṭ ālib. The division of this type is based on the content and thesis that have been cited as the title at the beginning of the lyrics, a title that has become a kind of literary language in our religious literature over time and over the course of rehearsals. The purpose of this article is to introduce and revise the type of "Velāyat Nameh" according to divans and manuscripts that are given as witness, for instance as new types of Shiite poetry.