JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF LETTERS AND HUMANITIES (KERMAN)
Year:2002 | Volume:NEW | Issue:8-9 (7)|Papers Count:15

One of the old polemics in the history of the novel is the relationship between language and reality. To date, this has revealed itself in the opposition between Realism and Post-Modernism. Realists take it for granted that reality is present in the language of the novel while Post-Modernists try to prove that reality is just an illusion and, therefore, absent from the language of the novel. But in the dialogic views of the Russian critic, Mikhail Bakhtin, this opposition is converted into a dialogue. Thus, reality can be considered as an essential element even in the most radical Post-Modernist novels. This article, after presenting a short history of Realism and Post-Modernism, draws on Bakhtins views regarding the language of the novel to show the dialogic relationship between language and reality in this literary genre.

The present article aims at introducing and explicating some major features of the ordeal by fire. By making a comparative analysis between some existing instances of this ritual in Persian literature and the myths and sagas as well as the occasions on which such ordeals were practiced among other peoples, the essay intends to pinpoint the reciprocal relations that this ceremony (has) obtained in the course of history. The method used is based on literature review and library research. Employing text analysis, the findings are then descriptively classified and presented. The article also illustrates the fact that it is the sacred, mystical and sublime nature of fire which has made it such a common motif among different nations. The rituals regarding fire ordeal had symbolic aspects and special ceremonies accompanied them. This ordeal was practiced to prove ones innocence, to distinguish between right and wrong, to purify ones soul, to prove ones innocence in the absence of solid proof(s), and finally, to illustrate the Divine magical power, to name but a few.

Fidelity has been debated among scholars of translation studies for some time. Foregrounding recent issues such as hermeneutics, deconstructionalism, and feminist critique of language, this article argues that the author can no longer assume the role of one who looks over the translators shoulder. It further proposes that, in light of such theories, the translator is not ready to accept his/her role as a passive recipient of the intended meaning implanted in the source language. The article further elaborates on this new approachs attitude towards the translator as one who, by deploying diverse strategies, negotiates meaning with the author, midwifes the style, and intervenes in or highlights, the discursive aspects of the text.

Mohammad Hossein Aghili Alavi Khorasani is one of the prominent Persian physicians of the late 12th. and early 13th. centuries(A.H.) who wrote Makhzan Al-Adviyeh, a significant book on herbs and spices and medical vocabulary. This article first introduces Aghili Alavis family. In the course of history many physicians and scholars emerged in this family, especially Mir Mohammad Hadi Alavi -- pen named as "Sharar"-e-Shirazi -- and Motamed Al-Molook Mirza Hashem Alavi Shirazi known as Hakim Alavi Khan who has been known as the most prominent physician of this family. The article then deals with Mohammad Hossein Aghili Alavi Khorasanis biography and, due to lack of sources regarding his life, scraps of information, such as his motives for writing such a text and the sources he had consulted, have been extracted from the very book at issue here. The final part of this article is devoted to highlighting the books parts and chapters as well as its style and its extant editions.

Jean Piagets theories invigorated the distinction between the way a child and a grown up think. Animism used to be considered as a sign of childlike thinking, and growth and character development were considered as requirements to tame such a tendency. At the same time, sings of animism may very clearly be seen when we analyze poems by eminent poets. The question is: can poetry be considered as regression to childlike thinking? Or is the childs understanding of such a nature which we cannot very easily retain in ourselves as we grow? Besides, will educations aim to substitute childlike thinking with mature reasoning be of service to mans artistic understanding of life? Does it show the way to happiness? This article suggests that, with respect to these questions, our analyses and reworking of strategies in education need to be revised.

Euripides Trojan war plays, The Women of Troy, Hecuba, and Andromache depict the sufferings of slave women. Victims of a male-motivated war, these women are subjected to numerous atrocities. Euripides choice of slaves as women and his combining these two groups into one in his plays could be studied from a social point of view. In ancient Greece there were close affinities between women and slaves as both groups were deprived of social identity. Unlike Athenian men, women and slaves were non-citizens, and were thus only marginally human. By making these slave women the dignified heroines of his plays and by giving them the right to express themselves, to object, and to question the system which gives men power over them, Euripides indirectly criticizes the existing conditions and invites reflection on such polarities as man/woman, free/salve prevalent in his time.

Eqbal-e-Lahori, the renowned Urdu-speaking poet, philosopher and mystic of Pakistan, also chose Persian to express his thoughts and feelings in his verse. His poems abound with excellent mystical, philosophical, humanistic and social meanings. In them, Eqbal expresses his deep love towards Islam, the holy Koran, the infallible household of the holy prophet (pbuh), and his keen interest in philosophy, modern thoughts and new political and cultural issues. Among contemporary committed poets, Eqbals verse is indeed a dynamic, expressive and awakening means for encompassing all levels of personal as well as social consciousness. He has used Persian language in its simple but sublime form to enable him to have access to the language of early poets of Iran and of the subcontinent. Though he initiated a new style in his poetry, he always had a retrospective glance at the earlier prevalent styles. Therefore, this article explores the three famous styles -- Khorasani, Iraqi and Hindi -- which Eqbal manipulates in his verse.

This article introduces an illustrated manuscript of Hafizs divan kept at New Delhi Ghaleb Institute, catalogue no. 1954/11/24. Unfortunately, the last pages of this manuscript are missing. Its first two pages are gilt and illuminated. Under each Ghazal, Qata or Rubai by Hafiz, there appears a Rubai by Khayyam written in fine letters. The essay also compares this manuscript with nineteen other editions to highlight their differences