RESEARCHES IN MYSTICAL LITERATURE GAWHAR-I GUYA)
Year:2020 | Volume:13 | Issue:4 (43)|Papers Count:6

Persian literature, and especially its mystical form, has a long history with the Holy Quran and hadith. Encountering the Qur'an and hadith, mystic writers and poets, in addition to their regular use of them, have taken an interpretive look at these sources and have sometimes deconstructed them. Attar Neishaburi is from this category. In addition to his interpretations of the Quran and hadiths in his various works, he has played a significant role in transmitting the interpretive views of prominent mystics by writing Tazkirat al-Awliyā . The mystics whom Attar refers to in Tazkirat al-Awliyā , have each sought their own interpretation of verses and hadiths, often presenting their ideas in ordinary, and in some cases secret terms. The present study aimed to review the Qur'anic and narrative interpretations of mystics introduced in Tazkirat al-Awliyā based on the hermeneutic theory and a descriptive-analytic method with attention to the Gerard Genette’ s intertextuality approach. It sought to show manifestations of Attar's role in preserving and transmitting the mystical legacy of the mystics before him. The findings showed that interpretations can be divided into two types of word-based (lexical) and sentence-based (form-based). So, the mystics mentioned in Tazkirat al-Awliyā , in the face of various words such as Qibla, fade, worship, etc. and in dealing with the sentences like ‘ Hasanat al Abrar Saeeate al Mogharabin’ , ‘ Al Jar o Som Al Dar’ and so on, have gone beyond the appearance of verses and hadiths and have begun to interpret them.

The mystical text is a type of literature based on specific and generally spiritual themes that, due to its rich moral value, has appropriate media capacities and can be used in making popular computer games in line with Iranian intellectual tendencies. With this approach, there are works in classical Persian mystical narrative literature that can be used for the production of adaptive computer games due to their style of expression and relying on symbolic and visual capacities. Accordingly, in this study, a descriptive-analytical method was used to answer this question: how can narrative mystical texts such as Sanai’ s Seir al-Ibad and similar works be adapted to make computer games? And in what styles and formats can this approach be applied in this influential media? With this description, it seems that due to the mysterious narratives, unknown spaces, and amazing descriptions of the inhabitants of places in these types of stories, it is possible to make adventure-puzzle style computer games by free adaptation with the focus on creating various mental challenges from these texts. Also, by focusing on the multiplicity of spaces and the existence of different types of strange creatures and their visual diversity, there will be the capacity to create games in martial-combat style by changing the function of these creatures and heroes, from passive and mere observers to active enemies and attractive warriors.

In this research, using pragmatic theories and the descriptive-analytical method and focusing on Brown and Levinson’ s Politeness Theory, politeness strategies in the two works of Shams Tabrizi’ s Articles and Fihi Ma Fihi were studied and compared. In this study, all dialogue-oriented sections in the text of both books were analyzed. The results of this study showed that among the politeness-related modes of expression, the frequency of using the direct expression method in Fihi Ma Fihi was higher than Shams’ Articles. In addition, the frequency of employing the non-affirmative technique with a face-threatening function was the same in both books, but the dramatic fall in the humiliation function in Fihi Ma Fihi indicated Mawlawi's greater concern for saving the reader’ s face. Considering that the use of taboo words in the book of Shams’ Articles was more than Fihi Ma Fihi, it can be rightly claimed that the extent of observing politeness in Fihi Ma Fihi was more than Shams’ s Articles; however, due to the connection of these two books with the educational genre and the high social status of the authors of both works in their own discourse, the linguistic structure of Shams’ Articles and Fihi Ma Fihi was, in general, politeness-oriented.

‘ application’ in Gadamer’ s view and ‘ appropriation’ in Ricoeur's thought. During the process of understanding, Gadamer adds a third pillar called the ‘ application’ to the two elements of ‘ understanding’ and ‘ interpretation’ . In fact, ‘ application’ is a function of the central principle of philosophical hermeneutics, according to which understanding is always based on a temporal, historical, and concrete situation. However, ‘ appropriation’ in Ricoeur’ s theory of the Hermeneutic Arc is placed after the first and second stages (i. e. explanation and understanding). The stage of ‘ explanation’ is related to the study of the verbal structure of the text while the stage of ‘ understanding’ is related to the semantic depth of the text and is done with the aim of reaching the intention of the author (the implied author). However, the ultimate goal of interpretation is appropriation, that is, the interpreter takes the text from the author’ s possession and the ground of its creation and acquires a new understanding of himself by taking a subjective view and de-contextualizing the text from the temporal and historical situation, and by incorporating his own expectations, likes, and prejudices. Among mystical texts, including poetry and prose, the objective realization of these two interpretive approaches in practice can be observed in texts such as Mathnavi Manavi, Kashf al-Asrar, Letters of Ayn al-Quzat, etc. In this research, a descriptive-comparative method is used to theoretically explain and apply the principles of ‘ application’ and ‘ appropriation’ in some mystical texts.

Semantics is the knowledge by which the meaning of words and phrases can be studied and is helpful in understanding the exact meaning of a word. According to the semantic system and vocabulary in which a word is placed, its meaning and significance are determined and its use and frequency determine the importance and exact position of the word. . The high frequency of the word Zohd (asceticism) in mystical texts has made it one of the most important keywords. Sanaei, a poet of the sixth century AH, first arranged mystical concepts and san in the language of poetry. Asceticism is one of the most important mystical concepts that Sanaei has expressed in his poems. As the word asceticism is one of the keywords in his works, the semantics study of asceticism in his works is especially important. The authors of this study intend to use the semantic method to explain Sanai's view on asceticism and show the exact meaning of this word in his works. The semantic analysis of the word asceticism showed that Sanai did not use the word asceticism in its original meaning; rather, he gave it a relative and new meaningwhich expresses his special view on asceticism.

Hermeneutics is an attempt to get the meaning of a text and a methodology to derive meaning from various elements of the universe by presenting different methods. Gadamer is one of the contemporary theorists of hermeneutics, whose views and ideas in this field are a turning point in modern hermeneutics. The historicity of understanding, the centrality of language, the role of prejudgments in understanding the text, the discourse communication between the text and the interpreter, and the integration of horizons of vision are the basic principles of Gadamer’ s approach that could be used to interpret texts. The present study, with a descriptive-analytical approach, provides a hermeneutic reading of one of Rumi’ s lyric poems (Ghazals) based on Gadamer’ s philosophical hermeneutics. For this purpose, an interpretation is presented specifically based on the reader’ s point of view with an emphasis on cryptic verses as well as the real meaning and understanding of Ghazals. The results of this study showed that understanding and interpretation of a text always has a historical and temporal state and it plays an undeniable role in the interpretation of Rumi’ s Ghazals. Studying the referential function of language revealed various meanings of Rumi’ s symbolic language, which has always been considered in hermeneutics, and therefore it is believed that there is another world beyond language. In the section of integration of horizons of vision and the discourse communication between the text and the audience, Rumi’ s mystical thought causes the interpreter and the audience to initially have preconceptions and prejudgments towards Ghazals which depend on the horizon of semantic and cognitive implications of the interpreter’ s time, and at the same time, the limits of the efficiency of intellectual and cultural tradition in which the interpreter lives.