مجله مطالعات ایرانی
پیاپی 30 (پاییز و زمستان 1395)

Tales, as part of folk literature include desires that are frequently unattainable outside themselves; therefore, investigating folk tales increases our understanding of the inner world of people of the past. This study investigates a Kurdish tale called “Kadou” and shows that there are structural similarities between this tale and others of its kind; it is also stated that there are differences regarding content and creation. Although the tale was written down much later and led to introducing some fictional elements, its folkloric essence is apparent in its content. Regarding the relation of the story with the Kurdish people it should be stated that there are instances from their lives mentioned in the tale that approve of its Kurdish origin. The present study is a step toward recognizing the theme of an old Kurdish tale and others of its kind around the world and to concentrate on analyzing this literary genre – tales in Kurdish oral literature – to shed more light on the capabilities of folk literature.

There are many damaged texts among the Manichean texts gained from Tourfan. There have not remained from these texts but a few words. It is obvious that these damages prevent us to understand the meanings and concepts of the texts; however, their possible meanings and connotations can be understood through careful examination of the same remaining words in other texts and understanding their functions. One of these damaged texts with the code of categorization 4970 exists in the Asian Art Museum in Germany. There are some words such asaxšēndān, šādčanīgā, Srōšahrāy Xwadāy, meh and xwar in this text whose functions in other texts have been examined in this study and it is concluded that the text is speaking about princes (human beings freed from the limitation of material world and body) whose freed light elements have ascended the pillars of joyful light, have reached the sun and the moon, have turned into the absolute spirit after purification, and have reached the high position of the new paradise and the light paradise of the great father.

Recognizing national identity of a people through their artistic and literary works is among the most significant issues in the fields of culture and literature. The advent of Islam into Iran changed the old elements of its identity under the influence of new political and ideological atmosphere; with the dominance of the Abbasid and Umayyad dynasties, there appeared ups and downs between Iranians and the Arabs. Part of the ancient structure of Iranian identity totally disappeared, and other parts were transformed extensively. Since poetry, literature, and history of every age serves as the image of that age, this descriptive-analytical study, with the help of two valuable works i.e. "Two Centuries of Silence" by Zarrinkub and "Mutual Service of Islam and Iran” by Motahari, indicates some of the changes in the components of the historical identity of Iran during the first centuries of the Islamic Caliphate and the Abbasid era.

Existentialism (philosophy of existence principality) is one of the most influential (effective) philosophical and literary schools of the world in 21th century that originated and developed in European countries, particularly Germany and France. In this philosophical-literary school the individual is known as a knowing subject (agent) who, in the experience of existence and understanding the meaning of existence encounters the truth of life and discovers the absurdity of his life. Then, based on respect for “freedom”, and also using the possibility of choice, man has selected his objective, and in this way, applies meaning to a series of events and incidents that are called “life”. Hakim Omar Khayyam, the Iranian poet and thinker in the second half of the fifth and the beginning of sixth century AH (twelfth century AD), is considered the pioneer of existentialism in the middle centuries due to his fundamental philosophical inquiry about human existence and the beginning and end of the world, and also the implicit and approximate faith in human role in determining his direction with an emphasis on sequential messages and recommendations based on the idea of “Seize the Day” in his (Khayyam) quatrains.This study is an attempt to indicate the coincidence of prominent themes of existentialism with the philosophical ideas proposed by the Khayyam in his quatrains.

Shah Ismail established a dynasty in Iran on the premises of nationality and religion. To establish national unity in Iran, he announced Shia as the official religion. His goal was to strengthen Iranian national bonds. The presence of Uzbeks in the East and Ottomans in the West made it necessary that Iranian people reinforce their feeling of patriotism and love for they homeland. Shah Ismail believed that having faith in fighting the enemies is not just derived from religious incentives. Many literary works influenced by Shahnameh of Ferdowsi came into being in Safavid period especially during the reign of Shah Ismail I. This strengthens the fact that Ferdowsi was under the focus of Iranian kings and officials. He was the biggest source of inspiration for the poets and artists of the period in question. As evidenced in Iranian history, Shah Ismail was fond of those works whose foundation was laid upon Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. This study tires to find the reason behind his interest in Shahnameh. Since Shah Ismail was a follower of Shia religion and due to his liking for Ferdowsi as a Shia poet, the assumption of this research is that Safavid kings in general and Shah Ismail in particular liked Ferdowsi because of their belief in Shiism. Previous studies show that besides religious motives, political conditions and centralization were the major reasons behind Shah Ismail's care for the national unity of Iranians, revival of Iranian identity and Shanameh.

Ferdowsi's Shahnameh is the document of our national and religious identity and analyzing its structural and conceptual dimensions and particularly studying it comparatively with other religious and mythological texts seems to be necessary in order to achieve greater understanding of its mysteries and to attain its moral and spiritual doctrines and messages in any era and for any generation. In this study, through analyzing Shahnameh and taking advantage of valid sources on Shahnameh, mythology and history, initially the main subjects and titles in the mythology section were studied, particularly three mythological characters ( Kiumars (Qmars) and Houshang), then symbolic and Gnostic interpretations were analyzed and compared etymologically, and finally conclusions were presented according to available evidences. Accordingly, each character and hero in Shahnameh demonstrated a manifestation of religious beliefs, moral characteristics and his Ahura and evil nature, and he was given an appropriate title.

Zurvan is the name of one of the ancient gods who, in Pahlavi texts, was referred to as the god of Time, and in the Middle Era appears as the only god; in other words, Zurvan assumes a totally independent identity above Ahuramazda and Ahriman (the Devil), and affects the Zoroastrian concept of duality. Such an idea has been observed in other nations’ myths as well, and Time has always been the creator god of the universe in man’s view. The presence of Zurvanism and Zurvan’s role in Iran and Iranian thoughts was so significant that even Mani, who used to name his great god after the god of each region, chose Zurvan as the name for his god of greatness. Accordingly, this study examines the effect of Zurvan on Iranian way of thinking and Zoroastrian religion and its reflections in the Middle Persian texts. Pahlavi texts and specially Pahlavi aphorisms are valid and reliable references that show the religious approaches in this period and, through a descriptive and analytic approach, this study investigates some teachings and elements in Zurvanism such as fatalism, the role of stars in man’s destiny, misogyny, and appealing to prayers and sacrifice

Language of a nation might be spread beyond the boundaries of that nation for different supporting factors such as military power, long-term political dominance, and cultural influence. Over many centuries, Persian language which is very strong as a bearer of human values of a culture, was the language of science, literature and empathy of different races in the wide expanse from China to the Balkans, and was also widely prevalent in India and Asia Minor. Through a descriptive-analytical method, this study tries to explain the factors that were effective in the expansion and the influence of Persian language and its decline in the mentioned geographical area. Ottoman Sultans’ regard for Persian language and Persian-speaking poets, the influence of Sufi sects, especially Mevlevis, and the migration of artisans and merchants had been among the factors for the expansion of Persian literature, and on the contrary, the era of Tanzimat (adaptations), Turkish nationalism or “pan-Turkism" and the Young Turks movement led by well-known figures like Zia Pasha and Namegh Kamal, had been the factors for the decline of Persian language in Ottoman territory.

Based on Bakhtin’s theory of dialogism, any speech can potentially be bilateral, i.e. produced by one party and listened to by another one. Essentially an anti-Stalinist and anti-formalist theory, it focuses its attention on prose, especially the novel genre. This theory can, however, be applied to different forms of Persian literature (e.g. narratives, epic, mystic mathnavis, and love poems). Bakhtin puts dialogue in front of monologue and divides it into different forms, such as internal, external, direct, indirect, hidden argument. This study attempts to compare and contrast the Asoorik Tree, a debate between a goat and a palm tree, and Khosrow and Riddack, a debate between Khosrow II and a boy called Vas Pooher. Both works belong to Pre-Islamic Iranian literature and are based on dialogue; however, the forms and the contents of the dialogues differ. Besides introducing these works, it has been tried to give a clear picture of the characteristics of each one of them through Bakhtin’s theory of dialogism. The results show that Khosrow and Riddak is a dialog for trial: one side (Khosrow) asks questions and the other side replies in order to prove himself and the desires belonging to the fathers’ class. There is no imperative and exclusive voice in any of the two works.

One of the unknown travelogues of the late Naserid period is a travelogue entitled “Kerman Travelogue” written in 1309 A.H. (1892 A.D.). This travelogue is the account of a mission of the author and what happened to him on his journey from Tabriz to Kerman. The writer, who had remained anonymous until today, has been identified in this study. The aim of this study is to introduce this unique manuscript, identify its author and categorize its data in order to recognize its information for social and economic history of the late Naserid period regarding some important cities on the way. The results of the study show that the manuscript of the travelogue is unique and its author is introduced as Mirza Ismael Khan Banan-o-Saltaneh, one of Abd-ol-Hussain Mirza Farmanfarma’s staff. It seems that the scribe is Banan-o-Saltaneh as well. The data of the book is important for recognizing the social, economic and cultural history of the late Naserid period and half of this travelogue deals with Isfahan province and especially the city of Isfahan.

Myths comprise a main part of nations’ cultures and this greatly leads artists and especially poets to be influenced by this phenomenon. Persian poetry, in its early stages of flourishing, that is in the Samanid and the beginning of Ghaznavi eras, witnessed poets’ great and positive attention to Iranian myths and epics. However, with the consolidation of the Ghaznavi and especially Seljuk governments in Iran, a decline but not an end to Iranian myths and epics is observed. One of the important methods of poets’ in attending to myths is to found poetic images on Iranian mythical characters and narratives that were not necessarily positive images, and it often happened that poets humiliated Iranian mythical characters to praise their own favorite characters. Also, in this era, one witnesses the replacement of Semitic and Islamic narrations and characters for Iranian myths. Khaghani Shervani’s poetry, the great poet of the 6th century, is a perfect example of the poetry of this era. This study tries to, analytically, examine the methods of employing Iranian myths in the poems of Seljuk era.