فصلنامه ادب پژوهی
پیاپی 2 (تابستان 1386)

Since a few years ago when the first postmodern novels were published in Iran, knowing and defining the characteristics of this type of novel has been one of the central issues in literary studies. Due to the different applications that the term postmodernism has found in various fields of the humanities, there is no consensus as to what exactly a postmodern novel is. Emphasising the plural nature of the theoretical debates on postmodernism presented from diverse perspectives, this article attempts to give an account of just one of the influential theories of the postmodern novel postulated in two celebrated essays by John Barth. Part One of the article sets postmodernism in its intellectual, cultural and social backgrounds. Part Two is an exposition of and commentary on the evolution of Barth’s views on the postmodern novel. In Part Three the narrative mode of the Iranian author Reza Barahani’s novel Azadeh Kanom and Her Writer is analysed on the basis of Barth’s approach in order to examine why it can be considered as postmodern. The final Section offers a conclusion based on the points discussed in the article.

The poetry stylistics constitutes three elements of style, poetry, and language which are in constant evolution. Novelty of style coincides, sometimes with both the selection of new norms and the deviation from old norms, and sometimes with either of the two. For this reason, any kind of studies about style, involves a knowledge of conventional norms or system of codes. In other words, one must firstly recognize what linguistic and traditional conventions the poet follows, and which capacities of poetic expressions and structures he is equipped with, to become then aware of the poet's selection of these conventions and capacities, as well as of his appropriations of them and the role of these appropriations in his poetry. This paper, while insisting on the deep meaning of “style” in spite of its evolution, deals with the ideas such as different viewpoints about style, the recognition of stylistic elements, scientific stylistics, the interrelation of schools of poetry and poetic styles, the relation between style and mentality of the poet, the role of stylistics in studying literary language, public and private styles, and the role of style in giving shape to the poetic identity. The article, taking into account the up-dated ideas about stylistics, aims to have a deeper look on its concept and functions.

Although the sociology of literature is the latest branch of the general sociology, there has been a world-wide aspire to introduce and study this field and its various divisions such as sociology of literary tastes, sociology of literary creation, sociology of novel, sociology of books and sociology of reading. In Iran this area of study is recent and the numbers of researches carried out in it are limited.Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002), French sociologist and critics, is one of the greatest figures in the sociology of literature whose point of views seem to be less known in Iran, as compared to the ideas of other literary sociologists such as Lukacs, Goldmann, Gramsci, and Bakhtin. Bourdieu believes that the people's taste for literature and art is influenced by their various social backgrounds including family relations, educational systems, literary and artistic institutions, and social stratifications. This article tends to provide the reader with a general introduction on the sociology of literature. At first the main concepts of Bourdieu's views such as "field", "habitus", and "literary taste" are discussed; then the ways through which these concepts are related to one another will be explained on the basis of Bourdieu's approach to sociology of literature.

In making ready Mawlânâ's Divân-e Kabir (Ghooniyeh version), I based my work on a fair copy of this version by the deceased professor, Foroozânfar. In the course of this preparation, I grew aware of the differences between the script and the published book, of which I mention here, 93 instances. This paper, on the basis of some findings in Ghooniyeh version, attempts to clarify the ambiguous points in some poems of Mawlânâ, in order to introduce another reading of them which seems to be more authentic.

This paper is a comparative study of the interpretations of Hâfiz and Khayyâm of Carpe diem, presupposing that a meaningful relationship can be found between the two interpretations.Carpe diem, as understood by Hâfiz, is analyzed on the basis of ideas such as "Eternal Theophany", "Divine Order", and "God's Grace", by believing in which, Hâfiz finds a character to accept the fortunes, as well as misfortunes of life, and to drink well the pure wine, as well as the lees. The easygoing attitude of Khayyâm, on the other hand, is that of a man who knows the truth but is unable to analyze it. In other words, this attitude is an inevitable resort for a thinker who finds no answer to the question of death. Therefore the interpretation of Carpe diem by Hâfiz is a resistant activity based on an intuitive logic, while that of Khayyâm is a receptive reaction originated from a mathematical logic. Taking another viewpoint, these two interpretations reveal two ways of encountering life and death.

Colors are among the qualities which have specific effects in our life. A good knowledge of these effects can reveal many secrets. In Shâhnâmeh of Ferdowsi, there are 4197 expressions concerned, in one way or another, with the idea of color, and of which, 3267 instances directly refer to the concept of color. These expressions fall into 18 categories.67.27% of the colors mentioned in Shâhnameh are the achromatics (black and white, dark and light, bright and piebald); and 32.73% are chromatics(red, yellow, green, purple,…).Through paying attention to the symbolic meanings of colors, one can realize the secrets of them and the artistic values related to them. At the same time, the affinity between this epic and a part of the mythologies of other nations will be manifested by examining these symbolic meanings. This article, attempts to trace at the various ways, black and white, are used in Shâhnâmeh.

There are many works in Persian literature that never sink into oblivion; the more time goes by, the more their values and merits will be revealed. Various commentaries and interpretations on the works of Nezâmi, Mathnavi of Mawlavi, Divân of Hâfiz,... prove this point.The poetical works of Nezâmi are among the lasting Persian verses that can be studied from several point of views. Nezâmi, in Haft-Peykar, has a specific look on the category of colors. As regards the psychological aspects of colors, there is a meaningful relationship between the color of each "Dome", and the quality of the narrated tale. This paper, through concentrating on the seven colors of the "Seven Domes", explains how each color is significantly related to the story told in the Dome.