مجله پژوهش های ادب عرفانی (گوهر گویا)
سال پنجم شماره 4 (پیاپی 20، زمستان 1390)

This essay's purpose is to study the aspect of the city and its characteristics in the children and adolescents’ stories in the 1360s. Therefore, the content of 335 stories for children and adolescents, which were written by 40 eminent writers and have been published for the first time in the 1360s, have been studied from quantitative and qualitative points of view. The results of this study prove that the city, as the principal environment in 195 stories and a part of the environment in other 21 stories (all in all 64 percent), is the first environment in the children and adolescents’ stories. The presented aspect of the city and its habitants has been limited to describe a number of determined elements and the life of special classes of the society (poor classes). So, most of the stories present the repeated stereotype places, environmental elements and limited personages. The authors ignore the life of other addressees, who are not few. This case has been under the influence of the political, economical and social atmosphere dominating the society in the 1360s and also the life of the authors and the tendency of a number of the writers to create realistic stories and also to defend the deprived classes of the society.

The philosophical-intellectual tradition since Plato and Aristotle and even before that till 20th century and in thoughts and ideas of Ferdinand de Saussure, the Swiss linguist, has preferred speech to writing under the influence of a binary approach. In this view, complete transference of meaning through speech was possible, while writing was considered as a branch of and substitute for speech. Naturally, such logocentric approach prepared the context for classic hermeneutic, where understanding the writer’s intentions was considered as the purpose of interpretation. A brief look at Islamic-Persian culture and history shows that the same view is prevalent in the discourse of classic literature. Nasser Khosrow is among those who have such a view. On the one hand, he defends logocentrism by using such titles as name, discourse, speech and thus claims the superiority of speech over writing and, on the other hand, by distinguishing between revelation and interpretation he considers the gaining of author’s intention as the final goal of an interpreter. This article tries to explain such a claim in detail.

The movement is the most basic component of epic poems. Ferdowsi has exhibited his skill to describe the states and feelings of characters of Shahnameh by using words, rhythm, the elements of movement and related images in different epic and lyric positions and scenes. In Shahnameh, time and place are often mental and internal, instead of being real. The movement is also dependent on the conditions. The words and verbs used for expressing movement, especially in the battle scenes, are often mobile and dynamic. In the structure of this type of words, letters are used which suggest intensity and rigidity of movement in the reader, as opposed the words used in lyric scenes which suggest soft and fine mental states. Imagery and fictional elements such as plot, depiction etc also participate in creating dynamism and inertia of characters’ actions in various situations. However, the dynamism of language in Shahnameh is mainly due to epic tone which does not change even in emotional situations. Sometimes, the internal meaning of the words explains the external movements; for example, “dragon” whose kinetic and twisted states express the twisted movement of spear and sword.

In this study, the story of Haft Khane Rostam has been analyzed from the perspective of structuralism. Methods of analysis used in this article belong to three structuralist thinkers: Propp, Greimas and Todorov. They discuss various aspects of story and narrative. In Propp, roles and areas of practice of characters are more important. Greimas proved that there are six roles in the stories. According to him, three axes can be identified in each narrative: administrative, contract, discharge. Todorov focuses on understanding the structure of syntax in narratives and reduces all stories into a theorem which includes a subject and a predicate. The subject has the role of an agent and is often equivalent to a proper noun whereas the predicate consists of an adjective or a verb. This story has beginning, middle and final stages and a number of roles that can be seen. The six facets or actants of Greimas are subject: Rustam + object: The salvation of Kaykavoos + sender: Zal + receiver: Kaykavoos + helper: Divinity, Raxsh and Owlad + opponent: forces of evil and Divs. According to Todorov, the story can be reduced to the following theorems: K is king, R is hero, D is forces of evil and Div, K is captured by D, R kills D, R frees K from the hand of D.

Philosophers have named human Microcosm (because of his special comprehensiveness) and the world Macrocosm (because of its connection- making between beings and its determined order and rule). They believe everything in the world is similar to everything in human. The origin of the theory of Macrocosm and Microcosm and the theory of organic society can be traced back to Plato; however, these origins could be traced back and detected in the attitudes of other philosophers and nations before Plato. Having specifically clear-cut views in theological issues, Abu Moin Nasser Ibn Ghobadiyani –the theosophist, the poet and the writer of the 5th century A.H. (After Hejra or departure of prophet Muhammad from Mecca)- has expressed and proved his own views utilizing terms such as Macrocosm or Jahane Mahin, Microcosm or Jahane Kehin, Macropeople and Micropeople, and in his prose works such as Jame-ul-Hekmateyn, Zad-ul-Mosaferin, Khan-ul-Ikhwan, Vajhe Din, Goshayesh va Rahayesh, he has used these terms in order to teach and disseminate his religious faith. Finally, he has considered the Microcosm as the ultimate goal of creation.

Speech poetry in the past two decades has expanded considerably and has led to various discussions and different claims about it. However, no impartial and independent research has been done to collect and classify views about it and proposing a scientific claim by comparing those views with poetic examples critically. By analyzing nonverbal features of speech poem in four main branches, that is, music, imagination, structure and content, the particular features of this kind of poem are explained critically. More than anything else, this kind of poem depends on language-based elements. Language in this poem is simple and, in most cases, free of the traditional aesthetic aspects and even modern experiences of contemporary poetry. Various matters that make up its content, often instead of using common methods of imagery, are depicted with sentimental tone and with simple and non-rhythmic language derived from the nature of spoken language. In speech poetry, we are facing with two trends. First we have meaningful spoken poems which have a consistent structure; second we have meaning-escaping spoken poems which lack any kind of coherence. The poets of this movement claim that they are looking for literariness in popular language. It seems that they have somehow achieved what they want especially in the domains of language, rhyme and imagery.

Nature, climate and ecological, social and cultural conditions of each writer or poet’s place of living are the main origins of the imagery in his (or her) work and no poet or writer can take himself completely far from their influences. On the basis of this, climate has been considered more or less by most rhetoricians and they have emphasized it for the correct analysis and interpretation of a literary work. Also authentic literary works can be studied in this regard and a brief look at outstanding literary works shows that the purest images in poetry and even prose genres are those originated from and inspired by poet or writer’s climate and environment of living. Simile is one of the main kinds of imagery and somehow can be considered as the base of rhetoric which is used for distinguishing literature from non-literature. Generally speaking, other kinds of imagery are based on and influenced by it. Like other kinds of imagery, and in some respects more than them, simile is affected by climate so that in literary text analysis we face a plenty of similes which can be named as natural similes due to their tenor and vehicle. In this article, after some descriptions of regional and local literature, local fiction and local simile, types of local simile in regional fictions are studied and compared.

This essay tries to explain in detail the reasons for the preference of one reading of the 6th verse of introduction of Shahnameh which is about "praise of wisdom" over other readings. In order to achieve this goal, first, expressions like imprudent (kamkherad), unwise, and wise are explained as they are necessary for explaining the expression "dark wisdom"; second, the essay explains the concepts "dark wisdom" and "enlightened soul", and makes it clear that if some other verses of Shahnameh talk about enlightedness of soul, wisdom is also mentioned as soul. It also shows that according to the mental atmosphere of Shahnameh companionship of "dark wisdom" with "enlightened soul" is not possible. The reason is that, on the one hand, knowledge and intelligence are introduced as the causes of enlightedness of wisdom and soul and, on the other hand, wisdom causes soul to benefit from knowledge. Thus enlightening knowledge cannot just enlighten soul but not wisdom, which is the medium of soul`s luminosity and brightness. At the same time, in Shahnameh happiness and soul enlightedness are always together. It means that, according to this work, unhappiness cannot be in fellowship with soul enlightedness. So the reading in which the word "mard" is pronounced as /mard/ and not /marde/ is preferred, as this way of reading conveys that when wisdom is dark, man can neither have enlightened soul nor be happy.