A Comparative Study of Two Ta ziyehs of Imam Reza's Martyrdom

Imam Reza’s Shabih Namehs (the text of Ta’ziyeh) belong to the second period of passion plays writing and after that; a period in which the writers of these texts distanced from the main events of Ashura and martyrdom of Imam Ali and started writing about the other Innocents in Islam. This period began almost during the reign of Fathali Shah Qajar Being the unique integrated national/religious art of Iran, Ta’ziyeh was originally a popular art welcomed by all social classes. Therefore, different narratives of one story appeared in different regions whose confrontation not only leads to recognition of creativity within the definite framework of narrative but also can make the reader familiar with attitudes and beliefs of a broad range of Iranians. This research is mainly based on the following questions: with regard to writers’ using of Shiite history narratives, how are the narratives in namesake Ta’ziyehs which deal with the same subject? Have these writers been under the influence of past narratives so much that they did not have capacity or possibility for innovation?The data of this study has been gathered via library method and has been analyzed by descriptive-inferential method.After investigating the writing period of Imam Reza martyrdom’s Ta’ziyehs, this study explores the confrontation of two different Ta’ziyehs in order to find their similarities and dissimilarities. Through an intertextual reading, and while studying various techniques used by writers for providing the proper dramatic description of a given historical event, we become familiar with differences in local people’s attitude and understanding of such event.The evaluation of namesake Ta’ziyehs shows that the writers do not seek repeating the past methods and have tried to try new ways regarding the narrative, audience and society of each period.