The Root of Pseudo-Paradox in the Personal Style of Hafez

Language of poem is paradoxical and such paradox is inevitable in both form and meaning of the poem. The present paper aims at analyzing such formal-conceptual tensions in ghazals by Hafez. The first section of the paper provides a brief definition of paradox in poetry. Then, the concept of binary opposition in structuralism is discussed. In the third section of the binary oppositions in Hafez poetry are discussed while the ternary and quaternary oppositions are also shown. It is revealed that a general opposition stands in the center around which other oppositions are placed in Hafex poetry. Such oppositions and conflicts mostly lead to a pseudo-paradoxical structure in form which seems paradoxical only to the way of thinking of the readers of Hafez, whereas there is no contradiction in Hafez' thinking. This feature has become specific to the style of Hafez, because he doesnt use pseudo-paradox solely as a literary technique, but also as a form of dialogue. The last part of the article techniques of creating paradoxical structures and formal-conceptual tensions are discussed.