A Sociological Analysis of Literary Taste regarding Najmodin Razi's Mersad-ol-Ebad

Sociology of literary taste is one of the branches of sociology of literature that deals with the formation of literary taste among people and the factors affecting it. To study the literary taste of each period the works of that period should be taken into consideration. Najmodin Razi's Mersad-ol-Ebad is one of the works that has clearly been influenced by the literary taste of its period. Diversity of content and audience in different seasons of the book shows that tastes of different social groups are considered in this work; therefore, the author walks away from his original motivation of (teaching the disciples) in some parts of text. Diversity of literary tastes in Mersad-ol-Ebad has distinguished this work from other mystical teaching and makes it worth of analysis in this study. Sociological analysis of literary taste in Najmodin Razi's Mersad-ol-Ebad shows that several factors have been effective in shaping the literary taste in this book; the most important ones include: The spirits of the time, social, political and historical conditions, insight of king as the aesthetic judgment, and intrinsic-true values of the literary work itself.