A Glance at Intertextual Relationship between Epic and Chivalric Literary Texts (Based on “Shah-Nameh” and “Samak-e Ayyaar”)

On the status of chivalric literature, there are differences of opinion in classification of the Farsi literature genres. Some have considered this literary category as a sub-group of epic literature. Some others have referred to chivalric types as novels, while another group has categorized this genre under the heading of common literature. In this article, the assumed compatibility of epic and chivalric literature has been discussed and the relation between these two genres of literature has been studied, while the most important examples of these two groups of Farsi literary texts, namely the collection of poems of the celebrated and acclaimed Iranian poet Ferdowsi, referred to as Shah-Nameh, and the chivalric literary book named “Samak-e Ayyaar” have been selected. Thereafter, the intertextual relations between two books, based on the three foundation, productive, and interpretive oriented approaches have been scrutinized and the bonds between these two exemplary chivalric and epic literary books have been detailed and elaborated. Ultimately, it is concluded that given the meaningful relation between epic and chivalric texts, each of these two genres’ texts are categorized as sub-groups to a more general genre, stated as “heroic epic literature” genre.