The Structure of Persian Prose Romances

Among the Persian literary texts, there are seven prose romances that relate to different historical periods. The time difference in the narrative of each romance, the large volume and the geographic extent of these texts, has diversified their structure; this diversity and difference in the way the narratives of the romance have been closely related to the intellectual and cultural developments in the Iranian society; Nevertheless, a fixed pattern is preserved in the mythical structure of the romance. In this article, based on the model of Levi Strauss structuralism, we extracted the minima of the narrative of Persian prose romances and studied their structure. The findings of the research show that the main structure of these texts is based on the initiation ceremony or recognition of the heroism.  The hero with a motive, which is generally sought after by a beloved, goes away from home and runs a long journey with enduring hardship; difficult tests and ultimately return home with victory over enemies and obtaining desires.  By comparative study of stories, it is possible to rebuild their deep structure, a desire for immortality and perfection.