Re-reading the function of myth in Persian and Arabic poetry based on Shamloo and Al-Bayati poetry

There is an unbreakable bond between myth and literature because of the same origin that they have in human unconsciousness. As the myth uses the capacities of literature, specially poem, to continue its existence, poets use the capacity of myth to make their poetry more beautiful and developed. The function of myth in literature, however, is not restricted to aesthetics. Today, the value of myth and its semantic and aesthetic approaches are undeniable. Myth definitely creates expansive meaning. Being related to celestial and holy affairs, its most important function is political and cultural, especially for men of letters who intend to write about these facts and consider literary works to have social commitment because myths can improve the social solidarity more and better and act as a support for human’s behavior.  Myth is considered as literature womb. When myth has been watered down for the presence of great and popular religions and religious statements, and lost its divine privileges among the people of enlightenment era, the most secure shelter for its living should be found in literature and unconsciousness of poets and writers. Rewriting myths in contemporary poems has become more complicated and diverse, compared with classic poems.  This paper is considered as the first work that intends to study the essence and function of myths in Persian and Arab literature based on Shamloo’s and Al-Bayati’s poems. It also tries to describe and explain the functions and reflections of myths in contemporary poetry using a problem based and recitative approach. There has been some researches done on comparative mythology such as the work by Qoqnoy and Finiq in Nima and Adonis poems.  

This study tries to consider the essence and function of myth in Persian and Arab poetry based on analytic and descriptive method to show the differences and similarities in Shamloo’s and Al-Bayati’s poems.   

Shamloo is one of the most popular and active poets of Persian literature, who is famous for innovating blank verse. The mythical symbols are mostly seen in his poems for their power of gaining the attention of the audience and provoking them. Shamloo has had different ways and goals in using myths. Shamloo’s poetry is of complicated and metaphoric language and with an epistemological aim on account of a problematic mind. Although political and social interpretations of his poems have caused many scholars to think that the main function of myths in his poems is political, but investigating his poems more exactly reveals another hidden aspect of his poetry, i.e., he has used national and Western myths due to describe his epistemological principles.  In other words, those functions depict the epistemological crisis of modernism. In his view, mentality and life of the modern human is irregular and distressed and his mind basis is irresolute and baffled. This human is pursuing the national and mythical past to find a peaceful resort. Myth for Shamloo is not a divine concept, but is a resort to justify new beliefs of epistemology. Human is his new myth in modern time. In his mentality, the myth of resourceful goddess is replaced with modern human. As he is greatly aware of the role of human during the era of humanism, he is going to decanonize ancient myths through the announcement of the death of old myths. In his view, the modern human’s ego is sorrowful and stuck in the non-heroic period with the death of mythical ideals. In Shamloo’s view, inversion of mythical narrations is justified because it represents the cognitive system of modern time and post-structural essence of those narrations. For example, he preferred to mention Christ crucifixion based on non-Islamic narrations and this approach may be an objection to the dominant narrations, so he shows a new function of myth in his poem besides engaging the reader’s mind with that. Also, the death of Nasseri in Poniard on the Plate is another narration about Jesus and his crucifixion. Abdolwahhab al-Bayati is one of the political and well known poets that his extreme political tendencies have caused him to be exiled from Iraq for some time and pass the rest of his life in Jordan. His painful life is completely reflected in his poems.  Since one of the ways for getting repose and peace in modern time is resorting to myths, this aim can be obtained by remaking the glorious past and incorporating it in the present situations.   Myths are the best resorts to Al-Bayati too. Obviously, this affair is in need of a new language and mind. He has used some relevant myths related to his community with respect to his own cultural area. Myths are in service of the social purposes of the poet in symbol. And, for him myth is a means of symbolic justification of political and social aims as he is trying to make the audience active by mentioning the mythical and legend role of Qoqnoos and integrating its function with society. Disappointment from the improvement of people’s conditions motivates Al-Bayati to use the compensatory function of myth. Sindbad myth and the hero’s quest archetype in it, is the best function at hand. He knows himself as Sisyphus in Arab society, the one who is usually being exiled and his effort for making people aware of negligence and passivity won’t pay off. He is expressing his dissatisfaction with living in contemporary society. He wants to show that he likes to live in a better world, but he believes that returning to the utopian world is not going to be possible unless joining the ancient time’s beliefs and the mythical period.

The results show that Shamloo has used myths more expansively and variously than Al-Bayati, whereas Al-Bayati has referred to Egyptian and Greek myths for his political and cultural intentions more. Shamloo planned on using mythical narrations of Rome and Greece frequently on the one hand and reproduction of Persian ones on the other hand. He has tried to reflect mythical narrations in his poems on based on metaphoric and symbolic language to find answers for his epistemological and philosophical questions in modern time. Shamloo has used myths in an original and deconstructive way and with an inversion of meaning. But, myth for Al-Bayati is a means of reproducing a more political and social atmosphere. Unlike Shamloo, who identifies himself with mythical heroes, the myths in Al-Bayati’s poetry are completely separable. In fact, he is going to make his readers be released from passivity. Furthermore, the poetic language of Al-Bayati is simpler and weaker than that of Shamloo. On the other hand, the epistemological function of myths in Shamloo’s poetry in combination with emotions and intuitional perceptions and poetic experiences caused his poems to be more complicated.