Folklore and Social History; A Case study of the Song "Rana"

Songs encompass the main body of knowledge and culture, known as folklore. They are works of unknown producers and singers, passing down from generation to generation by words of mouth. Folk songs, according to most scholars, are the voices of the inferior walks of life who talk to us from the depths of history. The simplicity and sincerity of folklore works, together with other historical documents and references, enable us to reach a much more realistic and sensible view of the social history of communities. This study focuses on the theme and content of the song "Rana" within a descriptive-analytical scheme using library sources and field research to know what capacity the research in the folklore of regions does offer for social history studies. The folklore song "Rana" is a lamentation on the adventurous life of a woman from the foothills of East Gilan and, besides its literary and artistic aspects, refers to the social history of the masses of people and the socio-political structure of this region in the feudalism era, making it relevant in the study of social history.