Analysis of Meta-textual and Intra-textual Factors on Literary Taste in Chahar Maghale and Labab al-Bab

The standards and the taste for art are being constantly changed and transformed. Anthologies, as a summary of the audience's views and taste, are a mirror and a reflection of the evolution of literary taste standards in any era. The process of formation and the direction and evolution of literary taste in each period can be well understood by analyzing works in different periods. In the present study, the literary taste was determined by examining Chahar Maghale and Lababal-Bab from a sociological point of view. The foundation, social context, and criteria for selection are important factors in directing the literary taste of the time from the perspective of the authors of these two anthologies. The mutual benefit of the masters of power and masters of art in immortalizing and preserving each other's names, the artist’s colleagues, personal acquaintance of young artists with famous writers and artists, and literary criticism are considered to be the most important literary metatextual features that shape artistic tastes from the point of view of the authors of these two anthologies. The balance and comparison of poets, observance of verbal and semantic proportions, and hyperbole are among the outstanding intratextual features of the criticism of taste in the discussed anthologies. The social class of the artist, the glory of power, perfectionism, and artifice, the metatextual value-creating criteria, improvisation and conciseness, and the use of literary devices are all among the examples of intratextual beauty in the studied anthologies.