فصلنامه ادبیات عرفانی و اسطوره شناختی
سال چهاردهم شماره 50 (بهار 1397)

Ferdowsi has encountered an important issue during the narration of Shāhnāmeh, and that is the dominant viewpoint of his era about myths. It seems that the age in which Ferdowsi lives is one of the flourishing periods of rationality in Iranian history. Accordingly, how could Ferdowsi’s attitude towards myths be configured? Due to the fact that some myths are completely free of the principles of ration, and Ferdowsi has to reconcile the external world of his intellectual age (the fourth century AH) and the internal irrational world of myths, intermingling such different worlds is possibly a huge task for Ferdowsi to perform. This article aims to explore through what methods and techniques Shāhnāmeh faces the mythological systems. Thus, after dividing the forms of myth interpretation to allegorical, nominal, Euhemeristic, and physical ones, and finding cases of these forms in Shāhnāmeh by using imperfect induction, we try to provide an optimal answer for this question.

Pouranamardian is one of the prominent critics and scholars of Iranian literary society, whose poetic aspect has been underestimated. Indeed, under the influence of Nima and his followers, like Shamloo, as well as his own studies on mysticism and symbolic stories, Pouranamardian has a particular tendency to symbolic expression in his poems. Many of these symbols can be placed in the domains of mystical symbols and social or epic ones. The present article tries to study the mystical and social symbolism in the poems of Pournamdarian, considering the context of his detailed research in this field as well as the political and social conditions prevailing at the time of composing his poems. The methodology of the research is based on content analysis; it contains an introduction about symbolism and biography of Pournamdarian. Then, his poetry book, Rahrovan Bi-Bargh (Leafless followers) and the mystical and social symbols in his poems are analyzed and discussed. The results show that the poet's studies on mysticism and thinking about Muslim mystics have been very effective in creating the mystical symbols of his poems. Also, the results show that due to the specific political and social circumstances of the era of the imperial regime and the ruling tyranny (the second Pahlavi era), Pournamdarian turns inevitably to symbolism, and he portrays the crisis-ridden society of his age with a symbolic expression.

Torture is one of the oldest phenomena in human social and political life .The history of nations has witnessed the heinous acts of humans, atrocious acts such as mutilation, deflagrate, skinning and so on, which often led to a painful death of the others. It is very wonderful that, aligning with the powerful rulers, sometimes the men of religion have also approved these acts. By using descriptive and analytical method, the author of the present article tries to allude briefly to the quality and quantity of torture in ancient Iran and to investigate it in some Persian epics in general and in the Shāhnāmeh in particular. The results, as the Shāhnāmeh testifies, show that types of torture, with different motives, were used in pre-Islamic Iran, and Ferdowsi, with all his attachment to Iranian culture, has reported these obscure points of the Iranian history. After the unification of the powerful and religious men and to suppress the oppositions and to gain legitimacy and power, the hardest tortures were used to apply.

One of the considerable themes in mythology and epic is filicide. In the present article and according to a mythical reading, filicide is considered as the main factor of tragedy in several stories. Shāhnāmeh and some other mythical epics have carried out this Eastern ritual in their stories. In the stories of 'Rostam and Sohrab', 'Rostam and Esfandiar' and 'Siavash' we see the theme of filicide. Many critics have classified these stories as tragedies. But in this article another factor has been raised which can be the main reason for the formation of a tragedy in these stories. According to the myths of fertility and creation, the original mission of fathers or parents is reproduction. Through killing his own son, the father brings about the extinction of his own offspring and becomes unable to fulfill his original mission. As a result, a tragedy is created. The title of tragedy is less used about the stories with the topic of patricide, because the father has already fulfilled his mythical mission and his death is not much touched upon from a mythical point of view. By using the textual-analytical method, the present article tries to study the common structures that lead to the emergence of the tragedy of filicide, and the connection of filicide with the myth of fertility. Also, the article examines the myth of fertility as the most important factor in the formation of tragedy in these stories.

The designs on Persian carpets include symbolic narratives, which have been beautifully depicted on the carpets by inspiration from the national myths. The fight between the dragon and Simorgh is one of these designs that are displayed in the form of "gereft-o-gir" (literally “captured and pinned,”). Each of these two myths has symbolic reflections; they refer to symbols of Ahura and Ahreman, good and evil, earth and heaven, life and death, and soul. The present article examines Iranian native myths by considering factors such as repetition, frequency, and originality. The findings of the research show the fight between the dragon and Simorgh which refers to the concepts of good and evil and the fight of Ahura and Ahreman. Also, the ritualistic approach is involved in the formation of this fight that in which the snake and the dragon (as the symbols of Ahreman) are in conflict with the Simorgh (as the symbol of Ahura).

In Persian classic texts, the word of honar (art and techne) has been used in various meanings, and in all literary texts every trait and concept that has a positive side is expressed in the title of honar. In epics and in different positions and textures, this term refers to any act and attribute that is of value and is associated with heroic rites. Also in lyric and didactic works, whenever poets and writers wanted to highlight a concept, called it honar. In any case, what does the term honar means in classic texts (techne, virtue), or in the modern sense of it, the concepts derive from this term are not derived from the word itself; and the semantic variation of it is the result of the context. The capacity and nature of the word is such that it is used in different meanings. In Islamic mysticism, in addition to formal and general meanings, honar has been used in certain meanings by poet mystics. In Hafez's poetry honar has been used in several meanings: love, libertinism (rendi), ocular flirtation (nazarbazi), quietism, and sorrow. But the important point is that in the poetry of Hafez, honar also means spiritual journey (seir o suluk) and the Muslim mystics are referred to as "the people of honar". In the present article, first, the term of "honar" is studied in Persian classic texts and then its specific meanings are analyzed in Hafez's poetry.

Shams-e Tabrizi is an eminent figure in Sufism and also is one of the most influential characters on Jalāl al-Din Rūmi, however based on existing sources some aspects of his character is ambiguous. In Maqalat, written by Shams-e Tabrizi and reflecting its author’s life and beliefs, we encounter some phrases referring to concepts of self-assertion and boastfulness which represent the position of the concept of "ego" in the author’s mind. These phrases mainly refer to admirable aspects of "self" or criticize and denounce some Sufis. But on the other hand, in Islamic mysticism and Sufism, self-assertion and boastfulness are obstacles to attain the Truth. So, we are faced with a paradox in Maqalat that is mainly rooted in the author's personality. According to the psychoanalytical approach, literary works are examined as the mentality of the author and reflections of his/her unconscious. In the present article, based on method of psychological criticism, we attempt to study Maqalat, and to examine the "realm of imagination" of the author regarding to the concept of ego. This is done by mapping the metaphorical process of "the mirror stage" and showing the emergence of narcissism and its behavioral appearances.

According to Mircea Eliade, there is always an absolute and sacred reality for "homo religious" which is beyond this world, manifests itself in the world and sanctifies it. This absolute and sacred reality is the same as that expressed in Sheikh Boo Saied's behavior and speech in anecdotes of Asrar al-Tawhid (The Mysteries of Unification). By studying the sources and using the analytical and descriptive method, in the present article has been attempted to evaluate the characteristics of the "homo religious" of Eliade on the main characters of the anecdotes in order to adapt his view to the stories of Asrar al-Tawhid. The results show that Sheikh Boo Saied, as the homo religious, has set aside the historical time and has reached the sacred time. That is why each of his followers who are the samples of "homo historicus" can feel the sense of eternity and inescapability, regarding to their connections with the sacred time. Eliade's "sacred action" is the same as that which has been mentioned in mysticism of Sheikh Boo Saied as unity. By analyzing the anecdotes of Asrar al-Tawhid in accordance with the proposed model of Eliade, Sheikh Boo Saied is a sample of "homo religious", and his supernatural deeds and the events surrounding him do not mean denying the real world and escaping into the dream world.

In religious and mystical thought, verbal communication between man and the Creator has a special place. God is the first to make this connection. Both sides of the communication sometimes have the role of the sender and sometimes the role of the receiver. In the present article, we examine 1.the methods of verbal communication with God in the form of praying Namāz and prayer (doā) and related customs 2. The role of necessary tools, such as hearing, for verbal communication 3. The role of body movements in completing and enhancing verbal communication 4. The ways in which God communicates with his people through revelation and inspiration. In praying Namāz, the way of speaking and the type of gesture is determined by God for man, but in praying man selects the method of communication regarding Quranic verses, Hadith (the statements of the Prophet) and his/her mental states. We have used new theories, such as the theory of Jakobson and David Berlo’s communication model, to analyze the verbal communication of man with God.

The power of imagination and storytelling is one of the means for expressing man's historical and biological riddles. Since the beginning of human imagination and the moment of literary creation, the relationship between literature and myth has always existed. Documentaries and fictional records provide the opportunity to reconstruct historical and mythical phenomena and to analyze psychological concepts. The twentieth-century writers, including Gustave Le Clézio, put forward their ideas in imaginative and realistic contexts; these contexts carry the perceptual and historical features that are collectively achievable. By re-reading some Jungian archetypes, such as persona, anima, animus, sage, shadow, back to oneself and birth, Le Clézio relied a large part of his writing on the collective conscious and myths, and could depict the deepest layers and latent myths of human psyche along with individual and natural elements in the fictional and imaginative world. The process of individuality and the movement of his fictional characters are also formed alongside this fictional world. Hence, the narrative structure of his stories presents a symbolic psychological system that is defined in the context of history and myth. The aim of the present article is to identify this psychological system along with Jungian archetypes in three works of Le Clézio, Desert, The Prospector and The Book of Flights.