پژوهشنامه ادب حماسی
سال پانزدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 28، پاییز و زمستان 1398)

In Bahram Gur and Lonbak, the water seller tale there is an episode where Lonbak stands to receive Bahram.  Right after this scene there is a couplet.  With respect to the records found in different manuscripts of Shahnameh and one or two such parallels, probably the right form of the verb in the second hemistich is Bebanjid.  This verb is a derivative of the infinitive “Banjidan” which means to divide, and cut into pieces. The present mode stem used to make this false or secondary infinitive may be the second present mode stem of the infinitive “Bakhtan” in Pahlavi in which case banj is taken from the root baj which means to divide and to give so that the meaning of the couplet considering the deductive edition will be as follows:  Bahram divided the food Lonbak offered him into two or three parts and put them of the table.

 Although popular novels contain valuable settings and narrative forms which are closely related to national epic, depending on representation of the tale in different ages and also the presence of the naqal or narrator they have accepted elements and discourses of different periods within them and have changed their semantic patterns accordingly.  Because of this characteristic, part of the narratology is the study of the way novel encounters new valuable settings.  When the text is believed to be a systematic whole one is obliged to study the way the text encounters new data.  Semantic approach via reducing the narrative into abstract structures and the way they are organized apart from examining the juxtaposition and substitution processes in deep structure and surface structure could analyze and differentiate variety of discourse systems in the text.  Eskandar Nameh section within Darab Nameh written by Tarsusi is one of the most distinguishing Eskandar Namehs in Persian literature and tells the story of the challenge between the two Persian and Islamic discourses regarding Eskandar.  The purpose of this article is to show how the tale interacts with the new data and setting.  The process of how signs juxtapose in narrative style is indicative of the components which have no structural connection with the plot of the story.  Therefore first general principles of narrative grammar are studied and, then other discourse systems are examined showing how the machinery of meaning production operate in them. .

One of the unique characteristics of shahnameh is that it reflects and portrays masterfully moral and psychological characteristic of man in every period.  Considering the enormous potentials it offers for investigation employing different contemporary scientific views and theories, it is the purpose of this article to apply Zuckermna’s theory to Sudabeh’s character. Due to the structure and dynamic theme Sudabeh’s tale has, it lends itself to the psychological analysis the results of which could be served to control the reactions arising from the sensation seeking desires of man today.  Sensation seeking is a theory proposed by Marvin Zuckerman, the contemporary psychologist.  This theory consists of several fundamental characteristics which determines man’s essence.  Looking at Sudabeh’s character through the lens of this theory indicate that every four parameters Zuchkerman proposes are present in her indecent actions and behaviors.  She is adventurous, self-centered, challenging in seeking a partner in Hamavaran; she is in pursuit of new sensational experience, avoids monotony, and indulges in reckless behavior prohibited in the court of Iran’s king.  

Gaston Bachelard, epistemologist, critic, philosopher, recognized as the prime structuralists of France had pioneered a new style of criticism based on the analysis and interpretation of artistic and literary images. Having based his criticism on the four elements, he believed a great deal in material imagination of the poet and its connection with the unconscious and phenomenological issues.  From his epistemological perspective, dream and poetic imagination through the four elements and in terms of mythological archetypes for obvious and obscure reasons find material manifestations.  In order to accept the literary role as well as invoking the feelings of the audience dreams appear with dual images. Analysis and interpretation of the material imagination and this duality respectively unravels the mystery of the text.  The tale of “Tus sees Siavash in a dream” is one of the ten narratives in shahnameh which was painted beautifully in Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh as a unique example of portraying dream world of the poet be materialized in the Persian painting.  This article is an attempt to represent the ancient connection between literature and art, painting in particular from the view point of material imagination using Bachelard’s ideas regarding poet’s imagination and its correspondence with the painting only to determine the standpoint of four elements in Ferdowsi’s imagination and how they found expression in terms of words and images, also to reveal to what extent they correspond with Bachelard’s criticism of imagination in poetry and painting.  According to the findings it can be said that the poet and the painter had made use of Bachelard’s material imagination and dialectic duality in creation of their works.

Iran is an ancient land and its beginning is back to prehistory. Iran's beginning creation remaining in myths and epics of it, and from the way of Shahnama has been transmitted to us. Formation an ancient land as a country whit a Kingdom, causes relationship whit peoples of neighbor lands and their kingdoms as aliens. This relations, create in two ways of war and peace, and their subcategories This article on the base of Shahnama trying to shows Iran's kingdom policy against the aliens on the base of the discourse of Persepolis political thought, and the empirical process of relationship between Iran and aliens in Kianian kingdom periods (Keikobad, Keikavous and Keikhosro). The method of research is discourse analysis. As the overall result, totality of this relations show that creation and keeping of country that is called Iran, Separating and creating the border between it and the aliens, and its security, is on the base of the principle of survival.

There are few literary works which had not benefited from the treasury of Shahnameh.  Among the many reasons why Shahnameh is being consulted for subjects such as praise, defining philosophical and educational issues, mysticism, lyrical themes, making allegories and rhetorical compounds and the like, its function in describing the manifestations of nature stands out the most.  Meanwhile in literary domain poets had benefited from the epic and mythological similes for making nature orientated imageries.  One of the methods of describing nature is to equate each of the epic and mythological references to the vehicle when confronting nature components.  Elements of color, troops, aristocrats, geometrical shape are considered the best common factor between nature manifestations and epic heroes.  Following the example of champions’ heroic actions and deeds, direct reference to the main tale, use of binary oppositions, and creating a setting are among the features of these descriptions.  The images of mother in mythological similes in Khorasani style are simple, creative, and authentic and is the outcome of direct natural feelings of the poet incited by nature, however in Iraqi style these kind of similes appear with more sentimental feelings, and blend with ambiguity, complexity, verbosity, imitation, and repetition.  The purpose of this article is to study the mythological similes in describing each of the nature components in the poetry of certain poets of Khorasani and Iraqi style.

One of the subjects in new criticism is to investigate the structure of language in literary works.  The pattern suggested for the study of epic language, studies the characteristic of poetic language used in epic in terms of music, phonetic, diction, syntax, rhetoric, content, and theme to explore how this literary genre manifest itself in language and describes the process of epic composition.  For this reason taking Shahnameh as the yardstick for epic language and employing formalistic theories and the pattern provided by schloars Shahbazi and Malek Sabet in this regard this article seeks to study the epic language in Kushnameh.  At every level necessary parameters are defined their manifestation in the epic language are shown providing evidence to indicate the characteristics of the epic language followed by the enquiry about how successful Iranshan Abilkhayr had been  in using the epic language. Results obtained show that Abilkhayr as one of the imitators of epic language, selecting shahnameh for model had been fairly successful in employing the epic language in many instances and his work is recognized as a complete example of national epic composition after Shahnameh.

In Sassanid section of Shahnameh Ferdowsi names of many historical characters are mentioned, yet they are otherwise recorded and at times appear somewhat altered in other sources, or rather their epithets and formal titles sit in place of their names.  Sometimes this difference is so large that could mislead a researcher in arriving at the true etymology, meaning of the name and genealogy of the character and hence lead to greater scientific fallacies.  Certain names or epithets employed in Shahnameh are unique and are not seen in other sources.  Farayin, name or epithet of Shahrbaraz is mentioned in none of the historical sources but Shahnameh.  This research deals with the etymology and examination of this name or epithet in different ancient sources such as Pahlavi, Farsi, Arabic, Aramaic, Syriac and Greek ones. The reason why Ferdowsi had selected and recorded Farayin and whether or not this name is true, also Ferdowsi’s role, his source, his scribers and editors and their possible role in alteration of the name are further discussed.  Goraz and Farayin, being one person exist in Shahnameh and Ferdowsi had used the two with slight modification.

In psychological criticism character is the main focus of the research.  According to this approach, hero’s character in Bizhan and Manizheh which is a romantic tale is studied and analyzed in terms of psychological principles to prove the hypothesis that far from the romantic aspects, this genre of stories revolve around the journey the hero undertakes to reach his superior self or his ideal self. This research is based on the descriptive analytic method.  Bizhan experiences the darkness of the unconscious by falling into a well, then feeling of guilt prepares the ground for his perfection; a path which begins with an exile in a dark well which is a symbol for the dark side of Bizhan’s self whose deliverance necessitates a procedure such as a psychological cure to transform the darkness of the within into the brightness which consciousness and freedom brings forth. As a result Bizhan himself together with Manizheh who is a symbol of his id, pays the price of his guilt with the most enduring tortures in order to gain his freedom.  His final trial is a symbol of this advancement.

 The final section of Bahman’s sovereignty in Shahnameh deals with Homay’s conception by his father Bahman.  According to Ferdowsi’s narrative and in accordance with Pahlavi teachings Bahman unites with Homay makes her his successor and orders that the born child should be the future king.  Sassan, Bahman’s son witnessing the event, leaves town and goes to Neyshabour, marries there and names his son Sassan too. Nihayat al-arab shares this narrative as well.  According to Saalebi’s narrative also Bahman marries Homay who bears him a child.  After Bahman’s death Homay assumes the throne.  Comparing Ferdowsi’s narrative of this tale with the other two sources show that all three narratives have common source.  On the other hand the difference in Shahnameh’s narrative with the other two texts goes back to the style of narration Ferdowsi adopts and the way he utilizes his sources.  Based on this research Ferdowsi’s utilization of his source is a heterogeneous one.  By combining two narratives, Ferdowsi narrates the tale in a way which is more dramatic and capturing.  In fact Ferdowsi takes each event from a different source and in order to have a more coherent sequence of events he adds certain incidence to the tale.

Myths are closely related to social issues.  Social rereading of this relation necessitates a theoretical background in order to explain the relationship between the text and its medium.  The relation between Literature and society is defined according to the sociological parameters of the cultural medium since this medium is the arena where all cultural creations particularly literary ones through different forces cause a cultural action to take place.  Using content analysis and documentary search method, this research seeks to study Kayumars’s myth according to Persian cultural medium.  The results found are as follows: Since mythological tales in Shahnameh are narrated within a historical time span, dealing with myths is considered as a kind of deliberate return to the myths whose most dominant aspect is the social one.  The existence of numerous narratives of Kayumars’s tale within the cultural medium and Ferdowsi’s particular choice of these narratives is indicative of certain social consciousness which is connected to the social Persian medium of Ferdowsi’s time.  In textual structures of kayumars’s myth in Shahnameh there are instances which refer to the religious aspect, social norms of the society of the time and also refer how Ferdowsi had been under the influence of social movements and central powers of his time.

This article investigates cultural interaction and opposition in mythological section of Shahnameh from the perspective of cultural semiotics.  At first concepts such as self and the other, attraction and repulsion, order and chaos, and cultural sphere which are considered as fundamental features of cultural semiotics are explained briefly, then relying on the text the aforementioned concepts are exemplified and analyzed.  This research is based on the descriptive analytical method employing cultural semiotics theories.  Results obtained show that according to Shahnameh text, Iranian culture due to various reasons is a receiving one and under different circumstances not only showed opposition but also interacted with the other.  The important feature of this culture is its considerable power of attraction and assimilation, however it has always welcomed stability and cyclic repetition based on the cultural sphere deeply imprinted on it all the more reason for being reluctant to fundamental change.

Epic archaism is the simultaneous employment of epic as an influential and elevated style mingled with a form of archaism which lead to the sublimity of poet’s language. Qaysarnameh composed by Adib Pishavari is a complete example of using epic as a model blended with archaism as far as diction, syntax, and rhetoric are concerned.  This historic epic more than any other works in its era had remained devoted to the linguistic and literary traditions of his ancestors. Adib Pishavari has made tremendous effort to preserve Khorasani language.  Inspired by Shahnameh and using it as a model he took profound care to adhere to its style.  Archaism is one of the main reasons for preservation of epic language in Qaysarnameh.  This research studies different aspects of epic archaism in this work.  This quality in Adib’s poetry had found stylistic individuality in terms of diction, syntax and rhetoric.  Making words with new political, social, and military expressions, representation of Khorasani syntax and creation of compound images based on the ancient epic similes are among the principle features found in Qaysarnameh.

 Shahnameh Ferdowsi is considered as one of the most invaluable sources regarding the customs, traditions, and rituals of different ancient societies living in our land.  One of these rituals one comes across in Shahnameh is a ritual surrounding the death of kings and great heroes, and since some of these figures belonged to Scythian race it is the purpose of this article to compare their manner of burial with the actual interment rite performed in Iran using rare example of burial remains uncovered by archeologists in the recent excavation as evidence.  According to the researches done it has been established that the burial ceremony carried out by Scythian people in Khoram Abad cemetery in Meshkin shahr to a large extent corresponds with Ferdowsi’s composition regarding burial rituals conducted for Scythian heroes.  Ferdowsi’s description of how glorious tombs were erected for Scythian heroes could well represent what is found in imperial coffins in Khoram Abad cemetery in Ardabil.  In both cases the existence of horse near the corpses were greatly emphasized. 

 Brightness is certainly the most significant god in the Indo European mythology, and the cycle of opening and closing of day is the main theme in the mythology of this people.  Indo Iranian people have also based their myths upon the nature of light.  Creation, fertility, abundance of water, victory, and other components of life in their beliefs are different manifestation of the brightness myth.  Likewise in Japanese culture god of brightness plays a central role.  Amaterasu, goddess of light is also responsible for abundance and fertility of pastures and the imperial dynasty comes from the same race.  Her life story is the expansion of day and night cycle and resemblance of her life history with that of Indo Iranian people are far more than it could be assumed accidental.  Beforehand instances of the influence of Arian myths over Japanese culture were studied and introduced.  This article has made use of descriptive analytic method to represent common features of Iranian and Indo Iranian myths with the Japanese counterpart in terms of brightness Gods.  The results obtained show that Amaterasu myth according to Japanese beliefs has its roots in Indo Iranian culture considering the historical influence of Persian culture over the Japanese one.  Also centuries after the first entry of this myth to Japan in the second half of the seventh century AD, at the same time that cultural features of Iranians began to penetrate Japan Japanese emperors followed the example of Iranian kings who have long before established kinship to God.  They used Amaterasu myth to legitimize their sovereignty.