نشریه جستارهای نوین ادبی
سال پنجاه و دوم شماره 3 (پیاپی 206، پاییز 1398)

Biographers' reports on the life and art of their contemporaries constitute and reconstruct the main part of our literary historical knowledge. However, the reality is that the reports of contemporaries about the personality of co-author and artworks are not coherent and that there are many conflicts and contradictions in those reports. There are also many conflicts and contradictions in those reports even from that time on, and it has been constantly changed and transformed. The diversity of opinions among critics can be a worrying issue for a literary historian, which makes it difficult for him to work. Another problem is that this multiplicity of opinions about Mohtasham vanishes in one or two centuries after the death of the poet, and a unified narrative about his character and his poetry governs Persian biographies (Tadhkiras). In fact, the historian faces two major problems: first, the fluidity of opinions and contradictions in the poet's contemporary reports; secondly, the certainty of the literary historians' opinions about Mohtasham. But what makes Mohtasham famous? Does it contain all aspects of his personality and art? Or is it a historical and discursive selection of his works?

The present authors' points of view is based upon Hermeneutical literary history. In this theory, the literary works are historical. The work has a dialogue with audience via history. In this dialogue, the meanings of works get pluralized. The work has a dialogue with its contemporaries. They interpreted their contemporaries' works upon horizon.

In order to answer the research questions, we first extracted a set of reports about Mohtasham from his contemporary biographers and described the multiplicity and non-occurrence of the reports. Then we showed the process of overcoming and defining some opinions in terms of the chronological era. Our attitude in this paper is based on the method of the history of hermeneutic literature.

Before examining the reports of Mohtasham’s contemporaries and the subsequent biographers, it is necessary to specify the period of the biographies which were with Mohtasham at the same time. If we decrease the contemporary period of time to his own lifetime (1529-1588/935-996) and his generation, we should dedicate all the time (contemporary period of time) to Mohtasham by the year 1602/1010 AH. But if we extend this time to the lives of those who realized Mohtasham’s presence, it includes at least 30 years after the death of Mohtasham, and those who wrote their works from Seventh decade of 15th/10th century to the third decade of the 16th/11th century (about Years 1553 to 1621/ 960 to 1030 AH) will be considered as his contemporaries. One of the presuppositions related to the information of contemporary biographies is to find a true and definite narrative about his poet and poetry. Such a presupposition is based on the coincidence of the reports with the literary event and is usually based on biographer’s observations but with no go-betweens. The more the poet's reputation is, the more the difference in the views of contemporaries toward him is. This point is certain about Mohtasham Kashani. Different causes have been involved in the emergence of controversy among contemporaries, which we interpret them as constitutive variables of ‘contemporaneity blindness’. The three variables of time, environment, and social relationships presented in this section have led to the emergence of differences, contradictions, and ultimately the multiplicity of contemporary biographers' opinions. The two sides of contemporaneity are multiple and non-deterministic due to the fact that they are influenced by the time, place, relationship, and discursive contradictions caused by these variables and present a changeable and multifaceted image of the poet and his poetry. This kind of plurality and alterability of the two sides of contemporaneity has turned the reports of the contemporary biographers into a complex of disproportionate, weak and sparse opinions about the poet (Mohtasham). These three variables will affect both sides of contemporaneity, both the historian’s opinions and literary critics as well as the subject of literary history (i.e. literary event). We can say that contemporaneity blindness is, in fact, the outcome of instability subject and object (biographer and poet). This is the case that cause the contemporaries not to have a true and clear belief of their understanding. As far as we are from the time of Mohtasham, the biographers bring about a single narrative of his life and also his art. They select specific issues from the contradictory opinions of his contemporaries. Soon, all reports, descriptions and indices related to the poet would be considered definite and is spread in all biographies with different words and phrases and that limited selection gradually emerges in the center of the biography of the poet.

The narrative of the Safā's history of literature from Mohtasham also stayed in the tradition of biography writing (writing of Tadhkira), the narrative of Golčin Maʿāni in the book of the Maktab-e woquʿ dar šeʿr-e fārsi, and various reports are collected about MOḤTAŠAM. The narrative that the commentators of Mohtasham’ Divan have made in the introduction is also the same. None of these three current studies has questioned the process of evolution of reports, the focus of opinions and selections during his lifetime and in the history of his audience and has not explained the origin, habitat, and credibility of the data and judgments of their sources.This article showed how and under what circumstances the index of Mohtasham's reputation was shaped. Traditional literary histories are mostly introduced, analyzed and evaluated by poets and their works based on their popularity indices. In criticizing the history of literature, this question has a significant role in how the reputation index is formed. The audience-focused literary history will give a clear picture of the presence and the life history of Mohtasham. Mohtasham has a multidimensional personality in reality; however, he is downgraded in the history of literature. Some of his artistic outcomes include the invention of the method of ‘Vasoukht’ and ‘Woqu’, the openness of male love, the eulogy of monarchy and power, the Shi'ite elegy, the Quatrain (Robaei), the history maker material (Madde Tarikh), the plotter, and he was outstanding in each of these aspects in his time. But among these, he became famous for his elegy. It is worth noting that the determination of the poet's index of reputation in literary history is necessarily reductive, indicating that any discourse reduces the dimensions of artist's creativity to only one dimension that is consistent with the horizon of expectations of that discourse. Although Mohtasham has a high position in a religious group due to his elegies, this discursive growth has diminished two aspects of the poetry: One is the reduction of his works to the elegy and the other one is the reduction of his audience and leading them to a belief group. Of the two aspects of his art, which has been highlighted at least in the history of the biographies, the elegy and the Ghazal (Woqu), only the elegy in his biography has been focused, whereas his creative individuality has been marginalized in the way of inventing and shaping the theory of Woqu/Vasoukht. His creativity in terms of ‘Qasida’ and ‘Robaei’, particularly in his two works,  treatises of Jalaliyah and the story of lovers.The true report of the poet's personality and individuality and artistic rank should be sought not only in the reports of one or more reliable sources along with him, but also in the process of his movement. The literary historian should represent the process of movement of the poet throughout his life as well as the movement related to his works in literary history with a precise timetable. How did the poet live in different ages? What had he been thinking about? What are the aspects of change in his life? Which works belong to what period of his life? On the other hand, the history of the reactions of the audience of his works must also be written separately, in different times, such as in geographic regions, what reactions have appeared in different discourses in relation to his works? His fame index has changed throughout history after his life. What was the basis for those changes? This is a report from Mohtasham Kashani, which parallels the reports of the content and values of his works and gives us a reliable knowledge of him. Mohtasham and his works are considered as a 'literary event', which is a live and eloquent event. The changing position of Mohtasham Kashani depends on the various responses that his works have received.. Finally, the reason for the survival of the literary event are determined by all disagreements.

With the transformation of modernity from a cultural and intellectual stream into a socio-political system along with the constructive results and the enormous achievements of this trend, contemporary human has more than ever realized the impossibility of his emancipation. The failure of the clarity and transparency promised by modern reason, and the scope and extent of ambiguity, turbulence, dispersion, contradiction and loneliness indicate the captivity of man to the industry structures and consequences, power, technology, and reason sovereignty (Thorn, 2001; Nozari, 2001). Foucauldian power and Kafkaesque situation are two of the consequences of the modern world, two trends that, in their contexts of the philosophical, literary, sociological and political aspects, analyze the mechanisms of modern power, the hegemony of modern consequences, and the state of human captivity in the complex maze of this world. They also respond to this process, and strive to find a way into human emancipation. This essay, first deals with Foucault's intellectual foundations and Kafka's view of the concept of power, its mechanisms, and the human situations formed in modern power, then, explains the relationship between these two views and areas, and finally analyzes the story of Shahr-Bandan i by Javad Mojabi simultaneously from the above-mentioned perspectives.

Many texts have been analyzed from the Foucauldian power perspective; for instance, "A Survey on Power and Political Culture in Kalile va Demne" by Javad Dehghanian (2011) and "The Analysis of Power Relations in Keikhosrow Story Based on Foucauldian View" by Sima Erami (2012) can be mentioned. In connection with the story of circumstance, one can refer to The Magics of Story (four essays on story writing) by Hossein Senapour (2008) and “The Intertwining of Magical Realism and Story of Circumstance” by Binazir and Razi (2011). There are two distinguishing points about the present study, it is for the first time that Shahr-Bandan is analyzed from this point of view, and the other is that the current essay analyzes this novel in terms of Foucauldian power and Kafkaesque situation simultaneously and in a consolidated manner.

The essence of the modern power presence, the extent and ways of expanding it, and its reproduction are fundamentally different from the traditional power. In the traditional structure, power was what was seen and manifested, so it owed much of its hegemony and authority to being seen. This power was exercised on those who could stay unseen and remain in the dark. However, disciplinary technology, as one of the most important techniques of modern power, is applied by its concealment and invisibility, and its authority lies in its concealment. The principle of visibility is imposed on the subjects, those over whom power is implemented (see Eco, 2007; Foucault, 2009). Disciplinary technology has a significant relationship with the human body and dominance over it that deals with the organization, normalization of subjects, and the training of docile bodies based on the principle of subject visibility. The principle of visibility enables both continuous surveillance, strict control and meticulous care, and enforces the application of other disciplinary technology, namely the normalizing punishment (see Dreyfus, 2006; 244; Foucault, 2009: Miller, 2005; Creator, 2006). Many of the concepts and keywords that have been elaborated and analyzed in Foucault's intellectual system had been projected, predicted and perhaps warned in Kafka’s fictional world (Kafkaesque) many years ago. Certainly, Michel Foucault's elaboration, explanation and formulation of the process of modern power and its mechanisms in the body of society differ from the fictional world of Kafka. However, both Foucault and Kafka depict the wondrous and crisis-stricken man captured under the control of modern power; controlled, and cared under the constant watch of this continuous surveillance so that through tricks and ploys become a submissive and humble citizen. Many common concepts bring the two currents closer together such as hidden power and maze, the extent and manner of its expansion, constant presence in the most private moments, power monitoring, the constant monitoring and intervention of power and its powerful arms, the police and spy atmosphere, conforming, assimilating, stripping people of their identities and eliminating individuality, subject formation, conspiracy, tagging, and the subject's obedience and resistance points.

Thanks to its powerful arms in Shahr-Bandan such as the men in brown, the restaurant apprentice, the constable, the judge, and the sweeper, discipline technology controls and monitors the doctor, his family, and the whole city in all institutions and organs with different and varied ways and mechanisms. The capillary presence of pieces of the power puzzle, as Deleuze calls it "a sequential space" (see Deleuze, 1394), can be found in all trades and movements of story characters, especially in all aspects of the doctor's life in Shahr-Bandan. There is nothing hidden from the power surveillance. The capillary presence of power scares the lawyer and confirms the driver's statements and the constant presence and surveillance of power. "Sir, isn’t it better for a man to have such freedom to take any road he wishes . . . whistle, dance, it’s even rude to say, fart. Forgive me, if he would like to piss a little, stand and escape. No, I swear by your mustache, isn’t it rude to put people in this spinning grave, surrounded from four sides by iron, and say just go ahead, no one has the right to choose his way to his home . . . flashlight, gun, speech, again gun, flashlight, speech, again flashlight, gun, bang. You like to stop somewhere to piss; they appear like a jinn checking your urine with a flashlight to make sure you hadn’t transgressed the rules” (Mojabi, 2013). The lawyer in Shahr-Bandan is caught in a powerful puzzle, and gradually loses his identity after his home, family, assets, and then, his identity card and name are being seized. He is a subject with a new name that puts him in a special category. "A house with that characteristics was considered as part of the public property. That vain imagination did not leave him. He had demanded for his authentication. He had no ID in that engine-house; the paper in which the identity of his wife and children were recorded, contained surprising data. His wife was a widow and his children were in the custody of the Guardianship Office of the Orphans. He shouted: I'm alive, here I am,..." (Mojabi, 2013). There were no signs or documents of the lawyer, his properties, and his being alive in the identification department and in any system. All of his past, properties, and roots had been removed. The lawyer, after a lot of effort and struggle against the powerful position, force and its mighty dominance, gets frustrated and adjusts himself to the circumstances. Hence, the power process in a professional plan both accused the lawyer of murdering a young person in order to subjugate him, and in order to get him involved in the power game, assigned him a position in the new government to make him part of the power body.

Shahr-Bandan depicts fear, loneliness, concern, desperation and frustration of a modern man caught under the control of disciplinary technology's power and position; a situation in which he has the ability neither to understand nor to get out. The purpose of this system of continuous control and surveillance is realized in the process of disciplinary punishment in the life of the lawyer; this process gradually, through seizing the home and family as well as tagging and conspiracy, paves the way for the project of subjectivating the lawyer and by accusing him of murdering, denying his citizenship, and reducing his identity to a number both swallows the hero's individual identity and completes the process of subjectivation for him.

A Myth is the narrator of the saint history and the story which states the saint destiny of primates. Myths, are the crystallization of collective reason, the reflection of the human unconsciousness and the symbolic manifestations of ethnic and collective fears and hopes and aspirations. In the old texts of criticism and rhetoric, there is no mentioning of the place of myth in poetry; the only topic that can be incorporated into the subject of myth is the allusion. In this research, two basic questions are considered. First, what are the attitudes and approaches of Behbahani, Neyestani, Bahmani, and Monzavi especially in the allusions contained in their new-sonnets to the myths? And what are the most important types and styles of Modification of Myth in their new-sonnets?

The use of linguistic approaches and theories in reading texts has been one of the most important forms of literary criticism in recent decades. One of the results of using linguistic findings in literary criticism is relying on the text itself and identifying the constituents and units of narration for form recognition. Myth and mythical allusions, as well as any art work and any narration, have elements and components. In every allusion, there are components or bricks that coalesce to create allusions.Today, the theory of "intertextuality" is one of the major structuralistic and narratological approaches to texts, especially literary texts, and their critique. According to the theory of intertextuality, no text is self-sufficient; it relates to earlier texts. Genette (1980) divides intertextuality into two categories of explicit intertextuality such as citations, speech (quotation) and adaptations, and hidden (implicit) intertextuality. Based on Genette’s belief, allusion is a kind of intertextuality which has the least explicitness.In the early twentieth century, French linguists introduced the "general theory of stereotypes" in the sense of ready-made linguistic structures. Permyakof, the Russian linguist and author, called proverb, tale, pejorative, aphorisms, anecdotes, ironies, stories, myths, jokes, and generally the molded and prefabricated phrases of language as the reproductive elements of the language (or stereotypes), and using or transmitting them to subsequent generations maybe possible only in their reproduction or to remember and express them. Productive and creative texts, are against the reproductive elements of language.

In this paper, the modification of myths used in new-sonnets of Behbahani, Neyestani, Bahmani, and Monzavi is investigated in a descriptive-analytic manner. On this basis, using the foundations of formalist literary criticism, structuralism, post-structuralism, and looking at the intertextuality theory and the general theory of stereotypes, while expressing the approaches of the aforementioned poets to the myth, the types of modification of myths in the works of this new-sonnet composers are explored, classified and investigated

The frequencies indicate that the highest percentage of the use of mythical allusions are in Hussein Monzavi's new-sonnets. After Monzavi, Manouchehr Neyestani, Mohammad Ali Bahmani, and Simin Behbahani, respectively, accounted for the highest percentage of mythical allusions.Since narratives are not merely happening, but are told by a person and narrated from a particular point of view, the pre-textual elements may be changed willingly or unintentionally. So are the myths. In the process of biological and intellectual development and evolution of civilization and culture, one often proceeds from passive myth to philosophical and intellectual reflection on myths and then on the denial of mythical and mystical aspects (modification of myths) or their criticism, analysis, and re-reading (mythology).The new-sonnet composers, in general, and mentioned poets, in particular, use mythical allusions in the same way as the traditional view and style of poetry, in proportion to the content, theme, and atmosphere of the poem as well as the type of myth. In this approach, the poet is a so-called faithful narrator who does not make a significant change in the implications, and uses these allusions merely as a context for imagination:The two Zahaki snakes were, two veins flowing up to his headWhich opened two bloodthirsty mouths for my aware brain  (Behbahani, 2003, p. 951)In such cases, the new-sonnet composers sometimes are limited to comparison and simile.In an active and innovative approach, the poet turns away from the depositary narrating of mythical allusions and inserts the mythical allusion in his speech with a range of variations, from mixing the myths to knowing them, historical and realistic myths (elimination of myths), changes in characters and events and other mythological elements, and rereading and recounts the mythical elements (modification of myths) and even deconstruction of mythical implications; therefore, the modification of myths is from the members of the active and initiative approach.New-sonnet composers through their different approach to myths and mythical allusions and manipulation on tem seek to innovate in the construction and organization of myths, in other words, in the pursuit of "modification of myths". In this approach, by adopting and manipulating myths and changing their designs and styles, they create a novel and inhabitual narrative.

By studying the new-sonnets of Behbahani, Neyestani, Bahmani, and Monzavi based on the principles of intertextuality theory and the general theory of stereotypes, it can be concluded that neo-sonnet composers often have a dualistic approach to myths and mythical allusions. Sometimes the same passive and cliché view and style deal with the mythical allusions. In this approach, they do not make much difference to the structure and content of the narrative. And sometimes, they take an active approach, meaning they innovate with elimination of myths or modification of myths. Modification of myths in allusions used in new-sonnets of Behbahani, Neyestani, Bahmani, and Monzavi in ways such as inverting the main mythical elements, shifting the priority of the dual opposites in them, enhancing the myths and less important elements, changing the mythical design, eliminating the mythical elements from its nature and knowing ineffectiveness of some of the myths in modern situations has taken place.

Different perspectives on literary criticism have not been in the right place because of lack of approach. Eventually, these perspectives have been classified with other collections.  The idea of fundamentalism came from religious movement of Protestantism. It formed different theories such as reader based critique, the subjective reader criticism, sociological literary criticism, and feminist criticism. In Iran, fundamentalism exists effectively and relies on the value of the literary work. In this cross-sectional study we want to view and critique fundamentalism in Europe. We discuss the perspectives of Arnold and Elliot in Europe and Ahmad Kasravi, Ehsan Tabari and Fatemhe Sayyah in Iran. The results of this study indicate that critical fundamentalism is a form of criticism. The methods of this critique are collapse or debunk of literary texts so that we can change them into political or religious ideological contents. This method can be shown in different genres.

The first words about fundamentalism have emerged in the field of religious thought. The term became popular among the religious tradition of the Church and the Protestant faith. Religious scholars have taken note of the new interpretations of the Bible's originality and the obvious truth of the Bible. Protestant fundamentalists adhered to specific theological foundations by faith in God and the eternity and the infallibility of the Bible text. Protestant fundamentalists adhered to specific theological foundations by faith in God and the eternity and the infallibility of the Bible text and they demanded a careful distinction of the prosperous from the non-prosperous and the chosen from non-chosen (Heywood, 2001). In the field of art, the teachings of church, with a value-and-originality approach to the perception of beauty, have been prevalent for centuries as the prevailing tradition in Western art and literature. In the same period, understanding beauty has been a difficult issue. Some in the category of deterministic system sought to lay the groundwork for overcoming the common beliefs of the church. The emphasis on binding through literary work and reading on the basis of the critiques provided is a long-running debate that continues to this day. Therefore, such a reading of literary works can be thought of as having a Greek origin, and in particular, Plato's view, that is influenced by understanding the literary work based on the valuable principles of the faithful or a particular approach. But have these relationships as a comprehensive or thought-provoking method in the field of literary criticism been able to explain the question of value and adherence to particular professional principles? How serious is the widespread presence of such a method in the field of literary criticism that emphasizes on moral, social, religious, political foundations? Will the discussion of a fundamental values critique be the study of different cultural systems for the development of particular network components?

In the present study the background of fundamentalism as a quasi-moralist approach has been studied in a descriptive-analytic way. This approach seeks to subvert or reduce the literary text to the ideological, religious, or political content that is critical to understanding literary value. In the second part of the paper, the reflection of fundamentalism in Iran is examined by excerpts from the works of three Iranian critics. The purpose of this study is to give a brief look at one of the literary criticisms that lacks classification and terminology and to examine the literary critics' approach to the fundamentalist approach and its system of construction in the West and to discover its reduced or expanded area in Iran. The assumption of this study is that the fundamentalist critique of art and literary work is in the instrumental position and it becomes an ideological use, in a way that, through direct reading, the intellectual world and even the social class of the artist (writer, poet) serves the meanings and values that the critic seeks in his interpretation.

He identified a purposeful critique during critiques of the accepted framework and coherent theory, the default of which is to construct rules and critique discourse and monopoly. In such circumstances, the critic sometimes seeks it out in all texts, regardless of the conditions of discourse formation resulting from the objective and subjective experiences of particular societies. Placing a coherent framework for criticism that includes fundamentalist aspects as with many definitions, creates methodological deficiencies. Fundamentalist criticism empowers the author to facilitate reading in order to read the text. This assumed continuity helps the reader overcome the nature and flow of the author's dominant voice over the world of text and transcend it credibly.

Fundamentalism in literary criticism, like some theories and discourses that have directly examined literature, has not treated literary works as a subject. This approach first appeared in the field of religion and then in the field of politics. Paying attention to the evaluation of literary work and its ideological infrastructures is one of the features that has been evident even in the study of literary works. In critique of ideology-based criticism, it seeks to explore the cultural fabrication of the existing capacities of the text, so the critic's concern goes beyond structure and language and into the concrete and discursive relationships of particular groups of people, religion, or ideology that shape the structure of power. Critics' attention to the discovery of power infrastructures goes beyond contemporary texts and to the discovery of power networks in ancient works. This method was also considered in radical styles. Although radical stylistics is about language, it reflects specific ideologies in language, so that radical stylists are interested in examining the reflection of ideological tendencies in language.

Text interpretation depends on different text production elements such as language, rhetoric, literary structure, theme, and genre, and varies from text to text, and every text requires a unique interpretation method. Interpretive or non-interpretive simplicity or complexity, and consequently significance of a text is determined based on different factors and features, such that when approaching a text, a verdict cannot be easily passed on the simplicity or complexity of the text. The interpretive position of a text takes shape and gains significance where the interpretive complications of the text manifest. By considering the text production elements, the type of such interpretive complications and their place of occurrence will determine the degrees of explicitness and implicitness, or simplicity and complexity of the text. At times, the interpretive complications of a text occur due to its structural ambiguity. Familiarity with different iltifāt (Apostrophe) aspects and positions of a text and discovering the aesthetic role and function of each type of apostrophe is an important method in interpreting and understanding a text. Masnavi Manavi is a text whose most significant interpretive complication belongs to its apostrophe aspects, such that through understanding these apostrophic positions and explaining their semio-semantic function in the structure of a text, a reasonable interpretation of the text can be arrived at. The present research focuses on discovering different types of apostrophe in Masnavi and explaining the roles and functions of this rhetoric technique in the process of interpreting the text.

Apostrophe and its definition have been the subject of much discussion in traditional and modern books on rhetoric. In traditional rhetorical texts, the semantic and conceptual domain of apostrophe is quite limited, encompassing only the change in the mode of address and shift of topic. Such a conceptual domain is also reflected in many of the more recent books on rhetoric. However, in some of the new studies, the semantic domain of apostrophe has been expanded to include any type of change occurring in the normal course of speech and resulting in deviation from the norm in language, defamiliarization, foregrounding, deconstruction, and coherence. Such a new perspective on apostrophe can be observed, with a slight fundamental difference, in the western rhetoric as well and considered as a type of literary semiotics. Research conducted by westerners in this area have been more extensive and have adopted various approaches to apostrophe, including the traditional approach to apostrophe, the cognitive approach, apostrophe in narrative theory, apostrophe in pragmatics, and apostrophe from a poststructuralist perspective. The poststructuralist approach to apostrophe was pioneered by Jonathan Culler. From a semiotic perspective, he regards apostrophe as a deflection and breaking of the message. The focus of the present research is on Masnavi Manavi. The literary technique of apostrophe in Masnavi, in addition to its aesthetic function, has semantic and semiotic functions as well. Masnavi’s structure has been patterned on the expressive structure of the Quran. Considering the semiotics of types, Masnavi can be considered a type of spoken poetry or address, since the signs and codes of speech and address in the text are more frequent and prominent than the signs of the written text. One of the codes peculiar to speech or address in Masnavi is the literary technique of apostrophe and its high frequency and variety. Following the Quranic style and method in expressing irfanic (mystic/of true knowledge) secrets and epistemic concepts, Molavi (Rumi) has utilized a scattered yet semantic order, and through using different and varied movements manifesting in the form of semantic associations, narrations, allegories, and change in the points of view, has created an interwoven network of meanings in the entirety of the work. Apostrophic aspects in Masnavi are so abundant and varied that a proper understanding of the text cannot be achieved without discovering their semio-sematic position. Therefore, the most important function of apostrophe in Masnavi is its interpretive and epistemological function which conforms to the irfanic worldview of Molana (Rumi) and his epistemological method which is based on dialectics and evolutionary movement.

The present research has a descriptive–analytic method and takes an interpretive approach; i.e. it takes a critical perspective, based on the literary and aesthetic technique of apostrophe which is more commonly discussed in the rhetoric, on revisiting the conceptual domain of apostrophe, and instead of following the traditional approach in which apostrophe was considered as merely a rhetorical device thus rendering a reductionist definition of apostrophe, we have adopted a broader definition of apostrophe here where apostrophe includes any type of change and deviation from norms in the normal course of speech. Moreover, in our method, we have given consideration to the semantic and semiotic function of apostrophe in the interpretation of literary texts, particularly Masnavi Manavi.

The literary technique of apostrophe in Masnavi is different from other texts and has various types and functions. In our new approach to apostrophe, this literary technique incorporates the syntagmatic and paradigmatic axes of the text, some of the most important of which are as follows: linguistic apostrophe, aesthetic apostrophe, symbolic apostrophe, cognitive apostrophe, interpretive apostrophe, intertextual apostrophe, narrative apostrophe, ontological apostrophe, discoursal apostrophe, contextual apostrophe, among others. Illustration of any of these apostrophic aspects, aesthetic analysis of the frequency and role of any of these types, and analysis of their interpretive function in Masnavi is a topic worthy of a separate, extensive research of its own since apostrophic aspects and intratextual movements and changes in different texts vary considering the literary genre, artistic goal of the text, cultural and social geography of the era of production of the work of art, dominant discourses of the era, among other factors, and every text requires a separate, particular interpretive basis. One of the main functions of apostrophe in Masnavi is its interpretive apostrophe. In contrast to Hindi style of ghazal (~sonnet) in which the function of apostrophe influenced by the ontological discourse dominating the art in the era (Molla Sadra’s integrated and ontological philosophy) is mainly ontological rather than epistemological, and ‘equation style’ (oslūbe moādeleh), ‘thematization’ (mazmūnpardāzi) and ‘verse-centeredness’ (beytmehvari) as its dominant elements clearly reflect such a mentality, Molana’s purpose in simultaneously expressing the various aspects of one or several phenomena using the technique of apostrophe is mostly epistemological rather than semantical or ontological. Another difference of the apostrophic aspect in Masnavi and Hindi style of ghazal lies in the type of movement in the two forms. In Masnavi, we mostly observe movement from the exterior (appearance) to the interior (core/reality) which sometimes does not stop in one realm of meaning but rather penetrates the cores of a phenomenon; however, in Hindi style of ghazal, we mostly observe movement from the interior (core/reality) to the exterior (appearance), or the subjective to the objective. In fact, the structure of ‘equation style’ is based on such a logic.

One of the difficulties in interpreting a text is the lack of an understanding of its semio-semantic positions and structural features, and unfamiliarity with an interpretive method appropriate to the text. In other words, the first step in interpreting a text is understanding its interpretive complications. Considering its interpretive position, Masnavi Manavi can be regarded as an instance of a complicated text. Such a complexity which results in difficulty in interpreting Masnavi stems from its structural features. The main structural feature of Masnavi, which is considered its most prominent interpretive complication, is its apostrophic aspect. The difficulty in interpreting this irfanic (~mystic) text lies in the apostrophes and different movements that are employed in various ways in the text. Disregarding such movements will hinder an accurate, thorough understanding by the reader. The most important function of the literary technique of apostrophe in Masnavi, in addition to the aesthetic function, is the semio-semantic function of apostrophe in the text. Apostrophe in Masnavi forms a kind of structural paradox which serves to both complicate the understanding of the text and to pave the way for its interpretation. This literary technique in Masnavi has surpassed being a device serving to embellish the speech to become an epistemological element portraying the main characteristic of Molavi’s system of thought. This means that apostrophe in Masnavi serves as a sign of signifying the dialectic and ontological principles of Molavi’s thought. The most prominent type of apostrophe in the text is the interpretive apostrophe which occurs through the process of interpretation and has an epistemological function.

Ghurids was a local dynasty in Eastern Afghanistan which played a significant role in the political-military incidents of Khorasan and India during the 6th century A.H. The dynasty has been overlooked in cultural terms to date as a result of the lack of references. The only remaining valuable reference on this period is the book titled, Tabaqaat by Naseri Jowzjaani; amidst various political incidents, he points out a number of conventions and beliefs, the roots of which should be explored in the pre-Islam Persian culture. Given Jowzjaani’s familiarity of Ferdowsi as well as the present evidence in the Ghurid’s culture, it appears that they have been culturally influenced by Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. The purpose of this study is to identify the mental-cultural origins of the Ghurids and examine traditions, beliefs, and thoughts which are deeply rooted in the Persian culture and particularly, Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. To this aim, it is attempted to provide answers to the following questions: To what extent the Ghurids were familiar with the Persian mythology? What are the cultural components reflected from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh in the Ghurid’s culture?

The Ghurids are somehow unknown due to lack of references; there has been no studies conducted on this dynasty in terms of cultural aspects. One of the valuable books written about this dynasty is titled, The History of the Ghurids by Foroughi Abri. However, the author does not point out the reflection of the ancient Persian culture in the history of the Ghurid’s based on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh. In addition, in his book, The Ghurids, Atigh Allah Pezhvak addresses the political history of the Ghurids. In this book, he speaks of the Ghurids’ familiarity with Shahnameh, mentioning how it was read by Ala’aldin Hussein Jahansouz when “Qazneh” was conquered. Nevertheless, he does not pay sufficient attention to the Ghurid culture. In another book titled, “The Political and Military History of the Ghurid House”, Mahdi Roshanzamir addressed the political and military history of the dynasty without focusing on their culture.

The present inquiry is a historical study conducted using the descriptive-analytical approach as well as referring to library references such as Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and Tabaqaat by Naseri Jowzjaani.

The Ghurid dynasty was an Islamic local Persian house in the sixth century A.H., overlooked in terms of cultural aspects within the Persian history. The main reference of the dynasty is the book, Tabaqaat by Naseri Jowzjaani. As a historian living amongst the Ghurids’ royal court, Jowzjaani has, to some extent, been able to save the dynasty from being forgotten in the course of history by writing this book. The evidence present in his book suggest that Jowzjaani was perfectly familiar with both Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and the ancient Persian history. Among political discussions, he points out a number of beliefs and thoughts which are comparable to those present in Shahnameh. This study was conducted through a comparative approach between Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and Tabaqaat by Naseri Jowzjaani. The evidence suggest that there are 11 points of cultural similarities between the Ghurids’ culture and Persians’ beliefs, reflected in Shahnameh. These similarities include name and origins, political views (Farra-shahi, Manzar behi, the King on the move, the King’s behavior transforming the natural system, etc.), the seven-day ceremonies, the seven-day mourning rituals, taunting in battlefield, etc.

As a reference with numerous beliefs and Persian subcultures, Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh is a valuable treasure to seek knowledge on the cultural roots of the Ghurids. Conducted using the comparative approach, this study identified 11 points of similarity between the Ghurid culture in the sixth century and ancient Persians according to Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh which are as follows: 1. The name “Sam” has been repeated numerous times in the Ghurids’ history. There are also names such as Zaal Raz, Bahram, and Fereydoun in their mythology. 2. The Ghurids believe their origins to be from Zahhak; in their family tree, there are names such as Nariman, Fereydoun, Bastaam, and Siamak. 3. The Ghurids were influenced by the Persian culture in their political views. Similar to the beliefs reflected in Shahnameh, they also believed that if a king is just or a tyrant, there would be changes in the natural system. 4. As there are many instances of “farra-shahi” or “farra-shaahanshahi” (divine kingship, godlike kings) to describe heroes or kings in Shahnameh, Jowzjaani also believed that the Ghurid Kings were equipped with “farra-shahi” as well.