نشریه فرهنگ و ادبیات عامه
پیاپی 34 (مهر و آبان 1399)

Individuation is a term used in analytical psychology to characterize the integration of human psyche. Relying on clinical experiments as well as evidence from world-renowned legends and myths, Murdoch has identified a circular psychological travel pattern for womenchr('39')s individuation. The present study examined the fitness of the heroine’s individuation journey in Persian fairy tales considering the stages of the psychological cycle. The results of the study, while confirming the general conformity of the tales with Murdoch’s psychological cycle, have identified three different subsets for the Iranian fairy tales centered on a heroine. The first subset, including more than fifty percent of the studied stories, are the fairy tales which fully coordinates with Murdochchr('39')s psychological cycle for the heroine individuation; the second subset corresponds only to the first part of the intended cycle; finally, the third subset corresponds only to the second half of the Murdochchr('39')s psychological cycle. The psychological implications of these three subsets and the overall conclusion are also discussed in the article.

Nowruz has been the most prestigious and celebrated custom of the Iranian holiday since the ancient times, for which Iranians have always done preparation before the beginning of the New Year, and have spent days holding rituals as a sign indicating their eagerness and enthusiasm. The advent of Islam, which entailed the conversion of many Iranians to Islam and their adherence to its rituals, never diminished the prosperity of this holiday, but added a touch of Islamic glamour to the event, encouraging a more glorious celebration. Arabic texts of the first centuries (AH) highlight the name of an itinerant group called “As’hab al-Samajah”, who staged comic and entertaining performances in Baghdad, Syria, and Egypt. We believe that these are the very Mirs of Nowruz. Many of the rituals performed during the Mir Nowruzi ceremonies in Baghdad and Cairo may have been forgotten, and therefore, we would have a clearer picture of this Iranian celebration if we investigate these rituals. In this article, we went through a brief background of the Mir Nowruzi, and then dealt with the etymology of the word “Samajah”, which we think has its roots in the Persian word “Simache”, meaning ‘a mask’, which has also been used in the Arabic texts in this sense. Then, we have mentioned the reports of the Arabic texts about this category and have studied the rituals that had taken place in this carnival atmosphere. It is ascertained from these reports that the masked people had their public performance on stage in the first three days of Nowruz, where the caliphs and the other key figures had occasionally supported them and at times imposed sanctions on them.

Love is one of the most important topics reflected in Bilalchr('39')s folk poems in Bakhtiari culture. This study aims to see which story, dimensions of love, and the type of romantic relationship are highlighted in Bilalchr('39')s poems. The theoretical basis of the research is Sternbergchr('39')s love theory and the method of analysis is qualitative. In Bilalchr('39')s poems, at the ideal level, all three dimensions of love: intimacy, passion, and commitment, are represented, and love is perfect; but on the level of reality, due to the difficulty of achieving all three dimensions, love is formed by a type of romantic or stupid love, which causes the lover and the beloved to be attracted to each other only emotionally, i.e. their romantic relationship is superficial. In terms of the type of love story, the story of art is more prominent in these poems, based on which the lover is seen as a statue whose beauties the lover enjoys watching. The limited reflection of the story of self-sacrifice and the story of addiction in these poems make the lover feel satisfied with his relationship. On the other hand, the woman feels important in the position of the lover, and consequently her life gains meaning.

Mythology has always been associated with new capabilities from a different perspective, which highlights the explanation, understanding, and spiritual energy of the literary works for the reader. Through the archetype of the herochr('39')s journey, Campbell tries to show that most of the heroes in folk tales need to go through certain stages in order to gain self-knowledge, spiritual perfection, and spiritual and material gifts. Silent City is one of the folk tales of Lorestan province, which embeds the flawless archetype of Campbellchr('39')s "Heroic Journey", and represents three main stages of "departure", "arrival" and "return". The protagonist, going through the physical and spiritual stages, finds a harmonious and godly existence by which he can have a useful possession of the physical world. In this story, traces of myths, religions, and insights, related to the creation of man and the world of creation, are much prevalent.

Falling in love is one of the main concepts which is central in almost all ethnicities and folklore literature. In this study, Gourani is defined as the native poems of Hourami, not in the sense of lyrics. Gourani is mostly in the form of single-verse poem. Each verse embeds all the meaning independently. Falling in love, besides praising the nature and to some extent the national epics, is the main theme of Hourami’s anthology. The study borrows a descriptive-analytic research method based on the survey data and the analysis of the individual folklore verses of Hourami. The aim of the study is to investigate the themes of romantic Gouranis of Hourami. To this end, 50 verses were selected from Noudsheh city and analyzed accordingly. The findings suggest that women of Hourami have such a significant place in a large number of romantic Gouranis that they are sometimes on the same ground to that of the verses about men. One of the main aspects of Gouranis is the sadness evoked because of the distance from the beloved. In these poems, women cry out their bitter and sad love songs in the chaotic conditions of their native land. In these single-verse poems, love has a material and worldly meaning. The poet praises the beloved so much that the creator is praised instead, but this is merely for praising the worldly beloved. This shows the underlying issues in the social relation and the general cultural paradigm of the society.

This article, with a descriptive-analytical method and with the aim of conducting a thematic-qualitative ethnographic analysis, seeks to study the features that are in the folklore of the Balochi people. Therefore, by describing, classifying, and extracting the features of these works, their research capacities have been evaluated in terms of theoretical and methodological aspects. Based on the findings, two categories of works can be identified in this area; first, works in which only Balochi folklore texts are collected; second, the works that scholars have attempted to provide interpretations of. These features have enriched the research capacity of these works. These capacities are grouped in four main categories as: accurate descriptions and interpretive analysis; attention to the factors and contexts of the formation of the subjects under study; looking at issues as a part of an overall mechanism in culture; the classification and presentation of categories and semantic patterns. Therefore, based on the anthropological insight, a kind of perspective was drawn that can be used to gain a deeper understanding of the mental and intellectual structures of the creators of Balochi folklore.

Tales are important parts of folk literature and culture. This part of folk culture is a manifestation of the beliefs, ideas, and the life styles of the people of each nation. The tales of each region, especially the oral ones, provide an appropriate context for exploring the mythological and totemic beliefs of the natives. Accordingly, the tale of Girl and Gazelle, which is one of the most common tales of the Kumereh Sorkhi region in the Fars province of Iran, is analyzed in this study. The author tried to record this tale first via field method, which has not been recorded in any sources, and then study the mythological themes of the tale through the descriptive-analytical method. The results of the study show that the mythological beliefs are seen vividly, or symbolically and mysteriously in all pivots of the tale. The study tried to analyze these themes in different parts: the oak tree of ‘Martyr’, a holly tree in the region of Kuhmereh Sorkhi, the call on the tree to become pregnant, the birth of the girl from the trunk of a special tree, the growth of a plant from the blood of the innocent character of the tale, the role of fairies in the tale, hair as a fertility tool, burying the bones, the tree of life, the journey to the world of the dead in dream, and passing through seven or several labors.

Proverbs are short utterances in verse or prose, showing parts of the culture of people using them. They will be transmitted to the next generations and their origins can be traced. They can be considered a case of cultuling, that is (culture in language), and demonstrate the culture, worldview and the attitude of the speakers. The present study, a qualitative one, aimed to investigate the “positive thinking” cultuling in Persian proverbs from the viewpoint of the SPEAKING model of Hymes (1967). To this end, of the total 99621 Persian proverbs, 777 proverbs were delineated to include the “Positive Thinking” cultuling. The researchers were seeking to find different ends of using the proverbs by Persian speakers. The data were investigated by two Applied linguists professors and an M.A graduate in Linguistics. The most recurrent ends of using proverbs encompass giving advice 101 cases (30%), good wish 7 cases (2%), religious beliefs 92 cases (27%), encouraging to be patient 27 cases (8%), being grateful 7 cases (2%), being happy 9 cases (3%), showing exaggeration 16 cases (5%) and solidarity and cooperation 13 cases (4%). The keys include admonitory 83 cases (45%), praising 14 cases (8%), hopeful 67 cases (36%), humorous 14 cases (8%) and good wish 7 cases (4%). The findings show that among all, the most occurring end, of using the “positive thinking” cultuling in Persian proverbs accrues giving advice (30%) and the most recurrent key, accrues admonitory (45%). The multiplicity of the cases of advice and admonitory displays the indirectness of Iranians. The paper concludes with some implications.

Among the kings of Iran, Shah Abbas I, in Safavid period, is a prominent figure who is mentioned in popular tales. In the stories attributed to him, there are outstanding features that have attracted the attention of researchers due to their high frequency. The purpose of this study is to analyze the salient features contained in the stories of Shah Abbas I and to explain the origin of these features. The method of the present study was analytical-descriptive in terms of purpose and based on library studies in terms of data collection. Visiting the library and searching through reliable sources, the authors have collected all the available stories about Shah Abbas I and then analyzed their salient features and origins. Research findings show that these characteristics are either of historical origin or originated from the imagination of the creators of the stories. Some of these characteristics are specific to Shah Abbas and others are general characteristics of kings. Feelings of the unseen voice, professional dervishes, nightlife, simplicity, wisdom and shrewdness, interest in art, gossip, fulfilling desires, solving problems, marrying the poor and accepting humiliation are some of the characteristics of this king. On the other hand, power, justice and fairness, acceptance of judgment and justice, compassion and mercy, punishment of the oppressors and forgiveness (bestowal and forgiveness, and forgiving taxes) are common features for Shah Abbas and other kings. In this article, an attempt has been made to collect the salient features contained in the stories of Shah Abbas and to analyze them based on their origin. Accordingly, the reader realizes the hidden goals of these features and becomes acquainted with their creators.

Camel breeding has been one of the main occupation of desert dwellers since the ancient times. The climatic, economic, and cultural conditions have fascinated tribes and desert dwellers with camel breeding. Camel is an important source of their economy; therefore, they have a longstanding emotional relationship with the animal.  Camels are widely reflected in the culture and literature of the people in Semnan. The purpose of this study is to collect and analyze the characteristics of camels in two dimensions of formal and transverse attributes in Semnan folk literature, particularly among camel owners. The data were collected through field study and interview. Moreover, the expert’s knowledge has been used in the data analysis. The results show that camels play an important role in the folk literature such as songs, proverbs, myths, sounds and beliefs, in the desert territory of Semnan province, the review of which is presented in the study.