نشریه فرهنگ و ادبیات عامه
پیاپی 36 (بهمن و اسفند 1399)

Folklore literature is a new field in Iran. Compared to other countries, not many studies have been conducted in this field. A number of studies that have been done both in terms of quantity and quality have a significant influence on introducing it. There are some theses written about this subject matter. If such theses are written in a correct and coherent way, they could be effective and efficient in solving many scientific problems of folklore literature field; consequently, providing scientific and useful results. The present article randomly picked and analyzed a total number of 100 theses registered in Irandoc system. The research goal is to highlight the situation of some university research in this field and criticize them in a constructive manner in order to support the research basis in this scientific field. The research method is descriptive-analytic and the data collection method is library-based with a pathological approach. The main findings of this study indicate that most of the studied theses are descriptive, thus they are not giving us new results. They are usually imitative in general section (introduction). Boring clichés can be seen in theses’ main structure. Literature review is not properly acknowledged. Authentic sources are not used, and generally, they lack a problem-based and academic approach. Of one hundred studied theses, only seventeen are problem-based and have a scientific approach. University theses being descriptive and compiled in this field indicate the primitiveness of folklore literature studies in Iran. One should realize that every research about any problem in any country begins with compilation, and then reaches to maturity and the level of analysis. It should be mentioned that although good steps are taken in recent years, this field is still in its early stages.

In the history of Persian literature, foods are among the categories that have entered from popular culture into literary language; in addition to writing independent books on the subject or composing specific poems about them, they have been mentioned in various literary texts. "Ode on Totmajiyye" by Shamsoddin Ahmad Ibn Manouchehr Shast Kolah, an Iraqi poet and a courtier of the Toghrol Seljuk (573-590), is one of the few poems that specifically describes how to cook a meal, which has a very high frequency of use in Persian poetry and prose. However, without understanding all its aspects, it will be difficult to understand the meaning of some verses and phrases of the Persian texts. This research investigates Totmaj and its related issues in a descriptive-analytical way, using library-based and content-analysis methods of Persian literature texts. The main finding, besides clarifying the subject, is to obtain the correct meaning of terms and combinations that have found their way into the Persian literature based on how to cook or eat Totmaj. Moreover, due to the passage of time and the changes occurring in this food, it has become difficult for the literati to understand their meaning.

Greimaschr('39') square divides semantic systems into two classic types of "programmaticism" and "persuasion"; Landowski, besides the classical semantic systems, believes in two semantic-interactive systems: "adjustment" and "accident". The four systems of programming, persuasion, adjustment, and accident are based on order, intent, sensory interaction, and chance. The present study, employing an analytical-descriptive method, identifies and classifies the common laughter semantics techniques in Folklore (tales, jokes, and parables), and the contemporary stories for children. The techniques of laughter semantics in the strategies of forming the process of laughter are meant within the framework of a semantic system. In this study, the basis for the classification of strategies in classical semantic systems is the connection between the value object and also the change in the modal power of the actors. In the system of adjustment, the basis is adaptability disorder, and in the system of accident, the basis is the definition of accident. This study aims to show that the contemporary humor stories for children as funny situational sub-contexts inherit the meaning-making strategies among their subjects, from large historical-cultural contexts, such as stories, parables, and jokes. The research question is how the social interactions of the tale characters play a role in the spread of these laughter semantics processes. For the first time, this research introduces and classifies the semantic systems of humor.

The analysis of literary texts using psychological theories, which are referred to as psychological critique, and sometimes based on Freudchr('39')s teachings as psychoanalytic critique, is a practical-pragmatic approach in dealing with literary text. It is an interdisciplinary approach that connects two areas of humanities and opens new windows on text comprehension. The issue of personality, and its multiple types, is the main area of ​​applying psychology in the reality of the outside world. Awareness of this category leads to improved social relationships and constructive interactions. Personality types appear and play a role not only in external objectivity and in obvious social relations, but also in literary texts. Beyond that, the symbolic animals used in popular literature and proverbs, in a deep and profound function, can represent the personality types. Alfred Adler, a pioneer of social psychology and the theorist of individual psychology, has introduced one of the most influential theories in this field by presenting four personality types. The current paper, based on this theoretical framework and with a descriptive-analytical method, examines the literary proverbs and folk culture, and shows the validity of this theory in a range of literary statements and folk beliefs. This study, taking the theory from the field of one or more coherent works to the historical-applied literary proverbs and folk culture, shows how the proverbs, based on their cultural schemata, and due to their concise and influential nature, reflect symbolic animals in the form of psychological personality types.

Language usage is one of the most prominent social distinctions among men and women, which is often manifested in speech. In terms of “social norms”, linguistic politeness is regarded as a completely standard behavior in society. Each culture has its own behavioral norms, and the behavior that conforms to rules is politeness. Some of the social norms can be found in folklore and oral literature, including proverbs. Therefore, by choosing Taleshi language, spoken in Minaabad region of Ardabil city, the researcher tried to study the linguistic politeness and different types of face threatening acts to answer the following research question: is there any relationship between the gender of speakers and the usage of different kinds of politeness in the proverbs of Taleshi language. For this purpose, the researcher first interviewed the old and middle-aged men and women, and then collected 180 proverbs and examined them based on the existence of politeness and verbal violence. The data were analyzed by Log-linear analysis in SPSS software. The results of the statistical analysis indicated that there is a significant relationship in the usage of different kinds of politeness and verbal violence in the proverbs of different genders in Taleshi language, which, due to the community expectations, has also led to a difference in their social behavior.

Karistan Hatem, a single manuscript which is kept in the manuscript Treasury of the Leipzig University, is the work of a poet named Farid Ibn Ghazfar. This legend is a poetic narration of one of Hatem Taichr('39')s stories. The poem gives a description of the mania of the Sham princes named Munir for Hosn Banu, the beautiful queen of Khorasan, and about Hatemchr('39')s sacrifices that led to their marriage. Although the protagonist of this story is an invincible superhuman, his activism owes much to the dramatic role-play of the women in the story. In the following article, after briefly introducing the manuscript, the story has been deciphered from the viewpoint of the female characterschr('39') performance. By giving an in-depth investigation and analysis, it can be concluded that the story is based on the ancient beliefs left over from matriarchy. This claim is corroborated by implications for motherhood, including the city of women, totemism, exogamy, plant God themes, and sacrifice for the mother queen. Another result of this research is to deepen this story and its capacity to accept comprehensive readings of mythology, sociology, and psychology.

Haft Keshvar is a narrative fiction by Heravi that includes an introduction, seven resting places, seven countries, and six journeys through some countries. The author discusses human virtues in the introduction and elaborates on politics, rulers, and their courts to reveal historical agendas of the time.  It is a 10th century AH masterpiece that embeds ethics and politics in a literary narrative. The present study is a structural analysis of Haft Keshvar that examines its plot, characterization, and allusions. In other words, it aims at extracting components of the story to see how they are structurally bound to each other. Our results show that stories mostly encourage intellectualism and rationalism. Moreover, the plot is resolved either by a wise man or character actions at the end of the story. Results also show that, despite their trivial approaches and settings, all the stories follow a certain integrated philosophy that form a certain mindset. All the stories are close-ended.

The poems of Bidel as a remarkable poet of Indian style, who lived outside the geographical boundaries of Iran, reflects the popular culture, rituals, traditions, and people’s beliefs in India. This Persian mystic poet whose works originates from the basic culture of his homeland, consciously or unconsciously, accomplished to reflect parts of the culture and popular beliefs of Hindus in his poems through different ways. This study seeks to survey some popular beliefs, customs, ceremonies, and rituals dealt with Bidel Dehlavi in Mathnavi-e Erfan. The results of this research was extracted by a descriptive analysis revealing that beliefs in reincarnation, Sati practice, Vedas custom, and burning the dead people are among some common traditions and beliefs in the land of India applied by the poet to create artistic themes and explain mystic and religious ideas for the audience. Furthermore, the romance of Kamdi and Madan in Mathnavi-e Erfan displays the luxurious state of courts of the Indian kings and their social customs. This research can be a reflection of popular culture and tradition of Hindus, and be useful in ethnology studies, social science, and cultural research.

Vegetable elements create symbols that offer a transcendent embodiment of the signifier more prominent than their meanings, and in fact connect the human soul with the transcendental. The symbol is somehow related to the feeling of need in human beings. Popular literature is the field of recognizing the customs and beliefs of the people, which includes myths, beliefs, stories, songs, etc. Folk songs are an important part of the oral literature due to the protection of cultural and national identity and the transmission of feelings and beliefs about our past. In this study, more than a thousand verses of Mazandaranian poetry have been studied. Based on the library and field study findings, it can be said that the violet flower has a high frequency among other flowers in the poems of Mazandaranian people, because it represents the spring season, which is sometimes associated with the social, educational, and romantic themes (sadness of love, and pain of waiting). To the extent that the lover converses with the violet flower, he remembers Yar with his pleasant perfume, and considers the shape of his heart and the color of blue as a symbol of his aching heart. Finally, he sees its tangling and twisting as a symbol of the belovedchr('39')s hair.

From the view point of typology, Bakhtiary poetry is enriched with a wide variety of poems. Several genres and categories of Bakhtiary poetry are "Saru","Dowalali","Sayyadi" (hunting),"Shouxi", "Balal", and "Barzegari" (scything). Barzegari which is known by terms such as Boveru, Baveru, Bidad, and Barzeyri, narrates gloominess, nostalgia, love, grief, expectations, and concerns of croppers who were busy scything and harvesting their crops far from their family and tribe, in a hot weather region called Garmesir in spring. They expressed their feelings and emotions through poems or songs. One of the main themes of these poets was the sowerchr('39')s sense of nostalgia away from family. This study aims to investigate the factors and several aspects of nostalgia in Barzegari genre of Bakhtiary poetry. This nostalgia is divided into manchr('39')s and womanchr('39')s categories. From the prominent aspects of manchr('39')s nostalgia of Barzegary poetry, homesickness for the hometown, reminiscence of reaching the beloved, feeling nostalgia for the tents and the coolness of springs in Sardsir, the grief for the nature in general, and Sardsir plants in particular, and finally the grief of homelessness and loneliness could be identified.  The womenchr('39')s nostalgia depicts their mental states such as separation and waiting for the lover.