نشریه فرهنگ و ادبیات عامه
پیاپی 39 (امرداد و شهریور 1400)

Fertility myths are one of the most important and repetitive types of myths of the nations in the world, which describe the fate of "martyred vegetable god", "hero / god dragon", and "hero / evil-killer god" and is usually an allegory of the death and life of nature. It is also the change of seasons. The mythological beliefs, while spreading among the people, are also accumulated in the collective subconscious of the people; therefore, myths - created by the general public - are a good means for the reflection of fertility myths in different eras. So, in this article, a descriptive and comparative method examines the reflection of fertility myths in 140 legends belonging to the provinces of Chaharmahal. And Bakhtiari, Lorestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. The aim of the present study is to achieve the mythical patterns of fertility crystallized in the legends of the mentioned provinces. The findings show that the patterns of "martyred vegetable god" are reflected in 14 myths, "hero / god of dragons" in 9 myths, and "hero / evil-killer god" in 30 myths. The reproductive myths have been transformed into myths influenced by religious issues and the change of the patriarchal discourse to patriarchy.

The influence of languages ​​on each other and the cultural connections of nations are inevitable. The stories also have migrated from a land to another and were affected by the target people, but sometimes the similarities of the stories are not due to their influence, rather, they are the result of commonalities of perception which have emerged at different times and geographical areas. Sometimes, the study of the mythological themes and the similarities of some stories among different ethnic groups show their unity and common perception. One of these perceptions is the myth of the hero. However, these archetypes sometimes have differences that are related to the culture and religion of the narrator. This article studies the archetypes of the "hero" and its differences with the western patterns in 24 stories of "Ashiqlar". In these stories, two different elements appear, which are the distinguishing feature of Ashiqlarchr('39')s stories from the other lyrical poems: One is his assistant dervishes and his honorable apple, which marks the birth of the hero; another is the appearance of the old man with the wine cup in the herochr('39')s dream, which calls him to individuality and then the hero who is given wine becomes a true lover.

Narrative scrolls are an important part of the folklore fiction that have not been properly addressed so far. Sometimes inside the scroll there are even some antique points and narrations that are not mentioned in Shahnameh and the heroic poems influenced by Shahnameh. In order to comprehend the epic and heroic texts more accurately, familiarizing with these narrations is an effective method. Therefore, collecting, preserving, scientifically proofreading and publishing these scrolls are fundamental. To this aim, the authors of this article have proofread the content of one of the ancient scrolls. The mentioned scroll which is kept in the National Library with the following registry number, 35098/5, was written in 1208 AH in Tehran. The scroll is important from different angles, including some of its narrative points. In this paper, some of the features of the aforementioned scroll, especially its new fictional points have been examined.

Peoplechr('39')s culture is a collection of common customs and traditions of a people in a society that reflects the actions and manners of the past of that society and is rooted in their history. It, consequently, is a fertile source for its nation, and it is also a reliable support for the people to stand against adversity and difficulties in critical historical periods as necessary.  Since the poetry of poets sometimes reflects the customs and beliefs of the people, and shows the course of thought, belief system, and the culture of the poetchr('39')s time, one can find these notions in the works of poets and thinkers such as Jami. Considering the importance of folk elements and its impact on the socio-cultural dimensions of Iran, and its reflection in Persian literature, this study uses the definitions of folk elements in the field of popular science and art, and also relies on folk beliefs by analytical-content and qualitative method.  The study of popular culture is discussed with regards to Jamichr('39')s Haft Orang.

Myth is a kind of story in which there are gods, goddesses, and divine beings. It also refers to a narrative at the beginning of the time. Fairy tale, on the other hand, is a kind of myth in which we deal with the transcendental beings such as demons, fairies, as well as amazing events. Their relation with the mythological narratives is another feature of such stories. As fairy tales have similar structure to that of the mythological stories, this study aims to investigate the similarities between the characters in the fairy tales and myths.

Unknown fears and horrors are rooted in lack of knowledge, superstitions, and illusions prevalent in different classes of a society, being much highlighted in the popular belief of the people. This article aims to analyze such beliefs among the people of Hormozgan province comparing the most common types with the beliefs of other people and nations. The data were collected through field study. The demons coming from the darkness are fearers who intend to punish, warn, and threaten the non-conforming children, as they do not have an appropriate understanding of the world around them. Children are stopped for their anger and unrest instinctively or through their parents. This study categorizes different types of attributed fears by adults to children among the people of Hormozgan province. It attempts to explain intuitively and scientifically the local data collected in Hormozgan, and discuss the roots and background of the fears based in Hormozgani people.

Ayyari, which dates back to the pre-Islamic Iran, was considered a socio-political phenomenon the main origin of which was the urban society. This class had such a position among the masses that most of the heroes of the folk tales were Ayyars. The influence of work and behaviors of Ayyars were not limited to such stories, but we also occasionally see traces and signs of it in the Persian heroic poems. With the spread of narration in Iran, the influence of Ayyari literature intensified in epic and heroic stories, and we see the peak of such literature in the figures named Rostam Yekdast / Kolehdast. This emerging figure, created and paid for by the creative and popular minds of the narrators, is a hero who stands up to Rostam and the Iranians, and challenges the heroic face of the Iranian people.  By examining the history and literature of Ayyari in Iran and the Islamic world, this study tries to portray the elements of Ayyari in the actions and behavior of Rostam Yekdast / Kolehdast. In addition, by analyzing the dual nature of Ayyari in the social and political history, it examines the dual personality of Rostam Yekdast / Kolehdast.

Folklore is to some extent derived from a history, whose bitterness is disregarded and is essentially transformed as pleased through tales by the public to relieve themselves. It is through such a drive and attempt that the general public leave behind their preferred history in tales, a narrative that consists of the elements of historical and meta-historical/utopian discourses. Such an approach in textualism of stories can be consolidated by prominent theories of literary criticism and, in here, using the theory of neo-historism. This approach is utilized for investigations into a variety of discourses such as power in politics, silenced and non-dominant discourses, cultural discourses, etc. This study investigates the tale of "Shah Ismail and Arab Zangi" based on the neo-historicism approach and using the historical explanation method. This text tells us not only about the various aspects of the discourse of political power in the Iranian history, which was connected with the religious ideological discourse in the Safavid era and manifested with the symbol of Zulfiqar (Imam Alichr('39')s sword), but also about the discourse of the Kurdish minority at that time and other social and cultural discourses at and beyond that time.

Knots and related issues, which are among the most controversial topics in magic, are widely used in folklore culture and have been addressed in mythology. Knot magic is one of the types of homeopathic (imitation) magic and it can be divided into two types of positive magic and negative magic. The most important and frequent functions of magic knot are healing, marriage, pregnancy, asking for rain, stopping the rain, finding the lost, closing the malicious tongue, closing the groom, and so on. Recognizing and exploring the magic of the knot as part of the popular culture familiarize us with popular beliefs, thoughts, and spirits. The statistical population of this article is Iran and the method is library research and reference to popular cultural books. In this article, an attempt has been made to classify, describe, and evaluate the most important applications of knot magic in the folklore culture of the Iranian people with a descriptive-analytical approach.

Of all the ritualistic forms of drama in Iran, Shabih-khani is the most sophisticated one. It sums up in many ways the entire dramatic forms and ancient Iranian rituals. It consists of some dimensions of other art forms, such as painting and architecture, and, most significantly, includes aspects of music and poetry. On the other hand, there is little doubt that the most overarching historical trend in Iran pivots around Sufi philosophy and literature. Sufi themes and moods as well as its mystical philosophies have largely characterized the most notable works of poetry and prose in Persian literature. The predominance of Sufi philosophy in literary works notwithstanding, Sufism can be traced in many of the existing art forms in Iran, not to mention in its quotidian culture. In this article, it is aimed to demonstrate some of the impacts of the Sufi and mystical philosophies on Shabih-khani. Our research illustrates that in Shabih-khani, we face much less a representation of historical reality than a popular interpretation of history intertwined with such discourses as Sufism. Having focused on the play which dramatizes Imam Hossein’s martyrdom, we have attempted to lay bare the most important forms of these interpretations.