نشریه پژوهش های ادبیات تطبیقی
سال دهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 34، زمستان 1401)

In this research, colonialism in the novels The Kite Runner written by Khaled Hosseini and Homeless by Reza Amirkhani was analyzed comparatively. These two novels, which are formed in Eastern culture, have a deep-seated relationship which is the continuation life of the first persons, Amir and Armia, in the west (America). Imigration to this country is a forced one for both of them, during which the author discusses colonialism and its manifestations. The cultural correlation of these works and their formation in a parallel manner have given some similar elements which was why they were selected to be studied comparatively. In this article, which was done in a descriptive-analytical approach, the hero's migration from the homeland, which is associated with a kind of alienation, and the role of colonialism in creating this alienation were discussed. The purpose of this research is to present a new understanding of the concepts and origin of the formation of these novels comparatively. The main issues which were found in these works were: character journey from east to west, Homeland (the depth of the main character in the homeland), the presence of the helping element of the hero (killed by colonialism), Nostalgia, culture (purity of character), The double face of religion, alienation and negation of capitalism.

Commonly, facing the works of art within a historical theme, we either expect the work to match exactly with history, or expect to see some kind of artist's point of view from that historical period. The former cannot be recreated or represented in the world of art. The latter, however, does not have the same application. Therefore, with sufficient knowledge of the author and the discourse conditions and power relations during his life period, his perspective on history in a historical work can be analyzed better. In this article, through a comparative and historical method, two plays Death of Yazdgerd written by Bahram Beyzai and Romulus the Great written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt were examined from the perspective of new historicism to show how two playwrights were affected by history in two different places and times, and consequently influenced the history of their time. This comparative research shows that choosing a specific period of history to write a play was purposeful. Also, writing about a historical period is affected by the period of the playwright's life and culture, and the reason for the difference in the power relations and the ending of the texts lies within the same context.

One of the most important terms in Jungian psychology is "collective unconscious". The contents of the collective unconscious form "archetypes", which Jung considers the psychological forms of the old, inherent and inherited remains of the human mind and outside the circle of events in people's lives. Traces of archetypes can be found in the world's valuable literary works, and the comparative study of works from this perspective is considered as one of the important studies of literary research. The aim of the present research is to investigate the archetypes in two important literary works, Dante's Divine Comedy and the story of Ibn Sina's Hayy bin Yaqzan, in order to find out the commonalities and differences of these two works in the archetypes section, and realize the possible reasons for that. The method used in this research was text analysis. The results show that the archetypes of "travel", "shadow", "sage" and "self" can be seen in both works, and the archetypes of "rebirth" and "passing the water" are the cases of differences.

The genre of war is a form of literature which has the nature of anti-war literature, aiming to spread peace and friendship rather than dealing with war and the dominant discourse resulting from its dark and sinister consequences. Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and Burnt Earth by Ahmad Mahmoud are two good examples of anti-war literature in different contexts from two Iranian and American writers, which put forth a clear reflection of the social, economic, political and cultural unrest of war-torn society. A comparative study of this period and the analysis of the conceptual network, lead to a comparative assessment of the plot, and the use of linguistic and stylistic elements. Despite the artistic skills of Hemingway and Mahmoud to present events related to the war, their narrative approach differs in the author's narrative approach, conceptual network and themes. Burnt Earth is a notable native example of the war genre, while Farewell to Arms stands beyond the genre of war in the literary genre of the novel.

Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the critical study of the literary relations between nations that, sometimes, are manifested among the fictional masterpieces of the world. One of these masterpieces is the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell, an English novelist and essayist who skillfully expressed his desired political situation and social themes in allegorical language in the novel and influenced the literature of other countries in various ways. Among the world-famous novels translated into different languages is Zayni Barakat, written by the Egyptian writer Gamal al-Ghitani and published a few decades after Animal Farm. The subject matter of the two novels is the occurrence, deviation, and hypocrisy of the rulers of the revolution but the main question is what thematic similarities there are between these two novels. The results of this research indicate that the two novels have thematic similarities in eight aspects: realization of revolution, explanation of laws, autocracy of leaders, establishment of repressive forces, populism, suppression of opponents, use of religion as a tool, and finally, transformation of revolution. Based on the American comparative literature approach and a descriptive-analytical method, this study tries to present a comparative analysis of the two novels.

Travelogues are among the sources of various literary styles that provide important information about the historical, cultural, artistic, and anthropological background of a country through the images recorded by the travelogue, so far as they have a great contribution in the social-historical reconstruction of a country. The simple and stereotyped definition of imagery or imagology, which has an interdisciplinary approach in comparative literature, is the study of another image in one's own literary texts and vice versa, that is, the study of one's own image in other literary texts. The more accurate the view of the travelogue writer is, the more comprehensive the report he presents in his travelogue is whcih increases its credibility. The correct transmission of this information also helps the accuracy of the travelogue. If a writer is not careful in any of these steps, knowingly or unknowingly, he will make a mistake in accurately recording the reports and the truth, or a part of it will be neglected. On the other hand, we cannot ignore the influence of stereotypes and mental sediments of the writer on what he writes. For these reasons, there is not much expectation from literary texts to reveal reality and facts, and in this sense, literary works cannot be compared with facts and scientific studies. Pollack's travelogue; Iran and Iranians includes the description of pictures that Pollock, an Austrian doctor, saw and wrote in Iran. These observations, which go back to the end of the Qajar period during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah, are divided into two general parts: the first part includes the number of people, geography, customs and eating habits, clothing, etc.; the second part includes the government system, the court, and court occasions, diseases, medicine and treatment methods, medicines, etc. Pollak's claim is that he wrote the contents of his travelogue accurately and without bias or mistakes; however, this study revealed that such as claim is not very accurate.

Comparative literature examines literary unions, relationships and their influence. Francois Mauriac and Jalal Ale-Ahmad indicate the difficult situation of women. The two authors describe their ideal society by criticizing the society’s problems and restrictive rules which make women submissive and dependent. The reader gradually becomes informed about the past and present of the hero of story and predicts a vague future full of anxiety and worry for them. The present article, through a descriptive, analytic and comparative method, compares Thérèse Desqueyroux of Mauriac and The Superfluous Woman of Al-Ahmad based on the school of social realism approach. The results of this research indicate that the main characters in these two oeuvres are the oppressed women in patriarch societies which have a humiliating viewpoint on women’s freedom, wishes, interests and desires; and trample on their rights. Both authors describe the griefs, unjust situation of women’s life, the oppression and tyranny of women by men and society in order to attract the society’s attention for women’s problems and difficulties, the critique of the society’s unconventional values and society to revise everything related to women.