نامه فرهنگستان
سال بیست و سوم شماره 4 (مهر و آبان 1403)

The influence of Persian language and literature on 19th-century European literature, particularly within the Romantic movement, is clearly evident. Literary comparativists have identified numerous instances of this impact, each offering their own analysis of how Persian poetry effected European works. This article aims to classify the different types of influence Persian poetry exerted on English, French, and German literatures during this period. To achieve this, forty works that were influenced by Persian literature were identified and categorized based on the nature of the influence on their authors. The findings suggest that these influences can be grouped into the following categories: 1) Free translation, 2) Praising Iranian poets, 3) Influence reflected in the title, 4) Direct mention of Iranian poets, 5) Use of Iranian toponyms and notable figures, 6) Allusion to famous Persian tales and anecdotes, 7) Clear imitation, 8) Genre and form imitation, 9) Lexical borrowings from Iranian rituals, 10) Use of loanwords, 11) Oriental text structures, and 12) Implicit influences.

Gérard Genette’s theory of transtextuality is a prominent approach in intertextual studies that examines the relationship between a hypotext (the source text) and a hypertext (the new text derived from the source). Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh holds a significant place in Persian literature and has been frequently analyzed through the lens of transtextuality. It maintains intertextual connections with older texts, such as Avestan and Pahlavi works, and has served as a hypotext for many subsequent artistic creations, including miniatures. This article investigates the transtextual relationships in the narrative of Afrasiab’s death in Shahnameh and addresses the following questions: What are the key narrative elements of Afrasiab’s death in Shahnameh? What similarities and differences exist between Shahnameh and other texts on this subject? How are these older texts used as hypotexts in Shahnameh? To what extent are the miniatures depicting Afrasiab’s death influenced by Shahnameh? The findings reveal that ancient Iranian texts serve as vital hypotexts for Shahnameh, and itself has had a substantial influence as a hypotext on the creation of various miniatures related to Afrasiab’s death.

This article aims to provide a typology of the relationships that can be imagined between a biographer and his subject. The first possible relationship is rooted in "empathy," allowing the author to imagine and represent the subject in various states. In this approach, common among Iranian biographers, the author often highlights the subject's notable traits to glorify his hdistorical "hero". However, in some instances, the biographer focuses on the ordinary aspects of the subject's life to present a more humanized version, distancing from the traditional praise of "illustrious men." This deviation from conventional biographical writing creates a new type of relationship, which can be termed "critical." In this approach, the text may aim to critique genre conventions or deconstruct the historical hero. Beyond the duality of sanctification and critique, a third mode, common among French writers, involves a form of reflexivity. Here, the biographer mirrors his own existential struggles through the life of the "other" or uses the narrative of the subject as a borrowed discourse to silently express personal concerns. Of course, each of these paths is shaped by the author's unique perception of life and literature, which in turn influences the audience's understanding of the biography genre, its potential and its challenges.

The publication of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim’s Progress in 17th-century England and Agha Najafi Ghuchani's Journey to the West in 20th-century Iran occurred under comparable social and historical conditions. Both authors responded similarly to emerging societal challenges, despite the different historical and social contexts. In both England and Iran, the rise of modernity led to the formation of middle classes increasingly attracted to worldly pleasures. In reaction to this shift, some religious figures used the emerging genre of storytelling to caution middle-class readers against becoming absorbed in the allure of modern life. These two works exhibit similarities in plot, narrative structure, and methods of storytelling and event description. According to Siegbert Salomon Prawer’s theory, similar social conditions or human experiences in different geographical regions often produce literary works with comparable themes. Based on this theory, the present study explores and highlights the similarities between The Pilgrim’s Progress and Journey to the West, tracing these parallels back to the analogous social contexts that shaped them.

Corresponding member of the Academay of Persian language and literatureThe father-son battle is a prominent motif in the epic literature of various cultures worldwide, and many researchers have studied this motif from different perspectives, including comparative approaches. One notable example of this motif in epic texts is the Russian narrative of the battle between two heroic figures, a father and son. Despite its significant similarities to the Iranian version (the battle between Rostam and Sohrab in Shahnameh), it has not yet been translated into Persian, and Iranian researchers have only had access to a general outline of the plot and main events. This article provides a translation of the most famous Russian version of the father-son battle narrative, highlighting its structural and stylistic features, and discusses points regarding the similarities and differences between the Russian and Persian versions. The aim is to demonstrate that these two epic texts are connected, either directly or indirectly, and that their similarities cannot be explained by coincidence or parallel historical and social conditions.

This article offers a comparative analysis of Shakespeare’s and Iraj Mirza’s adaptations of a Greek myth, examined through the lens of André Lefevere’s translation strategies. Iraj Mirza, either through French translations of Shakespeare's works or via Lotfali Souratgar’s prose and verse translations, attempts a poetic adaptation of the Greek myth of Venus and Adonis in his unfinished poem Zohreh and Manouchehr. In all three works, the core narrative revolves around the main characters, Venus/Zohreh and Adonis/Manouchehr, where the heroine persistently pursues the hero, who resists her advances. From Ovid to Shakespeare, the heroine's romantic entreaties become more pronounced, and in Iraj Mirza's version, these feminine desires acquire a distinct earthly sensibility. The key transformation, particularly in Iraj Mirza’s adaptation, lies in his integration of Iranian tradition and culture, infusing the narrative with a distinctly Iranian atmosphere. In conclusion, through its journey from the English Renaissance to the Iranian Renaissance, including a free translation from another free translations, the Greek myth undergoes several forms of metamorphosis. This article explores and explicates these transformations through the framework of Lefevere’s translation strategy of adaptation.