فصلنامه نقد ادبی
پیاپی 68 (زمستان 1403)

This research aims to explore the role of description in Parviz Natel Khanlari's poem The Eagle using the framework of Descriptology. By critiquing previous perspectives on description and offering a fresh view on the nature of description in literature, this study seeks to answer key questions, such as the roles of the descriptor and descriptee, the distinction between the descriptor and the narrator, and the difference between the descriptee and the narrative audience. Additionally, it examines the impact of description on the style and success of a literary work. Employing a combination of analytical philosophy and Descriptology, alongside statistical data analysis, the poem The Eagle is meticulously analyzed. The findings reveal that description plays a crucial role in creating mental imagery, conveying concepts, and establishing a connection with the reader. The study also refines and expands the typology of description, investigates the relationship between narrative and descriptive elements, and evaluates the quantitative and qualitative aspects of descriptions within the text. The results demonstrate that Descriptology, with further development, can become a powerful tool for comprehensive and in-depth analysis of literary works. This research enhances the understanding of The Eagle and its complexities, offering valuable insights for literary critics, theorists, researchers, writers, and those involved in AI-based linguistic modeling.

This article examines Zoha Kazemi’s novel Humanoid through the lens of memory studies and pursues two goals: first, to delve into the effects of advanced technologies on the dystopian society depicted in the novel, particularly their effects on characters’ memories and the transformation of their human identity; second, to examine the interplay between narrative, memory, and its functions, as well as their role in shaping political action and social reform. This research is necessary as Humanoid came into being in an era of rapid technological change whereby the impact of these developments on mind, memory, individual and collective identity, and culture is inevitable. Thus, the investigation of these concerns in the crucible of literature is a timely response. This study adopts theories from the field of memory studies and provides a close reading of parts of the novel whenever required. This study explores key issues, including declarative and procedural memory, the relationship between memory, technology, and identity formation, as well as the intersection of memory, politics, and narrative within the novel. The results show that modern technologies in the field of biology in the dystopian society of Humanoid are tools to control and shape the human identity, steering it toward a post-human state. Conversely, narrative emerges as a tool for preserving human identity whereby it leads to political action, and moves the society towards awareness, resistance and change

Literary theory is a systematic study of the essence of literature and a way to analyze literary phenomena. Although the literary theory has been widely used in Persian literature research in recent years, it seems that its semantic and empirical realm has not been well established; because in some research conducted in the field of Persian literature, individuals’ literary opinions have been mistakenly read as literary theory. In the following article, to show the difference between literary theory and literary perspective, five specific characteristics of literary theory have been explained and described; which includes these items: “Arising from a philosophical mindset”, “Systematic and coherent”, “The result of reflection on the text”, “Providing a new perspective” and “Using in criticism”. In the following, the extreme point of view that believes in the similarity between some opinions in Persian classical texts and Western theories on the existence and even the precedence of theories in its past has been criticized. And it is clear that basically the discovery of these views in past scientific and literary texts was due to familiarity with western ideas. In the end, the result shows that because of the inefficiency of the literary opinions collected by the researchers from the characteristics of a theory, the term “literary theory” is not correct and accurate for their opinions and literary opinions. It is better to use the term “literary perspective” to make the field of knowledge of Persian literature more precise about such opinions and theories, so that this term has its own specific definition and examples.

In addition to his role as a teacher, performer, and composer in the field of music, Arshad Tahmasbi has also established himself as a distinguished and familiar name in the realm of scholarly writings on Iranian music. Recently, he has authored a book about his own life—one that, given his delicate and sensitive artistic spirit, his research-oriented approach, and his ethical perspective, as well as his bold and candid expression, stands as the most significant source of insight into the innermost currents and key figures of Iranian music over the past half-century. Furthermore, this compelling book, in terms of its creative literary structure, serves as an example of the hybrid genre of autobiographical writing. This work, structured as an imagined interview, blends elements of a diary, autobiography, confession, travelogue, and critical essay. Since the author of this article claims that this book marks a new development in literary genre classification, the introduction first explores the generic nature of the work—clarifying its boundaries with adjacent genres—before proceeding to an analysis of its genre-related aspects and its artistic and thematic merits. Centering on the author’s interactions with influential Iranian musicians such as Lotfi and Alizadeh, as well as other figures in this domain, the book, enriched by the author’s meticulous and insightful commentary from various perspectives—particularly ethnic and professional—proves to be both profoundly engaging and highly enlightening.

In the book Iranian Intellectuals and the Language Issue: Approaches of Iranian Intellectuals from the Qajar Period to the Present, the author explores the issue of the Persian language from the time of the Constitutional Revolution, and slightly earlier, in five sections, including an introduction and an afterword (or, in the author’s words, a preface and an epilogue). The author examines the perspectives of intellectuals over this broad period, collecting and classifying the diverse and sometimes contradictory views and opinions, primarily of the enlighteners rather than the intellectuals themselves. The author does this in a highly intelligent and critical manner, introducing and explaining the different approaches of intellectuals in dealing with the category of language, particularly the Persian language, over a period of more than two hundred years. The analysis observes historical periods, paying special attention to the dominant discourse, episteme, and the formation of knowledge and the epistemic space of each era. While the author follows a chronological order, this approach has led to the inclusion of individuals in certain groups who might have been more appropriately placed in another.

“Tazriq" style is one of the sub-styles of poetry in the popular period of Indian style. But this style did not become popular even during the Indian style era. Therefore, only a few verses of “Tazriq” style poetry are left. And there is little information about this style in biographies. So, with the information written in the biographies, it is not possible to understand what Tazriq poetry is and what are its basics. In the contemporary era, several articles have been written about Tazriq But most of the researchers, without paying attention to the historical, social and literary background of Tazriq, have studied it with new approaches of literary theories. So the previous ambiguities and questions have not been resolved yet. In this research, we want to find out the basics of Tazriq poetry with a descriptive-analytical method, considering the historical context, especially by studying Tazriq poetry and the opinion of Tazriq poets about Tazriq poetry. For this purpose, we have chosen the manuscript of Otuznameh by Mollah Foqi Yazdi, which is the largest and best source available in this field. Foqi Yazdi stated in the introduction of the book and in the text of the Otuznameh that he wrote all the poems and sentences of his work in the Tazriq style. He gave explanations about the reason for choosing the Tazriq style, based on which we can explain the fundamentals of Tazriq.

Advanced research based on the model of “contextual interpretation” and relying on the rule of “tradition as context” to investigate the reflection of the “tradition of reciting poetry” in the language of the first surviving Arabic translation of the Poetics, that is, the translation of Abu Bishr Matta and specifically the translation of comedy to satire. The premise of the research is that the reciting of poetry has a dramatic nature in the tradition and Abu Bishr Matta has paid attention to it; therefore, the art of reciting poetry should be regarded as the “textual texture” that dominates his mind and perception, and the “hidden text” of his translation language of Aristotle’s Poetics. The study shows that the rendering of word “comedy” to “satire” in the translation of Abu Bishr Matta has roots in two things: a) the connection of comedy and satire in the textual network of source language, that is, the Greek language and literature, referencing the historical fact that signs of satire can be seen in ancient Greek comedies. b) dramatic nature of reciting satire in the target textual network i.e. Arabic language and literature, referring to numerous reports about the dramatic pattern of poets in reciting satire. The distinction of Matta’s work is his combination method in translating the specialized terms of the Poetics, such as “comedy”; a method that has led to preserving the dramatic nature of comedy in translation; The translation of comedy into satire is a “hybrid and threshold” translation and is close to the linguistic-literary context of source and target, that is, has roots in the cultural, literary and social contexts of both.

In the play Death of Yazdgerd, Bahram Beyzai challenges the conventional historical narratives surrounding the death of Yazdgerd. The characters improvise both plausible and implausible micronarratives about the king’s murder. The play investigates, on one hand, the grand narrative in which divine power grants the king the authority to govern the populace, and on the other hand, the micronarratives that challenge the logic of this absolutist monarchy. The research also demonstrates Beyzai’s techniques to deconstruct the grand narrative and recontextualizing it within the level of micronarratives.