فصلنامه ادب پژوهی
پیاپی 4 (بهار 1387)

This article investigates the concept of literary form in three methodological Persian texts and concludes that this concept is epistemologically a contradictory term in its present theoretical state since it is primarily a term used for the aesthetics of visual arts, and therefore its application to the linguistic art has been problematic in the sense that it is another case of ideological reification of language. Paul de Man’s epistemological illuminations on the origination of the concept of form are examined as well. And finally there will be some deductions for the pedagogy and research in the literary studies.

The literary point of view of Nima is founded on a critical approach towards the Persian classical verse, and his ideas have vastly but paradoxically influenced his followers and the new generations of Iranian modernist poets. This article intends to investigate the critical approaches of Nima towards the classic poetry, on the basis of his descriptive-narrative model, as the central point of his poetical views, in order to not only eliminate some of the vague and paradoxical points in Persian modern poetry, but to manifest the already unknown capacities of Persian classic poetry.Some of the most remarkable deficiencies of Nima's argumentation against classical verse are as follows: taking a subjectivist approach especially towards lyrical poetry (ghazal), neglecting the narrative aspect and of classic poetry, making use of the features of the modern novel in criticizing this poetry, relying on a merely realistic interpretation of poetic creativity, reducing the poetical devices to the rhetorical elements, ignoring the subjective internal time of narration, and the opposition of descriptive-narrative model and the Persian classical verse.

The sociological criticism of literature has a short history. This approach, in essence, studies the form and the content of the literary work as related to those of the society on the basis of which the work takes form; nevertheless, what is of specific importance is the reflection of an image of the society in the imaginative, artistic work as well as the various forms of this reflection. Social criticism of literature as a methodic approach, appeared by the beginning of 19th century, in the works of Madam de Stael and Hippolyte Taine who tried to use literature as a representation of social life. In the 20th century, Lukacs and Goldmann, on the basis of their historical and philosophical studies, did their best to manifest the interaction between social and literary structures.This article, apart from focusing on the above said ideas, points out the issues such as sociology of literary contents, sociology of literary genres, sociology of literary production, distribution and consumption.

Mowlavi experiences the process of creating mathnavi through relying on his own creativity determined by the social factors. Impressed by various motivations, he produces this text in a specific language and with specific formal characteristics. These signs and features, being the outcome of the various discourses and formulations, form a text in which the traces of different discourses can hardly be followed. Of the triple major sources of thought in mathnavi, one is juristic discourse which is the representation of Mowlavi's religious knowledge. The present article after introducing the generalities of this knowledge deals with the various aspects of Mowlavi's juristic discourse such as taharat (state of purity), zakat (alms giving), ruzeh (fasting), namaz (The Prayer), hajj (The Pilgrimage), jahad (holy war), etc. and shows that Mowlavi by modifying this discourse through placing juristic terms and special linguistic constituents in new contexts and dictions, makes use of them as the new epistemological instruments. In fact, this very different discourse is the source of his rather independent and emancipating thought.

Considering literature as a mirror reflecting the ups and downs of culture and thought in a society, one is expected to give leading roles to both traditional and modern literary trends. This very position is the possibility of dealing with structural and meta-structural factors of literature, studying the phenomena of "evolution" and "decline" and the reasons for the formation of these phenomena.Since the poetry of Mashrooteh is closely linked to the social, political and revolutionary context, it can be a true reflection of the society from which it is originated. The poetry of this period is "the poetry of transition" that farewells the traditional outlook in order to welcome the modern one. Familiarity with the history of this period and the principles of its poetry, besides searching for the lines of connection between the poetry and the revolution of Mashrooteh are the main concerns of this article.

This essay explores the conditions for the possibility of the emergence of discourse analysis in the sphere of linguistics. As a discipline established within a structuralist framework, linguistics relentlessly supported the priority of grammar over word and text. The rigidities of the structuralist tradition besides its manifest inadequacies in dealing with interrelation of text and culture can be eliminated to some extent by referring to poststructuralist and feminist theories due to their capacities for constant theoretical reflexivity and renewal.This article draws attention to the fact that Halliday's emphasis on text -- rather than word or sentence – as the basic unit of language, has been a significant contribution to discourse analysis. Meanwhile the potential usefulness of many of the descriptive technologies that have emerged from various kinds of linguistic discourse analysis as well as its productive engagement with other disciplines (especially philosophy and sociology) are the concerns of this article. Finally the paper takes a look at the actual problematics including the materiality of discourse, the multiple modality of textuality, and the problem of widespread lack of reflexivity within linguistics, i.e. the failure of linguistics to interrogate many of the categories (linguistic, sociological, philosophical) it benefits from.

Imagination, as one of the fundamental elements of aesthetics, is studied in both visual and verbal arts. This complicated concept has various interpretations in different fields of human science: in mysticism, it is a "supraintellectual human experience", in the area of religion, a "religious experience", in cognitive psychology, the main element in the formation of "individual self", and in mythology, the most effective factor in constructing "collective self". Imaginatin is then, to be considered as the most basic constituent in creating the intuitive experience, comprehending the divine, discovering the constructions of reality, and creating aesthetic structures.This article follows a triple Determining the structure of imagination as a base to answer the question related to the manner of structurization of imagination.Assessing the effect of values, beliefs, interpretations and approaches of every period on imagination, as a matter of change in its structure, and measuring the significance of this fact, due to the fact that a change in the agent always changes the meanings and structures.Reckoning the manner through which the newly-developed imagination turns out to be an element for creating another structure in literary works, and in particular poetry. In other words this article, by comparing the role of imagination in the traditional and modern literature, shows how the traditional aesthetics developed to the new one.