نشریه نامه انسان شناسی
پیاپی 15 (پاییز و زمستان 1390)

Structuralists claim that there is a common mental structure shaping rite of passage in all primitive societies around the world. This stable pattern does not change in form but undergoes some alterations in its content. This article shows that the myth of Zaal follows the same pattern that the rite of passage does. Zaal takes part in a rite in which learns metaphysical lessons from his tutor Simorgh; like the primitive Chosen One, Zaal reaches a new status of wisdom and ability in his society after going through the rite of passage. His rite also includes participation of heavenly creatures like Simorgh. Zaal gains witchcraft and healing abilities once he abandoned badness and tended to Goodness and consequently gained Farrah and became a divine being as result of the above-said tendency. This article tries to picture that the narrative pattern of the Zaal myth is very much similar to the rite of passage structure in the primitive societies.

Treatment of contemporary Centralized governments with nomads is not based on the developmental perspective but mainly on political one.The changes in tribal community of Iran within the recent decades caused settlement and permutation of these communities, cultural changes; cultural transposition, cultural conflicts and the elimination of subcultures by settled nomads are sensible and obvious. Issues such as abandonment of ancient culture,for getting of cultural traditions and cultural effects, and replacing of the culture of sedentary people are among main effect of settlement of nomads. This paper aims to examine the cultural reflections of settled Nomads in Kohgilouyeh and Boyerahmad Province and variations of these nomads before and after the settlement in Pakūh, Mansūrābād and Kalāghneshīn in Kohgilouyeh and Boyerahmad Province. The method of research applied in this study is based on the descriptive-analytical methods that examine the dimensions of language and literature, art, media, religion and customs and tribal and kinship system. Statistical society shows that Nomads settled down in three villages of Kalāghneshīn, Pakūh, Mansūrābād. Sample society includes 80 households.Based on the findings of this study, the settled Nomads have changed their values and cultural beliefs and of the inhabitants of the said places.Despite therelative improvement in access and the use ofcultural factors - especially the media -many of the past values, beliefs and cultural aspects have been abandoned and replaced due to sedentary living, with urban and rural cultures. Nomads who settle down near the villages or urban centers, have access to more cultural services and in result their own culture is forgotten and replaced by new ones, these cultural changes are prominent among these nomads. Considering the fact that these cultural, traditional and beliefs change among nomad’s communities, it is necessary to pay special attention to these communities in order to maintain and strengthen of cultures and subcultures and revival of traditional culture in these areas.

This paper explores conceptualizations that are reflected in the use of the Persian expressions that include the body part “del” (heart)and other internal body organs. By examining a number of expressions from Modern Persian and also from Persian literature, the paper shows how the examined body parts provide a basis for conceptualizing a wide range of cognitive notions and personality traits. The paper begins by a discussion of today literature on the use of human body in human conceptualization. This is then followed by a brief description of the Persian language. The later sections of the paper present the main analysis of del in Persian, a brief exploration of del in Persian literature, and finally a discussion on the historical contexts of the conceptualizations of del.

Tureh is a folkloric performance of north of Khorasan which for the time being has lost its main function in the agricultural community and transformed to an entertaining form. Therefore, this study is a reference to indigenous tradition and a dynamic research in order to behave as a means of a mass medium that enjoys interactive art. It’s interactivity would ensure the social health of the community specially when specially all other means of the mass media fail to focus on audience-orientation. This research was done through a multiplex of methods including data gathering methods such as interview, observation and collecting the existing evidence and documents in verbal culture. Thus, based on a qualitative method and the progressive paradigm, Tureh has been studied and interpreted.The findings prove that the social health emerged has been generated from Tureh.Tureh is a flexible, simple, multi-dimensional and rustic art, which with its interactive nature can be a means of mass media that stands in the middle of an axis whose one end is entertainment and the other end usefulness. In addition, this performance creates a joyful, satirical and relieving environment in which Tureh actors and audience are interactively activated in the dispersion of colloquial situations, dance, acrobatics, music, etc.Finally, such an atmosphere is also involved in the daily life in such an extent that even promotes the social heath.

About 12000 years ago, some parts of the world faced fundamental changes in subsistence strategies of some Foragers groups and societies because of different variables. Such an event with South-western Asia leadership is an indicator of genesis, sustaining and ever-increasing process of Sedentarism, domesticated animal raising, cultivation etc. Appearance of the above-mentioned phenomena has been continuously transferring from one region to another according to researches, studies and new discoveries. Such findings have seriously affected the related justifications and explanations of entering the Neolithization. That is why the scholars studied and examined the proposed assumptions based on the new findings in one hand; and they attempted to suggest new assumptions based on the new discoveries, on the other hand. Pre-agriculture communities and groups archeology depends highly on ethnology and the related sciences, especially for understanding the hunter-gatherer societies and their transformation into the sedentary and cultivator’s societies. When the pre-historians and ethnologists study the effective factors in the late Epipaleolithic or early Neolithic phases, in fact they are generally trying to identify them evolutionary through the stylish-narrative framework. At global level, Neolithization has been treated from different approaches including ideological behaviors, environmental, population, economic, social, cognitive, technological and cross-cultural comparisons as well as in the light of archeological researches and ethnographic observations. This article aims to classify, explain and describe briefly such researches in the framework of the historical-cultural, processual and postprocessual conceptual approaches.

The ritual term means a word which implies to a religious ceremony or its components. In this article, meaning, synonymous words and rituals related to three ritual words, Havzoru, Shesha and Shovgira will be discussed based on library research and the author’s field studies.Havzoruis one of the greatest celebrations of ancient Iran which is held on the sixth day of the Persian month Farvardin. Zoroastrians of Yazd name this celebration Havzoru, Zoroastrians of Kerman call itArvedāru and Parsis of India name it the ceremony of “Khurdad-Sal”. In Islamic writings, sixth day of Farvardin is called NowrouzBuzurg (Great Nowrouz), it is named in old Iranian calendar Khordādrūz and is a very important day in the Zoroastrian tradition.Shesha, in the Zoroastrian dialect, is the name of Sabzeh (sprouted wheat grass) which is planted for GahanbārCeremony and death rituals. This Sabzeh is grown on the earthenware jars or in the ruzin/rodin plate and is different from the grass plot of Nowrouz.The other ritual term which is reviewed in this article is Shovgira which is also called in the Zoroastrian texts and folklore Ashodad, Jamah, Sedr/Sedrah, Chelwar and Shiyav, which is a piece of white cloth that is consecrated in honor of the departed at the ceremony on the third day after death and is usually given to charity.

This research has examined 10,000 proverbial idioms in the Kurdish Language, focusing on two dialects of southern Kūrmānji (Sūrānī) and Kermāshānī –Lorī–, of which 200 ones idioms were specifically related to women. Then, the nominated proverbs were categorized through qualitative method and Qualitative Content Analysis based on social attitudes toward women in each proverb in order to identify the existing attitudes toward women and their social position in the community. The results claim that most of the idioms convey a negative attitude toward women; consequently sexist clichés and language can be easily seen. It is also understood that their scope, gravity and application are impacted by the economic infrastructure, i.e. the livelihood and production within the masculine society. For example, peoples’ lifestyle –whether urban or rural- as an infrastructure has had an instrumental hand on their application and large numbers of anti-woman proverbs in rural areas than the urban ones.

Literature of each society represents its ethnic and cultural contexts. This paper studies the ethnic and national culture andidentity symbols in local literature of Mamasani's Region (in Fars Province of Iran). Its aim is to illustrate the critical and symbolic elements of ethnic and local culture in the local literature. This study has been done via documentary and qualitative content analysis. The local literature of this society, locally and ethnically, has some traits such as passion and sensation, epic, natural feature and lamentation. These literatures indicate the special local identity. This manner of identity presentation is affected by natural conditions and elements, so that there are many local and national names in these literatures. These names are the indicators of social structures, ecology and life tools. A kind of historical genealogy that is accompanied by local and ethnic historical epics (especially epic tools), and also deep interests to nature can be found. Connection to lands either local or national that is known as one of the ethnic indicators in sociological studies is intensive. There are some symbols of local culture and nostalgia to its elements and traits in both current and past local literature.