نامه فرهنگستان
سال یازدهم شماره 1 (بهار 1389)

In both his poetry and prose, Rumi (d. 1273 CE) has been influenced by Arabic literature, especially by the well-known Arab poet, Abu Tayyeb Mutanabbi (d. 965 CE). This influence manifests itself both in the Arabic poems Rumi has verbatim borrowed from his Divan and inserted into his own poetry or in the poems he has first translated from Arabic into Persian, and then used in his poetry. However, whatever lines of poetry Rumi has borrowed or adapted from Mutanabbi ’s Divan, containing either poetical wisdom or lyrical motifs, he has appropriated to suit his own mystical tone.

Maurice Barrès is one of the great authors of the first half of the twentieth century who was familiar with the literature of the Orient, and more particularly, with Persian literature which influenced him deeply. This inclination toward such arts and literature began from childhood when he played with Iranian miniatured boxes, covered with the images of gardens and grass, nightingales and flowers, the images becoming rooted deeply in his soul. In youth, an inner desire was awakened in him and led him to reading the great masters of Persian literature. The early years of the twentieth century witnessed a revival of the French readers’ interest in Iranian arts, and hence their renewed interest in Persian literature. As a result, a huge volume of books including anthologies, translations, criticism, and literary essays and articles were published and became available to the French literary circles and intellectuals. On the other hand, Barrès friendship with authors and poets like Anna de Noailles, Mrs. Bibesco, Henry de Régnier and others who were themselves familiar with Persian literature, and his relationship with well-known contemporary orientalists enabled him to become familiar with great Iranian poets, and particularly with Saadi, much more deeply. In the years following World War I, when he detached himself from political and patriotic writings and decided to focus on pure literature, his memories and studies of the Sheikh of Shiraz and other great masters of Persian literature came to his aid. He had often smelled the flowers of Saadi’s Gulestan, and had heard the mystical melodies of Boustan, and now found the opportunity to respond to his inner call

Goethe’s East–West Divan, which was initially composed under the influence of Hammer’s translation of the ghazals of Hafez, was later on influenced by other Persian and Eastern poets and writers, especially Sadi, whose short and long poems have appeared in this German literary masterpiece. While there is a constant mention of Hafez in Goethe’s Divan, Sadi’s name is only mentioned explicitly a few times, which explains why most studies on the Persian influences on this work are dedicated to Hafez rather than to Sadi. Moreover, no distinction has been made between these two poets and the extent of their influence on Goethe. As a matter of fact, the introduction of Hafez into German poetry was not a simple process. According to Goethe, the language of Hafez and his style of poetry made it very difficult for the German readers to understand him, while this was not the case with Sadi. Goethe resorted to irony, which is the characteristic of his poetry during this period, to solve this problem. Researchers have not examined this issue either. More important is the relationship between the irony of Goethe with that of Hafez. Whatever Hafez borrowed from other sources, especially from mystical texts, he passed through the medium of his subtle irony which would have otherwise been, misunderstood contextually. Goethe sharply recognized this fact. In a poem about Hafez’s mysticism, he talks about "pure wine" which is usually considered to be divine and mystical. Goethe has the same meaning in mind when he refers to "pure wine" which is genuine and free from any impurity. Again, one can trace the irony of Hafez in Goethe’s poetry. The reflection of this kind of mysticism in Goethe’s work becomes more earthly and materialistic and thus his irony is clear and straightforward, while Hafez’s irony is hidden and implicit.

Dehkhoda composed "Ey Morgh-e Sahar" [O Morning Bird"] in memory of his late friend, Mirza Jahangir Khan Sor-e Israfil. Literary critics believe that the style of this elegy proves Dehkhoda’s pioneering role in modern Persian poetry. It is further agreed upon that this poem is the first Persian poem in which the influence of European poetry can be observed. Some critics believe that Dehkhoda was influenced by Rajaei-zadeh’s Turkish poem entitled "Vagta keh Golob-e Bahar Yeksar". Rajaei-zadeh’s poem, which begins with "Vagta keh Golob-e Bahar Yeksar," is an imitation of "Rappelle-toi" by Musset, a French poet, who was deeply in love with George Sand (Amandine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin), the famous French writer and novelist. This paper studies the probability of the influence of Musset ’s poem, and also Saberi’s poetic translation of Rajaei-zadeh’s poem into Persian, upon Dehkhoda.

In all cultures, any big place which contains streets, alleys, houses, shops and inhabitants is called a city, whether it is oriental or occidental. But how can we find the spirit of a city among its walls and shops? Isn’t it true that the inhabitants of a city create its civilization, its culture and its liveliness? The city and its residence correlate. That is why we say, “These people are like this” and “Those are like that”. Critics believe that the new inhabitants of every city try to acquire its popular culture and to become one with the rest. Therefore, finding one’s true self and identity would be, in fact, very difficult. Moreover, the modern city destroys part of its inhabitants’ identity, or gives them, at the same time, a new one. This new identity can be found in the audio, visual and verbal images of the city. Paris, the capital of France, is a beautiful occidental city which is depicted in many works of French and non-French writers, poets and film makers. This paper examines the presence of Paris, from the perspective of imagology, in the works of three Iranian novelists, Goli Taraghi, Reza Ghassemi and Reza Gheysariyeh, all of whom resided in Paris, to discover the similarities among these writers’ outlook towards Paris and compare and contrast it with that of the French-speaking writers.

One of the ways to become familiar with the recent developments and trends of any discipline is to attend its international conferences. In the international conferences, authorities on the subjects are usually invited to give keynote speeches, and then, researchers from around the world present their papers in different specialized sessions. In this article, I have reviewed the themes of a few recent conferences on comparative literature, which I hope would shed light on today’s new trends in the field. In late 2008, the Comparative Literature Associations of Azerbaijan and Romania held their conferences in respectively Baku and Bucharest universities. In 2009, the Comparative Literature Association of India held a conference in Hyderabad University, of Turkey in Gazi University, of Sweden in Uppsala University, and of Lithuania in Vilnius University. However, the most important event would be the Nineteenth ICLA Congress in Seoul, South Korea in August 2010. The 2010 ICLA Congress theme is "Expanding the Frontiers of Comparative Literature," organized in six specialized sessions including: 1)Making Comparative Literature Global: New Theories and Practices; 2)Locating Literaturein the Hypertextual Age; 3) Nature, Technology, and Humanity in Different Traditions; 4) Writing the Conflicts and Otherness; 5) Translating Differences, Connecting the World; 6) Asia in the Changing Comparative Paradigm. Undoubtedly, the establishment of new departments, programs, and national associations of comparative literature around the world, the ever-expanding areas of research in comparative literature, research and the scholarly publications will open new horizons for world literary studies.