نامه فرهنگستان
سال چهاردهم شماره 1 (پاییز و زمستان 1393)

Based on dialogism and according to the concept of otherness in Bakhtin's theories, the originality of a novel lies in its Heteroglossia; thus, the language of novel has not only a dialogic interaction with other languages that have originated in diverse social ideologies; but also an intertextual relationship with the language of other texts that have found their way into the novel. Therefore, female authors in their feminine writing create a double-voiced discourse and expose a feminine voice through Heteroglossia. The present paper investigates the manifestations of dialogism in I’ll turn off the lights by Zoya Pirzad and Memory in the Flesh by Ahlam Mosteghanemi with a descriptive-analytic approach based on the American school of comparative literature. Despite differences in their narrative strategies, these two authors, in their feminine writing, pay much attention to the issue of language and its place in the novel and based on their own stylistic features, represent various forms of other languages in their novels differently; thence, the double-voiced discourse represents the view of feminine authors at three different levels. While Pirzad pays much attention to the linguistic failure of hegemony in literature and the creation of a heterogeneous world of language, Mosteghanemi casts a critical look at the issue of gender.

This article is an interdisciplinary research and follows the American school of comparative literature. The researchers drawupon Henry Remak's definition of comparative literature and Bachelard's theory of dynamic imagination in order to analyze the interaction between text and image in Khavaran Nameh. Bachelard notes that the imagination of the poet and the artist can be studied by dissecting literary and artistic images. He considers the four elements- -water, air, fire and soil that are the striking features of the ancient civilization of the East--as the basic criteria with which we can evaluate the factors that shape the writer's imagination. Based on the material representation of the four elements, Bachelard unearths the mythological archetypes and analyses the imagination of the artist. Our critical outlook revolves around Bachelard's conception of dynamic imagination (the four elements) and material imagination (metaphors and similes) and their compatibility with the illustrations of Khavaran Nameh. Stories of Khavaran Nameh center around the heroic actions and brave deeds of Imam Ali and his men in their battle against the Godless and the foes. It includes epic, mythic and legendary stories the content of which is taken from historical events that have been elaborated and decorated by imaginary incidents. After analyzing illustrations and comparing them with the poem, we come to the conclusion that the dynamic imagination as well as the material imagination—as defined by Bachelard--are artistic tools used for the illustration of the epic poem.

One of the areas of research in Comparative Literature is the investigation of similarities and evolution of literary techniques in world literature. In the literature of the twentieth century, experimentation and innovative models of narration came to the fore and led to the formation of new expressive tools. Adaptation of other literary texts, or "prefiguration" as John White calls it, is one of the literary techniques in modern novels. A comparative study of prefiguration helps us to trace the development of an idea and the changes it undergoes in different texts. There are instances, in what critics call modern Persian literature, of such structural adaptations; Abbas Marufi's Symphony of the Dead can be cited as an example. In this novel, Marufi has used the ancient story of Abel and Cane as prefiguration. The comparison of this novel with similar Western novels would reveal to us how successful Marufi has been in adapting this technique in his book.

The original article by Bassnet does not include an abstract; however, due to our policy in Comparative Literature Journal, we have added one. In this Chapter, Bassnet deals with comparative literature beyond the frontiers of Europe; she shows the formation process of the American school of comparative literature in contrast to the European schools and considers the influence of the American school on the important concepts of comparative literature and goes on to distinguish between the so called old and New worlds of comparative literature; Bassnet studies comparative literature in the post-colonial age with regard to Indian and African versions of comparative literature and tries to differentiate between European and non-European approaches; she proceeds to lay bare the comparative schools in the 1990s, particularly the French and German schools; in this chapter the positivist and formalist models and even the paradigms outside the Euro-American tradition are highlighted as well; the writer discuses the widespread use of the English language after the decline of classical languages such as Latin and Greek and pinpoints the role it plays in the literary studies, especially in comparative literature; and thence, the significance of translation is underscored by the writer; finally she tries to elucidate the interaction between comparative literature and cultural studies and reveal their similarities and close relationship.

This bibliography that is a part of the comprehensive project of “Bibliography of Comparative Literature in Iran” aims to provide a catalogue of researches done in this field for professionals, teachers, researchers and students to conduct studies in the right direction and avoid wasting time and repeated and parallel projects. It will be of great help to professors and graduate students and researchers. This catalogue includes the bibliographical information of Persian articles published in periodicals from 1310 to early 1393. It also offers thebibliographical information of papers in books, proceedings of seminars, conferences, and meetings etc, that have been collected by editors. This bibliography should not be taken as the confirmation and approval of these article's scientific content, nor do we mean to say that these papers are compatible with the scientific theories and research methodologies of comparative studies. We all know that comparative literature in Iran has been exposed to various misunderstandings and critics have written different articles about these problems. Therefore, this project is an overview of what has been written in Persian comparative literature articles in Iran about comparative literature in the course of eight decades. For easy accessibility and retrieval, articles have been arranged alphabetically according to the name of authors.