مجله زبان و ادبیات فارسی
سال یازدهم شماره 2 (تابستان 1394)

The Shahnameh of Ferdowsi is a dynamic and living epic: everything is in action and circulation; there are diverse, strange, and paradoxical phenomena. The battles and wars are so beautifully visualized that the reader easily identifies with them as if he could hear the sirens and horns and the clinking of the swords and shields. This magic, enchanting atmosphere takes the reader away like a wave in a way that he does not have the chance to see the bubbles of the waves being pushed to the shore. The present article is a quick reflection by somebody mounting the high waves of Shahnameh upon the bubbles being pushed to the shore.

Parody is a humorous and amusing poem which is composed in response to a serious poem. Bos-haq At’ameh Shirazi is assumed to be the first person to compose paradies in response to other poets. The present article introduces Sufi Mohammad Heravi, a ninth-century parodist who followed Bos-haq’s style and is considered to have temporarily followed Bos-haq At’ameh and Ahmad At’ameh. The article continues to present a review of his works and his innovations of the parody style.

An abstract is a brief summary of a research article which gives the reader the basic information. There is no consensus in Persian language and literature on the scientific criteria for an abstract. The present article seeks to mention the characteristics and purposes of a good abstract and to study ten articles on Mowlavi (Rumi) in terms of abstract writing. The research method is quantitativequalitative. First, features of a good abstract are presented; then the selected articles are assessed. The conclusion is that authors in this field are not sensitive in terms of abstract writing, do not consider an abstract as a necessary issue, and do not invest enough attention in writing abstracts.

The present article focuses on different names for water from satanic, divine, and mythological aspects and its opposite elements of fire and soil. It also reviews religious rituals of people in ancient Iran, Zoroastrianism, and the Sassanid time. This article is a brief review of water rituals among Indians, Europeans, North American Indians, and Mexican Aztecs before the birth of the Christ. It also studies the influence of water in the following stories: Fereydoon, Rostam in the second labour, Siyavash, Kaykhosrow and his being purified with water, Esfandiyar rituals and the Raz water (wine), Afrasiyab and his futile effort to take refuge in water, the legend of Alexander and Khezr and the elixir, Ardashir Papagan’s approaching the sea, Shapur and his visit with mehrak, and Yazdgerd and his being cured with the water of the Su spring.

Paradox is one literary array which causes defamiliaraization and highlights speech. Mowlana (Rumi) liberally uses this array to highlight and create artistic ambiguity to attract the audience. He has composed many of his odes in Shams book of poetry in a state of insobriety; hence, there are many paradoxes in them, a method which causes ambiguity and defamiliarization of meaning. There are various paradoxical expressions in Shams, which are meant to escape meaning, to create affection, and to cause humor and ridicule. This article studies paradox in Mowlana’s poems from two romantic and mystic aspects and mentions instances. This aspect of his poetry is not only used to escape meaning and to create ambiguity but to make his poetry beautiful and attractive.

The present article is an attempt to trace ancient myths of the two ancient cultures of Iran and India in epic literature in a comparative way, focusing on the works of Mahabharat from India and Shahnameh from Iran in respect with the subject of the transformation of demons. Demons, major evil creatures in the two epic works, share many similarities. Yet, they have developed differently after the separation of the Indian and Iranian peoples. One similarity is their supernatural ability of transformation, which is more various and noticeable in Mahabharat, while this ability of the demons seems more polished and compendious in Shahnameh.

Anthropological research is as old as history. Since thinkers tried to present their thoughts, they have noticed the diverse aspects of human existence and offered various views on anthropology. One important anthropological issue is psychology and the whys of human behavior. Psychologically speaking, not only human behavior but also art and literature can be psychologically analyzed. Today we can see a deep link between literature and psychology. A scientific psychological analysis of literary works can reveal many of our past socio-cultural subjects having been lost in history. The purpose of the present article is to apply Jung’s psychology to the analysis of literary and artistic works, especially his theory of persona/shadow in the mystic odes of Hafez.

Qeysar Aminpour is a well-known contemporary poet in Persian literature. Having composed many poems about the Iranian Islamic revolution, he could open a new window to contemporary literature and be a model for the new generation. The innovative images of the war scenes, the expression of the social pains and problems, and the creation of new expressions especially war expressions have made his poetry strong and attractive. His poetic language is strong and glorious as well as soft, delicate, simple, and fluent. An important aspect of his poetic style is to use Koranic, religious, and historical figures as models. One outstanding concept in his poems is complaints about the social problems, which has caused the word pain and its relevant senses to be highly frequent in his poetry. The present article, focusing on the content and meanings of his social poems, studies his literary and poetic style. It also focuses on the extent to which his geographic situation influenced his mentality and morale and why his poems are painful and sad.