نشریه فرهنگ و ادبیات عامه
پیاپی 56 (خرداد و تیر 1403)

The aim of this article is to examine the position of carpet weaving in folk culture and literature. Its explicit findings indicate that in the folk culture, the philosophy of the emergence and nature of carpet weavers' beliefs and carpet weaving in Iran are expressed as follows: projective, defensive, aesthetic, and palliative. The analysis of rituals such as the “Mi bechkelessen Alasht" related to wool preparation for weaving shows the link between ancient Iranian rain rituals and religious beliefs in the carpet washers of Mashhad Ardahal. In folk literature, references to the most important carpet weaving regions in Iran are made in proverbs, discussing carpet maintenance and the hardships of carpet weavers, while economic aspects of carpets are discussed using specialized carpet terminology, creating various themes and reflecting some customs and traditions. The main themes of Iranian carpet weavers' songs include love, separation from the beloved, the sorrow of exile, the hardship of carpet weaving, describing the beauty of carpets, seeking help from Imam Reza (AS) at work, and wishing for the completion of carpet weaving and pilgrimage to Imam Reza (AS). In myths formed around the theme of carpets and weavings, and in the myth of Solomon's Carpet, one can find heroism with real characters defeating natural elements, and the carpet itself being a mythical element added to the myth by the public. In the myth of "Muffler and Solomon's Son," the element of coincidence leads to the discovery of how the harp is made. All of these instances demonstrate the undeniable significance of carpets in folk culture and literature; the public themselves have created these beliefs, proverbs, songs, and myths, reciting them and being the performers of carpet weaving rituals.

This article explores the semiotic approach, as a post-structuralist method, for analyzing folktales, with a specific focus on the story of "Haji Luva'as." In contrast to the structuralist approach, which primarily examines fixed and variable elements, as well as the thirty-one functions and seven spheres of action, the semiotic approach, particularly rooted in Greimas-2, delves deeper by considering the underlying meanings and concepts. This approach illustrates how the semiotic square becomes evident in the narrative syntax on the surface level. Subsequently, these deep and surface structures are realized in discourse syntax, contributing to the development of discursive meaning. Greimas-2 aims to construct discursive meaning through semiotic analysis while acknowledging the limitations of structuralist semiotics, viewing them as "meaning deficiencies." This article seeks to provide an analytical and explanatory response to the question of what unique characteristics the semiotic approach brings to the examination of folktales and how it differs from a purely descriptive and structuralist approach.

Sociology has delved into different approaches, including sociology of literature, critical discourse analysis which aims to study cultural and literary works, and investigate and analyze the impact of social constructions on the aspects of human life which is reflected in cultural, artistic and literary works. Sociology of gender is one of the new branches of sociology that studies the structure of gender relations and inequalities. The present article aimed to show the mentality and culture of Kurdish regions towards women with a descriptive-analytical approach from the view of gender sociology and based on Kurdish legends. The results of the research show that despite the existence of few Kurdish legends that have a positive point of view to women's gender, the prevailing mentality in this geographical region shows gender misconceptions about women. This part of Kurdish folklore is gendered and most of the Kurdish legends that are related to women are expression of humiliation, gender discrimination, and underestimating women.

Idiomatic expressions show complex pattern of conceptualization and need interaction between metaphor and metonymy to empower the tools to further develop conventional metaphoric and metonymic analysis into more complex patterns of interaction between the two. Metaphor and metonymy alone are not so powerful tools to justify extended domain of idioms in Koohmara Sorkhi. Idiomatic expression based on metaphor or metonymy alone are not so much found. There seems to be correlation between compositionality and the role of metaphor in conceptualization in idiomatic expressions. Compositional idioms are expounded metaphorically. Extension and reduction of conceptual domains (both source domain and target domain) are among most prominent processes in understanding idioms. Conventionality of meaning is found where semantic structure is very opaque because conceptual expansion of frame is not possible and necessary historic and cultural information is absent; hence meaning is conventionally associated with idiom. After all, there exist cases that availability of historic information makes idiom nonconventional.

Culture and worldview form the foundations of a society’s existence and knowledge, which are transformed by various external and internal factors. One of the platforms that embodies these infrastructures in every culture is folklore narratives, the analysis of which can be used to recover sources that are less visible in historical documents. According to historical evidence, matriarchy culture in Zagros was the dominant social phenomenon before the widespread presence of Aryan peoples in the Iranian Plateau. Such phenomena bring with them certain subcultures and social customs that are represented at different social and literary levels. Exogamy is one of the characteristics of matriarchal culture, which can be found in the oral literature of Kurdistan. While examining the data on exogamy based on the worldview of matriarchy by using its data, the present study analyzes the content of three popular Kurdish oral narratives in an analytical-descriptive manner and shows that action and conflict in these narratives are the result of the clash of two cultures of exogamy (ex-marriage) and endogamy (in-marriage).

Fantasy is a type of story that has been noticed in the literature of children and teenagers in recent years. The Possessed of Badyan Island is a teenage novel and a fantasy story written by Badri Mashhadhi. In the present research, this story has been analyzed in terms of the elements and structure of fantasy and climate literature by analytical-descriptive and library method. In this research, a new definition of the genre of fantasy has been presented under the title of climatic fantasy, and by examining the mentioned novel, it has been shown that the story of The Possessed of Badyan Island is a climatic fantasy. Also, by using the climatic fantasy genre, in addition to creating a gothic and scary story with a local atmosphere, the author not only satisfied the need for excitement of teenagers, but also directed the attention of teenagers from similar foreign to local and Iranian examples. It has also used the climate fantasy genre to familiarize the audience with the culture, history, customs, superstitions, etc. of a specific region. Therefore, this story can be considered an example of an Iranian climatic fantasy story.