Volume 16, Issue 61 (2023)
LCQ 2023, 16(61): 35-73 |
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جعفرپور م, Mohammadian A. The Role of Motif Study in Determining the Literary Genre of Narratives: Based on Dārāb-Nāmeh, Qirān Habaši, Musayyab-Nāmeh. LCQ 2023; 16 (61) :35-73
URL: http://lcq.modares.ac.ir/article-29-66935-en.html
URL: http://lcq.modares.ac.ir/article-29-66935-en.html
1- FACULTY MEMBER OF HAKIM SABZEVARI UNIVERSITY , m.jafarpour@hsu.ac.ir
2- Faculty Member of Hakim Sabzevari University
2- Faculty Member of Hakim Sabzevari University
Abstract: (1069 Views)
Knowledge of literary genres is one of the oldest and most influential intertextual approaches that has been used to classify texts since the past and has been subject to change. But the background of the theory of genres in Iran is less than a century, and its justified application in a comprehensive way in many fields and literary trends is still facing ambiguities and challenges. For example, in classifying ancient narratives, the question arises: on what basis and with what considerations can the dominant literary genres in these texts be proved? The lack of serious research and criticism in response to this question has led researchers over the decades to classify ancient Persian stories by resorting to self-invented, unscientific literary terms without methodological explanation, while the common terms not only fail to give a comprehensive indication of the content and linguistic characteristics of such narratives, but even keep them in a genre indecision or lead them to several similar genres. Since one of the functions of motif study is to determine the literary genre of the texts, the present study has attempted to draw on the Aristotelian theory of genres to utilize this potential talent and prove for the first time through the method of inductive reasoning and relying on the statistical community based on the study various motifs of three stories of Abu Tahir Tarsusi that their literary genres belong to the epic.
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Prose stories, as one of the oldest currents of Persian literature, are voluminous and generally sequential texts (with supplementary appendices) and report on the actions of kings, generals, and warriors who are often in the shadow of history or in a few cases are basically imaginary and are considered to be created by the minds of storytellers.
1-1. Significance of the Study
Despite their ancient background, the Persian prose epics have not yet found a certain place in the history of Persian literature from the point of view of literary genres, and in research they are generally presented under vague terms such as story, legend, romance, folktale, fantasy, or romance. The above terms, in the absence of comprehensive information on the content and linguistic characteristics, are unable to determine the parent literary genre or subgenre for the above narratives, and often focus unilaterally on the type of narrative or some elements of the story, and sometimes overlap with other non-homogeneous texts. And they leave the literary genre of the text in limbo. Most importantly, researchers have not yet found a methodological and theoretical approach or a logical explanation to justify the use of these terms for the texts in question.
1-2. Problem
The main problem is how to get beyond the stage of asserting the genre and unrelated literary terms and reach the stage of hypothesizing the definition of literary genre and proving it through in-text investigations. So far, the researchers who have written in the field of criticism of fictional narratives have referred to the literary genre of fictional narratives only with short phrases and self-made titles, but the present research attempts to rely on the frequency of the statistical approach and the representation of the statistical community, the hypothesis of a coherent flow of narratives. Prove a story in the literary genre of the epic.
1-3. The Purpose and Method
The main purpose of the study is on the function of the thematic approach in determining the literary genre of the narrative, using a statistical method. Therefore, based on the theory of Aristotelian genres and using the thematic approach, the themes mentioned in the three narratives of Dārāb-Nāmeh, Qirān Habaši, Musayyab-Nāmeh were first analyzed in an inductive manner and divided into four sections: Epic and Ayyāri, Lyrical, Amazing and Dignity. Based on the obtained frequency results, the premise of determining their literary type is then proved.
1-4. Literature Review
Although studies have been done in the last decade on the subject of literary genre in the form of authorship and translation, the field of research focusing on Persian literature has been completely neglected due to the importance of motif in determining the literary genre of the text, and there is no research to support this.
1-5. Theoretical Basis
1-5-1. Motif
Motif is one of the terms defined by Russian formalists to understand the cause-effect relationships of the components of a narrative. "Motif" refers to structural and semantic elements such as actions, events, concepts, and objects that have become exemplary elements through repetition. Although it is not considered a fixed part of the narrative, it is a temporary feature that gains importance in a particular narrative situation and usually due to its repetition. Besides the central role of subtexts in knowing the cause-effect relationships of the components of the narrative, the most important function of subtexts is to help in the classification and typology of narratives, which has not received much attention so far.
1-5-2. Literary Genres
If we are to have a scientific view of literature, we should be able to classify literary works as far as possible, and to place similar kinds of literary works in special classes relatively rather than absolutely. After all, the most important characteristic of science is that it can classify; this task is accomplished in literary studies by the approach of "literary genres." Motif is considered one of the main characteristics of literary genres, and its role in this field has not received much attention so far. A literary genre is characterized by a set of features and formal structures that occur in an orderly, cohesive, and simultaneous manner, and motif is one of the most important features mentioned.
1-6. The Case
Since Abu Taher Tarsusi is considered the most prominent narrator in the field of ancient Persian prose narratives and a considerable number of authentic fictional texts are also attributed to him, motif analysis was given preference in determining the literary text type on the basis of the three selected narratives by Tarsusi, which are briefly presented below.
1-6-1. Abu Taher Tarsusi
Abu Taher Tarsusi was born at the beginning of the second half of the fifth century of the Hijri (450 AH) and the last period of his life coincided with the end of the first decade of the second half of the sixth century of the Hijri (560 AH). His works include Dārāb-Nāmeh, Qirān Habaši, Musayyab-Nāmeh, Abu Muslim-Nāmeh, Qahramān-Nāmeh, Farāmarz-Nāmeh, Houšang-Nāmeh, Ayyār-Nāmeh, Tavārikh-Nāmeh.
2. Discussion
2-1. Epic and Ayyāri Motifs
According to the results, 1534 instances of common epic and Ayyāri motifs were observed in all three narratives, and among them, Abu Taher Tarsusi provided the highest number of epic and Ayyāri motifs in Qirān Habaši with 549 instances. This is followed by Musayyab-Nāmeh with 538 cases and Dārāb-Nāmeh with 447 cases in second and third place.
2-2. Lyrical motifs
Based on the results, 270 instances of common lyrical motifs were observed in all three narratives, of which Abu Taher Tarsusi in Qirān Habaši provided the most space for lyrical motifs in Qirān Habaši with 125 instances. This is followed by Dārāb-Nāmeh with 117 instances and Musayyab-Nāmeh with 28 instances in second and third place.
2-3. Amazing motifs
Based on the results, 433 instances of surprising common motifs were observed in the three narratives, of which Abu Taher Tarsusi provided the most space for the occurrence of surprising motifs in Dārāb-Nāmeh with 303 instances. This is followed by Qirān Habaši with 77 cases and the Musayyab-Nāmeh with 53 cases in second and third place.
2-4. Dignity motifs
Based on the results, 275 common motifs of dignity were observed in the three narratives, of which Abu Taher Tarsusi in Dārāb-Nāmeh provided the most space for the expression of dignity motifs with 190 instances. This is followed by Qirān Habaši with 63 instances and Musayyab-Nāmeh with 22 instances in second and third place, respectively.
3. Conclusion
After examining the three narratives of Dārāb-Nāmeh, Qirān Habaši and Musayyab-Nāmeh using the motif analysis approach and evaluating the set of their motifs in four parts, according to the report, a total of 2512 common motifs have been identified from these narratives. With 1534 cases, amazing motifs with 433 cases, dignity motifs with 275 cases, and lyrical motifs with 270 cases have the highest frequency in the narratives. Based on this content approach, the three mentioned narratives show their obvious belonging to the epic genre among the long traditional narratives of Iran due to the predominance of epic motifs in them.
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
Prose stories, as one of the oldest currents of Persian literature, are voluminous and generally sequential texts (with supplementary appendices) and report on the actions of kings, generals, and warriors who are often in the shadow of history or in a few cases are basically imaginary and are considered to be created by the minds of storytellers.
1-1. Significance of the Study
Despite their ancient background, the Persian prose epics have not yet found a certain place in the history of Persian literature from the point of view of literary genres, and in research they are generally presented under vague terms such as story, legend, romance, folktale, fantasy, or romance. The above terms, in the absence of comprehensive information on the content and linguistic characteristics, are unable to determine the parent literary genre or subgenre for the above narratives, and often focus unilaterally on the type of narrative or some elements of the story, and sometimes overlap with other non-homogeneous texts. And they leave the literary genre of the text in limbo. Most importantly, researchers have not yet found a methodological and theoretical approach or a logical explanation to justify the use of these terms for the texts in question.
1-2. Problem
The main problem is how to get beyond the stage of asserting the genre and unrelated literary terms and reach the stage of hypothesizing the definition of literary genre and proving it through in-text investigations. So far, the researchers who have written in the field of criticism of fictional narratives have referred to the literary genre of fictional narratives only with short phrases and self-made titles, but the present research attempts to rely on the frequency of the statistical approach and the representation of the statistical community, the hypothesis of a coherent flow of narratives. Prove a story in the literary genre of the epic.
1-3. The Purpose and Method
The main purpose of the study is on the function of the thematic approach in determining the literary genre of the narrative, using a statistical method. Therefore, based on the theory of Aristotelian genres and using the thematic approach, the themes mentioned in the three narratives of Dārāb-Nāmeh, Qirān Habaši, Musayyab-Nāmeh were first analyzed in an inductive manner and divided into four sections: Epic and Ayyāri, Lyrical, Amazing and Dignity. Based on the obtained frequency results, the premise of determining their literary type is then proved.
1-4. Literature Review
Although studies have been done in the last decade on the subject of literary genre in the form of authorship and translation, the field of research focusing on Persian literature has been completely neglected due to the importance of motif in determining the literary genre of the text, and there is no research to support this.
1-5. Theoretical Basis
1-5-1. Motif
Motif is one of the terms defined by Russian formalists to understand the cause-effect relationships of the components of a narrative. "Motif" refers to structural and semantic elements such as actions, events, concepts, and objects that have become exemplary elements through repetition. Although it is not considered a fixed part of the narrative, it is a temporary feature that gains importance in a particular narrative situation and usually due to its repetition. Besides the central role of subtexts in knowing the cause-effect relationships of the components of the narrative, the most important function of subtexts is to help in the classification and typology of narratives, which has not received much attention so far.
1-5-2. Literary Genres
If we are to have a scientific view of literature, we should be able to classify literary works as far as possible, and to place similar kinds of literary works in special classes relatively rather than absolutely. After all, the most important characteristic of science is that it can classify; this task is accomplished in literary studies by the approach of "literary genres." Motif is considered one of the main characteristics of literary genres, and its role in this field has not received much attention so far. A literary genre is characterized by a set of features and formal structures that occur in an orderly, cohesive, and simultaneous manner, and motif is one of the most important features mentioned.
1-6. The Case
Since Abu Taher Tarsusi is considered the most prominent narrator in the field of ancient Persian prose narratives and a considerable number of authentic fictional texts are also attributed to him, motif analysis was given preference in determining the literary text type on the basis of the three selected narratives by Tarsusi, which are briefly presented below.
1-6-1. Abu Taher Tarsusi
Abu Taher Tarsusi was born at the beginning of the second half of the fifth century of the Hijri (450 AH) and the last period of his life coincided with the end of the first decade of the second half of the sixth century of the Hijri (560 AH). His works include Dārāb-Nāmeh, Qirān Habaši, Musayyab-Nāmeh, Abu Muslim-Nāmeh, Qahramān-Nāmeh, Farāmarz-Nāmeh, Houšang-Nāmeh, Ayyār-Nāmeh, Tavārikh-Nāmeh.
2. Discussion
2-1. Epic and Ayyāri Motifs
According to the results, 1534 instances of common epic and Ayyāri motifs were observed in all three narratives, and among them, Abu Taher Tarsusi provided the highest number of epic and Ayyāri motifs in Qirān Habaši with 549 instances. This is followed by Musayyab-Nāmeh with 538 cases and Dārāb-Nāmeh with 447 cases in second and third place.
2-2. Lyrical motifs
Based on the results, 270 instances of common lyrical motifs were observed in all three narratives, of which Abu Taher Tarsusi in Qirān Habaši provided the most space for lyrical motifs in Qirān Habaši with 125 instances. This is followed by Dārāb-Nāmeh with 117 instances and Musayyab-Nāmeh with 28 instances in second and third place.
2-3. Amazing motifs
Based on the results, 433 instances of surprising common motifs were observed in the three narratives, of which Abu Taher Tarsusi provided the most space for the occurrence of surprising motifs in Dārāb-Nāmeh with 303 instances. This is followed by Qirān Habaši with 77 cases and the Musayyab-Nāmeh with 53 cases in second and third place.
2-4. Dignity motifs
Based on the results, 275 common motifs of dignity were observed in the three narratives, of which Abu Taher Tarsusi in Dārāb-Nāmeh provided the most space for the expression of dignity motifs with 190 instances. This is followed by Qirān Habaši with 63 instances and Musayyab-Nāmeh with 22 instances in second and third place, respectively.
3. Conclusion
After examining the three narratives of Dārāb-Nāmeh, Qirān Habaši and Musayyab-Nāmeh using the motif analysis approach and evaluating the set of their motifs in four parts, according to the report, a total of 2512 common motifs have been identified from these narratives. With 1534 cases, amazing motifs with 433 cases, dignity motifs with 275 cases, and lyrical motifs with 270 cases have the highest frequency in the narratives. Based on this content approach, the three mentioned narratives show their obvious belonging to the epic genre among the long traditional narratives of Iran due to the predominance of epic motifs in them.
Article Type: Original Research |
Subject:
Literary types
Received: 2023/01/20 | Accepted: 2023/07/1 | Published: 2023/07/1
Received: 2023/01/20 | Accepted: 2023/07/1 | Published: 2023/07/1
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