نقد روش‌شناختی تاریخ‌نگار تصویرگرا یا شاعر فرمالیست

In any scientific research, the research method is the main factor in obtaining accurate and correct results. Therefore, researchers in various fields of science try to conduct their research within the framework of methods defined in their discipline. “The Imagist Historian or Formalist Poet” is a book in which the author intends to study the poems of MohammadReza Shafi'i Kadkani by using three methods of historical, sociological and formalist criticism. The present article, in order to measure the accuracy of the approaches in this book, first examines its name, which represents the author's view of the work under study and then he has examined the quality of the author's use of approaches. After reviewing, it is clear that the author has made a mistake in applying all three main approaches of the book. In the end, such a conclusion is reached that the author does not have comprehensive knowledge of the methods he has chosen as research approach, and the book is devoid of any method that leads to accurate and scientific results.

Extended Abstract

Introduction

Every coherent and purposeful scientific research needs a method. Methodology in literary research leads to "increasing efficiency" and "measurability" which are two important indicators of science. But conducting methodical research first of all requires familiarity with the used method and approach and then its correct application. The “Tarikhnegāre Tasvirgārā yā Shāere formalist” [the Imagist historian or formalist poet] written by Yusuf Aali Abbas Abad is a book that tries to examine Mohammadreza Shafi'i Kadkani's poems with the approach of historical-sociological criticism and formalist criticism.

Methodology

The current research has investigated the quality of the book's used approaches, employing a descriptive-analytical approach and library method, using books on theory and research methods.

Discussion

Before dealing with the research approaches of this book, the name of the book, which in a way defines the content of the book, has been reviewed. Aali called Shafi'i Kadkani an Imagist historian, but the subject examined in this book is Shafi'i's poetry, and Shafi'i, like all poets, has an aesthetic encounter with historical phenomena in his poetry, which has a considerable distance from historiography. The author used the terms “imagery” and “historian”, yet did not elaborate on these two terms throughout the book. The author of this book considers Shafi'i Kadkani to be a follower of a school called formalism, which has principles. This is despite the fact that basically formalism is not a literary school like romanticism and surrealism. Formalism is a way of evaluating the text and we should put it under the science of literary criticism. Also, in our literary circles, the title of formalist is often attributed to the poets who belonged to the avant-garde group, but Shafi'i Kadkani's poetry does not belong to any of the avant-garde trends.

The author considered the main goal of his research to be the historical and sociological criticism of Shafi'i Kadkani's poems. There is not much affinity between what the author of the book brings as internal and external criticism and what is discussed in the historical criticism. This issue is due to the fact that he called the description of historical events that Shafi'i mentioned in his poems "historical criticism", by mistake.

Sociological criticism is another approach of this research. According to the definition of sociological criticism, it should be said that most of Aali's content in this book cannot be considered as sociology of Shafi'i's poetry; because the content of this book that somehow communicate with the society are of two categories: There are some materials that he wrote about the social situation in Iran, especially Khorasan after the Mongol attack, citing various sources. Talking about the state of the society of the distant ages, which is mentioned in the poet's poems, cannot be called a sociological study of a work. There are also references about the time and context of writing some of Shafi'i Kadkani's poems, which the author also deciphers from some of the symbols of his poetry. In these cases, the author did not talk about the influence of social conditions on the structure of the poems and only reflected the social and political concerns of Kadkani in his poems.

Another approach used by the author to examine Shafi'i's poetry is formalist criticism. If we define the form as follows: coherence and harmony between the elements that make up the form, including language, image, music and the meaning of the work, then there is a great distance between what the author of this book presented under the title of formalist criticism and the principles of formalist criticism. What Aali has presented in different parts of this book under the title of formalist criticism, refers to the existence of "alliteration" or cutting the verses in pieces of Shafi'i Kadkani's poems. Regarding what is mentioned under the title of Namānevesht, in most cases, it is just a kind of cutting and lining up.

Mixing two methods of historical-sociological criticism and formalist criticism is also one of the main flaws of this book. In mixing these two completely different methods, on the one hand, the research method will not be used correctly, and on the other hand, the goal and result of the research will not be accurate and reliable.

Another drawback of the method of criticism in this book is the position of the author as a critic of Shafi'i poems. What can be seen throughout this book is the praise of Shafi'i Kadkani's poetry, not its criticism.

Referencing style and used sources require attention as well. Many sources are used in this book. But these many sources are exact examples of providing decorative sources and unnecessary references. Some sources cited by the author are not academic texts.

Results

Although the author of the book defined approaches for his research, he has made mistakes in all three approaches due to lack of familiarity with the approaches. In general, this book cannot be considered a research book with accurate scientific findings and an acceptable poetry criticism. This book does not open any new windows and horizons on Shafi'i Kadkani's poems and if we consider the duty of such reviews to create pleasure in the reader as a result of getting to know the hidden angles and new discoveries in the work, then the respected author has not been very successful in this matter.