Volume 17, Issue 68 (2025)
LCQ 2025, 17(68): 185-223 |
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askari ر, GHolamHossienZade G, Khodayar E. The Characteristics of the Tazriq Style
in the Poetry of Foqi Yazdi. LCQ 2025; 17 (68) :185-223
URL: http://lcq.modares.ac.ir/article-29-77766-en.html
URL: http://lcq.modares.ac.ir/article-29-77766-en.html
1- Tarbiat Modares University
2- Tarbiat Modares University ,gholamho@modares.ac.ir
2- Tarbiat Modares University ,
Abstract: (224 Views)
“Tazriq" style is one of the sub-styles of poetry in the popular period of Indian style. But this style did not become popular even during the Indian style era. Therefore, only a few verses of “Tazriq” style poetry are left. And there is little information about this style in biographies. So, with the information written in the biographies, it is not possible to understand what Tazriq poetry is and what are its basics. In the contemporary era, several articles have been written about Tazriq But most of the researchers, without paying attention to the historical, social and literary background of Tazriq, have studied it with new approaches of literary theories. So the previous ambiguities and questions have not been resolved yet. In this research, we want to find out the basics of Tazriq poetry with a descriptive-analytical method, considering the historical context, especially by studying Tazriq poetry and the opinion of Tazriq poets about Tazriq poetry. For this purpose, we have chosen the manuscript of Otuznameh by Mollah Foqi Yazdi, which is the largest and best source available in this field. Foqi Yazdi stated in the introduction of the book and in the text of the Otuznameh that he wrote all the poems and sentences of his work in the Tazriq style. He gave explanations about the reason for choosing the Tazriq style, based on which we can explain the fundamentals of Tazriq.
Introduction
Tazriq is one of the literary styles that has been less recognized than it should be. It is one of the literary styles that were developed in the Safavid period, within the framework of the Indian style. Due to the complexity of the texts, there is a limited literature about it in contemporary researches. Tazriq relies on linguistic playfulness, disproportionate similes and metaphors, parody, and the use of invented or rarely used words. It also has a social and cultural critical aspect. The only complete text of this tradition that remains today is Otooz Nameh, written by Mulla Foqi Yazdi. In this paper, we analyze this manuscript in the context of the Indian style to understand what Tazriq is.
Literature Review
The most important works related to Tazriq are as follows. Zarrinkoob considers Tazriq to be folk poetry. Akhavan considers it a parody. Fotoohi and Tarbiat examine, albeit very briefly, the stylistic and linguistic features of Tazriq. Shafieyoon considers it meaningless. Zamani and Rzaei focused on Foqi and uncovered some, but not all, aspects of his work.
Methodology
The method is descriptive-analytical and based on the manuscript of Ottz Nameh. At one point, we use a comparative approach to compare Foqi’s poem with those in the Indian style.
Stylistic Features of Tazriq
1.Content features
Humor and satire: Tazriq makes extensive use of humor and satire to express social and cultural criticism. In the introduction to Otooz Nameh, Foqi explicitly states that his aim in the book, in particular, and in his works, in generl, is to question popular beliefs, mainstream thinking, social injustice, and abnormal behaviors in society through humor and satire. In this part, he follows poets like Anwari, Soozani and Zakani.
Parody: Foqi parodies Shirin and Farhad (by Nezami Ganjawi) and Khosro and Shirin (by Vahshi Bafqi). In these parodies, he reconstructs and even deconstructs the structure of these classical stories for the sake of social and cultural criticism.
Eros: Many of Foqi’s poems contain erotic and sexual content. Erotic imagery is part of his parody and humor. He uses these images and situations mainly to achieve one of his main goals: social criticism.
2. Linguistic features
Invented and unusual words: One of Foqi’s techniques for creating parodic situations is to construct new sentences and phrases that have not been used before in literary texts or even in ordinary language.
Paired words: Foqi uses paired words, some of which are used in folklore, such as ‘chep chep’, ‘mech mech’. These words help enhance the humor, satire, and parody in Foqi’s works.
Foreign words: Foreign words are used very frequently in Foqi’s poems. These are from Indian, Turkish, Arabic, and many others.
Irrelevant similes, metaphors and codes: Foqi used a lot of similes and metaphors that were not used before him. It is common for these clauses to contain inconsistencies and irrelevancies. Examples include ‘hemorrhoid of jealousy’ and ‘sourness of pleasure’.
Dropping and adding letters: In Ottoz Nameh, Foqi often adds or omits some letters in some words to set rhythm and meter, such as adding “i” to “atash” and omitting “r” from “bi-kar”.
3.Tazriq against Indian Style
Although Tazriq is a subgenre of the Indian style, it has its own distinctive features. Some of these features can be found in Indian style, but in Tazriq they are taken to an extreme. These features include irrelevant similes, metaphors and imagery, the extranormal pursuit of novelty in content and language, and complex and enigmatic imagery. In addition to these common features, Tazriq also has the following distinctive features: an emphasis on humor, satire, and parody.
Conclusion
In this paper, we provide textual and contextual evidence to show how we should understand Tazriq poetry, based on Mulla Foqi Yazdi’s book Otooz Nameh. As we argued, based on what Foqi explained in his work, Tazriq is not a meaningless style of poetry, but has its own thought and artistic structure. Its structure is made up of some linguistic features (such as use of invented and unusual words, paired words, foreign words, irrelevant similes, metaphors and codes, deletion and addition of letters) and content factors (such as humor and satire, parody, eroticism). In addition, it has distinctive features that distinguish it from the Indian style: a focus on humor, satire and parody for social and cultural criticism.
Introduction
Tazriq is one of the literary styles that has been less recognized than it should be. It is one of the literary styles that were developed in the Safavid period, within the framework of the Indian style. Due to the complexity of the texts, there is a limited literature about it in contemporary researches. Tazriq relies on linguistic playfulness, disproportionate similes and metaphors, parody, and the use of invented or rarely used words. It also has a social and cultural critical aspect. The only complete text of this tradition that remains today is Otooz Nameh, written by Mulla Foqi Yazdi. In this paper, we analyze this manuscript in the context of the Indian style to understand what Tazriq is.
Literature Review
The most important works related to Tazriq are as follows. Zarrinkoob considers Tazriq to be folk poetry. Akhavan considers it a parody. Fotoohi and Tarbiat examine, albeit very briefly, the stylistic and linguistic features of Tazriq. Shafieyoon considers it meaningless. Zamani and Rzaei focused on Foqi and uncovered some, but not all, aspects of his work.
Methodology
The method is descriptive-analytical and based on the manuscript of Ottz Nameh. At one point, we use a comparative approach to compare Foqi’s poem with those in the Indian style.
Stylistic Features of Tazriq
1.Content features
Humor and satire: Tazriq makes extensive use of humor and satire to express social and cultural criticism. In the introduction to Otooz Nameh, Foqi explicitly states that his aim in the book, in particular, and in his works, in generl, is to question popular beliefs, mainstream thinking, social injustice, and abnormal behaviors in society through humor and satire. In this part, he follows poets like Anwari, Soozani and Zakani.
Parody: Foqi parodies Shirin and Farhad (by Nezami Ganjawi) and Khosro and Shirin (by Vahshi Bafqi). In these parodies, he reconstructs and even deconstructs the structure of these classical stories for the sake of social and cultural criticism.
Eros: Many of Foqi’s poems contain erotic and sexual content. Erotic imagery is part of his parody and humor. He uses these images and situations mainly to achieve one of his main goals: social criticism.
2. Linguistic features
Invented and unusual words: One of Foqi’s techniques for creating parodic situations is to construct new sentences and phrases that have not been used before in literary texts or even in ordinary language.
Paired words: Foqi uses paired words, some of which are used in folklore, such as ‘chep chep’, ‘mech mech’. These words help enhance the humor, satire, and parody in Foqi’s works.
Foreign words: Foreign words are used very frequently in Foqi’s poems. These are from Indian, Turkish, Arabic, and many others.
Irrelevant similes, metaphors and codes: Foqi used a lot of similes and metaphors that were not used before him. It is common for these clauses to contain inconsistencies and irrelevancies. Examples include ‘hemorrhoid of jealousy’ and ‘sourness of pleasure’.
Dropping and adding letters: In Ottoz Nameh, Foqi often adds or omits some letters in some words to set rhythm and meter, such as adding “i” to “atash” and omitting “r” from “bi-kar”.
3.Tazriq against Indian Style
Although Tazriq is a subgenre of the Indian style, it has its own distinctive features. Some of these features can be found in Indian style, but in Tazriq they are taken to an extreme. These features include irrelevant similes, metaphors and imagery, the extranormal pursuit of novelty in content and language, and complex and enigmatic imagery. In addition to these common features, Tazriq also has the following distinctive features: an emphasis on humor, satire, and parody.
Conclusion
In this paper, we provide textual and contextual evidence to show how we should understand Tazriq poetry, based on Mulla Foqi Yazdi’s book Otooz Nameh. As we argued, based on what Foqi explained in his work, Tazriq is not a meaningless style of poetry, but has its own thought and artistic structure. Its structure is made up of some linguistic features (such as use of invented and unusual words, paired words, foreign words, irrelevant similes, metaphors and codes, deletion and addition of letters) and content factors (such as humor and satire, parody, eroticism). In addition, it has distinctive features that distinguish it from the Indian style: a focus on humor, satire and parody for social and cultural criticism.
Article Type: Original Research |
Subject:
Literary types
Received: 2024/10/31 | Accepted: 2025/01/27 | Published: 2025/02/28
Received: 2024/10/31 | Accepted: 2025/01/27 | Published: 2025/02/28
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