Search published articles


Showing 13 results for Narratives


Volume 6, Issue 25 (12-2009)
Abstract


 
Saeed Bozorg Bigdeli, Ph.D.
Hossein Ali Qobadi, , Ph.D.
Seyyed Ali Qasemzadeh
 
Abstract
Myths are among those mass narratives which are constantly reconstructed, recreated, or reprocessed in a variety of forms due to their interconnection with archetypes and symbols. One of the best grounds for the emergence of myths’ manifestations in the contemporary era is in the form of novel. Surely, the tight link and mutual requisiteness of fiction with the world’s new events, added to the narrative features of novel and the potential of this contemporary fictional form in the reflection of diverse subjects and tastes, methods, manners, styles, that is in addition to the display of the common and popular thoughts, beliefs and discourses in the society, all together made the structure and narrative elements of novel become the most vast ground for the emergence and manifestation of myths or even hinting to them. The aforementioned approach in novelists who base their work on myths, paves the way for the inter-textual analysis of mythological novels as they use and reflect myths; which is due to the attention they pay to conceptual indications and the intended symbolical myths in the mind.     
The recreation of myths in the form of narratives in the new era should be considered one of the prominent elements in the deep influence of postmodernism literature. In this relation, the present article intends to analyze “Salmargi”, with an inter-textual approach joined with narrative analysis. “Salmargi” is an Iranian post-modern fiction which has been shaped with two major and key mythological themes; one is the opposition of “life and death” in the form of mythological narratives of killing-the-son and the other “sacrifice”; with emphasize on the innocence and meekness of the heroes. While the major narration of the story is devoted to the Imposed War or rather influenced by it, “Salmargi” counts as one of the first post-modern experiences of the Iranian novelists about war.
 

Volume 7, Issue 29 (3-2011)
Abstract


 
Maryam Khalili Jehantigh,PH.D.
 
Abstract
Jalal Uddin Mohammad Maulavi, for presenting his exalted spiritual teachings, applied allegorical/proverbial narrations so that he could make deep messages and difficult Masnavi easier and identical for his audiences. For that matter, he most often looks for stories that have precedence in peoples’ minds but from the source of the story, he constructs his own narrative containing his messages. He was also intelligently impressive in narration and often employed the narrative elements, suitable with narrative capacities, in competition with modern story writing. In this research, with comparative methods, the narrative elements of two anecdotes of Masnavi and Elahinameh of Attar “requesting to Christ by his companion to make skeleton alive” have been studied with the aim to highlight strength and weakness of each of these anecdotes and to analyze the manners of utilizing elements such as plan and plot, characters, discourse, angle, stage-management, place and time, casting difficulties, resolving difficulties and narrative themes in the forms of comparison.
 
 

Volume 9, Issue 18 (3-2023)
Abstract

The present study aimed to analyze the frequent errors in the narrations and hadiths translation of Arabic translation students works to categorize their errors, identify the causes of each type of error and explain their correctness method. To this aim, was used descriptive-analytical method based on the Christian Nord's model for categorizing the translation errors. He divided their errors to four groups of semantic, cultural, linguistic, and specific to the text type. Based on this model, the errors of translators in this study were mean occurrence frequency: semantic (98.3%), specific to the text type (94.3%), linguistic (72.5%) and cultural (55%). Similarly, the reason for their errors in any kind is weakness in these themes: "Reconstruction of logical relationships between sentences in translation," "Transferring the meaning of elements specific to the discourse of hadiths and narratives," "Understanding the linguistic construction of sentences and conveying their exact meaning," and "Conveying the implications of cultural interpretations and cultural elements." Correction of these errors in teaching depends on the use of a systematic set of narratives and hadiths that are categorized based on a variety of errors to improve the translation skills of students in solving the challenges of translating these texts regularly by practicing various samples.


Samira Bameshki,
Volume 9, Issue 34 (8-2016)
Abstract

The plot of some narratives is structured in a way that it can encapsulate paradoxical and opposite states. Conceptualization of these kinds of narratives based on classic cosmology to which most of us are accustomed is not possible; another cosmology such as quantum cosmology, however, might be helpful. The text can be interpreted through “multiverse theory,” because in this cosmological framework of quantum mechanics the conjoining of the opposite states is possible. This article is an interdisciplinary attempt to analyze different kinds of the so-called “multiverse narratives.” The major question of this article is to explore the relationship between the notion of parallel universes in physics and narrative semantics. My purpose is to find out the function of the notion of parallel worlds in narrative semantics. Thus, I argue that various sorts of multiverse narratives invite the reader to reflect on the nature of space, time, identity, and memory by challenging the boundary between actual and virtual world.

Volume 11, Issue 5 (11-2020)
Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has been with us, for almost a year now. It has affected our lives in multiple ways and challenged our achievements as well. Daily life has changed in aspects we never would have imagined. We had to change our habits and behaviors quickly in order to assure the health of our family, our neighbors and the rest of the world. While facing this “unprecedented” situation, there are terms that appear to describe the health crisis and its consequences. This planetary pandemic has also changed human behavior.
In this article, we will see how the word Covid-19, a real agent of change in our existence, initiated changes in language and our behavior. Indeed, within the generative process of meaning as envisioned by semiotics, Covid-19 is an actant that crosses the different stages of process, from denomination to discourse. The discursive effervescence of Covid-19 is narrative. It appears as the prototype of the anti-subject. Perfect and absolute embodiment of evil. A single narrative program motivates it: propagation. We also see also that Covid-19 is no longer just the anti-subject of this story. It truly becomes the Anti-Sender, leading in the shadows an army of villains, capable of reinventing themselves at one’s leisure. This is a spectacular example of actantial cumulation.
Parsa Yaghoobi Janbeh Saraei, Mansoor Rahimi,
Volume 11, Issue 42 (9-2018)
Abstract

Biographical reports are a form of mystical narrativization that interpellates subjects with the aim of legitimization or delegitimization and organizes a fact or some facts in their favor or against them. A better understanding of these constructed facts requires explanation of the methods through which the plot of these reports are made from a discursive point of view. This study classifies and analyzes the discursive construction of plot in Hallaj narratives as a prototype of the two levels of legitimization and delegitimization in the biographical reports/accounts of fifthteen mystical books. To describe the process of signification and interpretation, some references are made to the concepts of Max Weber and Theo-Won Lyon for the legitimization process; some concepts by Foucault and Mary Douglas are also cited for delegitimization process. The result suggests that a group with a romantic-qalandari attitude have tried to legitimize Hallaj with the attribution of a form of authority, along with a positive moral assessment and mythologization to his narratives. Another group with an ascetic-religious attitude citing examples of religious-sharia and cultural-conventional disorder attributed to Hallaj, or his representation with an aim of removal or secrecy, have served the discourse of his exclusion and delegitimization. A third group have taken a middle standpoint. Although they have often defended Hallaj, in some cases they have raised some negative aspects of his life without any defense. Looking at these standpoints, it can be assumed that the type of stances are based on the epistemic-ideological world of the biographers...



Volume 12, Issue 2 (5-2021)
Abstract

The focus of this research is on lingual instruments which can be used for tracing a single identity through the text. 80 girls and women attended in this study and narrated the Pear Story. Pear Story is a universal nonverbal film which is designed by Chafe in 1980. The data were stored and were analyzed by statistical tests. For qualitative analysis the concept of Roach’s basic level was used. Both groups were equal in using the hyponym words but they were different in using the opposite side. They also were different in tracing the identity of words. It means that they have referent to a word after its first mentioning, although equal referring to a word in all text had high frequency in both groups. It seems that children became similar in their vocabulary to adults; but based these results we have to consider the differences in every content.
1. Introduction
The emergence of the narrative almost coincides with the first memories that adults remember from their childhood. It can be said that narrative is a representation of an event or a set of events (Abbott, 2002, p. 13). Narration is the main subject of this study and to do that, 40 9-year-old children and 40 females 22- to 18-year-old adults have orally told a non-verbal film, the "Pear" story. Made by Chief (1980), the film is used as a universal tool for extracting information from translating non-linguistic experience into linguistic storytelling. The purpose of this film is to extract and study linguistic examples from all over the world. Data from some languages, including English, German, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, and Mayan Indians, have been reviewed, analyzed, and compared, but there is no room for a detailed study of Persian data. In this research, the method of word selection and the quality of preserving the identity of those words throughout what is mentioned in the oralization of this narration are investigated.
Oralization of characters and objects in discourse is a limited but important area. When the speaker encounters an object whose understanding needs to be explained, the object must first be introduced in discourse as an objective phenomenon, and then it must be traced through the inference of the narrative. The main question that arises in this research is how objects are introduced and followed in discourse? Also, we seek to know what are the characteristics of the word choice of female children and adults in the expression of the narrative? The zero hypotheses that can be considered in response are as follows:
  • Vocabulary selection is the same at the whole and part level for the two age groups.
  • The choice of vocabulary, including super-ordinate, hyponym, co- hyponym, pronoun and metaphor, is equal in both age groups.
  • The traces of the words’ identity in the first reference in the narration and in the subsequent references are equal in the two age groups.
2. Methodology
In this research, the participants' choice of words to refer to specific phenomena has been investigated. While words have meaning and significance, they participate only in a part of the general conceptualization and the complete understanding of the sentence depends on the Encyclopedic knowledge (Langacker, 1987). Rosch et al. (1976) state "Among all levels of abstraction in which anything can be classified, there is a level of abstraction where the most information is obtained with the least cognitive effort, which we call the ‘main’ level." In this research, this concept and the semantic relationship of hyponymy are used to evaluate word selection.
Eighty participants in two equal groups of girls and women participated in this study. The age of the child participants was 9 years and the age of the adult participants was 18 to 22 years. First, a 6-minute non-verbal film "Pear Film" was shown to participants. Before showing the film, participants were told that they were going to see a film and then tell the researcher what they had seen. Finally, the recorded data were transcribed in the same way as dialogs.
Just as it is possible to break the "picking" process into several sub-events, it is also possible to refer to the participants in each process as a whole or as part of the whole. For example, when it was said "gardener", the word was placed in the whole (human) category, but the phrase "hand" was placed in the part category. Finally, in the discussion of word choice, the concept of identity trace is introduced, that is, the word used at the beginning of a narrative to refer to a particular case, is it repeated in the same way until the end or are they replaced by other words that convey the same meaning? To investigate this case, it was enough to examine the identity of the word pear in 80 narrations.
Example: Main word: pear
Superordinate: fruit, crop, pear / fruit tree
Hyponymy: unripe pear
Co- hyponymy: quince, apple
Pronoun: that, one of
Metaphor: stolen meal, illegal property (In reference to the pear)
 
3. Results
The results of this study can be summarized as follows:
  •  Although there are only 7 actors in front of the multitude of objects and situations in the story, the reference to human beings has the most attention and focus;
  •  There is no relationship between the words used and the age group (child and adult) at the whole level.
  •  In contrast, there is a significant relationship between the words used and the age group (child and adult) at the part level and the choice of words depended on the age group
  •  In narration when there is more than one lexical choice, speakers prefer to refer to phenomena using words with a moderate degree of abstraction. It was seen that the choice of vocabulary level depends on the age group
  •  The data showed that there was no relationship between the onset of the term and the age variable (child and adult).
  •  According to the data, there is a significant relationship between the identity of the words used and the age variable (child and adult).
In fact, the two groups have focused differently on expressing a single concept. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that in general, lexical knowledge is not the same in the two identified age groups. This difference should logically be taken into account in the design of textbooks, storybooks, games, and anything in the realm of words related to children of this age

Volume 13, Issue 62 (5-2025)
Abstract

Dash Akol, the renowned hero of Shiraz, is one of the most prominent figures in Iranian folk and formal literature, with various narratives about his life and character in the local folklore of Shiraz. Inspired by these narratives, Sadegh Hedayat wrote the short story "Dash Akol" in 1932. Hedayat’s storytelling prowess and widespread reputation led his version to gradually become the dominant and established narrative of Dash Akol, ultimately overshadowing and erasing other local accounts. The alterations Hedayat introduced into the story profoundly shaped a new image of Dash Akol, transforming him into a flawless hero embodying ideals of masculinity and moral chastity. These changes not only reinvented the character but also reflected the cultural and social transformations in early 20th-century Iran, which were widely championed by intellectuals and writers. This study seeks to distance itself from Hedayat’s established narrative and instead examine alternative accounts of Dash Akol found in local Shirazi sources. These narratives often fundamentally differ from Hedayat’s version, offering distinct portrayals of Dash Akol’s physical traits, romantic relationships, and his death. The paper explores the cultural and literary motivations behind Hedayat’s revisions, demonstrating how his idealization of Dash Akol constructed a new mythical hero that aligned with the era’s cultural shifts and was likely influenced by Iran’s mystical, mythical, and intellectual discourses. This reconstruction not only reveals the interplay between dominant narratives and cultural change but also provides fresh insights into the adaptation of folklore into modern literary frameworks.

Introduction
Dāsh Ākol, the legendary pahlavān (hero) of Shiraz, holds a unique position in both Iranian folk and formal literature. Rooted in the culture of lūtīgarī (urban chivalry) and javānmardī (chivalric ethics) of Shiraz, numerous oral narratives about his bravery, conflicts, and life have circulated among the city’s inhabitants. Inspired by these local tales, Sadegh Hedayat, the pioneering modernist Iranian writer, penned the short story Dāsh Ākol in 1932. Hedayat’s literary prowess and his status as a prominent intellectual figure gradually elevated his version to the status of the “official” and canonical narrative of Dāsh Ākol, overshadowing other local accounts. This study critically examines this process, arguing that Hedayat’s alterations in representing Dāsh Ākol’s character not only reflect Iran’s sociocultural transformations in the early 20th century but also embody the intellectual efforts to redefine national identity through literature.


Theoretical background
This study is grounded in two key concepts of narratology: canonical narrative and alternative narratives. Drawing on Monika Fludernik’s Towards a Natural Narratology (1996), canonical narratives are products of the cultural and institutional power of dominant groups, sustained through repetition and naturalization. These narratives often homogenize reality by marginalizing or distorting peripheral voices. Gerald Prince, in Narratology: The Form and Functioning of Narrative (1982), emphasizes the significance of alternative narratives, which emerge from oral

Main Discussion
Physical attributes: From imperfection to idealization
In Shirazi oral traditions, Dāsh Ākol is described with notable physical disabilities: his right hand is severed, and his left leg is amputated. The term “kal” in the Shirazi dialect, meaning “disabled,” refers to these traits, portraying him as vulnerable and flawed. However, Hedayat eliminates these imperfections. His Dāsh Ākol is a “burly man with a noble face,” bearing only facial scars. This transformation idealizes him as a paragon of physical and moral perfection, reminiscent of the “ensān-e kāmel” (perfect human) in Iranian mysticism.

Romantic relationships: From taboo to noble love
Local sources rarely mention Dāsh Ākol’s romantic engagements, except for a rare account from Kākā Rostam’s follower. According to this narrative, Dāsh Ākol harbored a romantic attachment to a young male follower who had a sexual relationship with Marjān. To protect the follower, Dāsh Ākol falsely claimed responsibility. Such homoerotic undertones align with lūtīgarī traditions. Hedayat, however, reconfigures this entirely. In his story, Dāsh Ākol secretly loves Marjān, the daughter of Hājji Samad, concealing his passion until death. This shift is not merely literary but reflects early 20th-century social changes. Intellectuals sought to purge “immoral” elements (e.g., homosexuality) from literature to redefine a “modern” Iranian identity. By substituting heteronormative love, Hedayat refashions Dāsh Ākol into a paragon of chastity compatible with emerging modern ethics.

Death: From rrebel to victim of unjust murder
Local narratives attribute Dāsh Ākol’s death to his conflict with Alā al-Dawla, the ruler of Fars. One account claims he was betrayed, arrested during a sanctuary in Shahcheragh Shrine, and tortured to death. Hedayat, however, reimagines his death as a duel with Kākā Rostam, who treacherously stabs him from behind. This unjust murder evokes Shi’ite paradigms (e.g., Imam Hussein) and mythic Iranian tropes (e.g., Siavash), symbolizing heroic sacrifice marred by betrayal. By aligning Dāsh Ākol’s demise with these archetypes, Hedayat elevates him to a timeless, transcendent hero.

The analysis of Hedayat’s motivations
Hedayat’s revisions align with early 20th-century intellectual projects:
Sanitization: Transforming Dāsh Ākol into an idealized “perfect human” embodying national virtues (chivalry, loyalty, chastity).
Modernization: Erasing non-normative elements (homosexuality) and replacing them with romantic love, compatible with modern morality.
Mythmaking: Framing his death through Iranian-Islamic tragic tropes to foster audience empathy.
National Identity: Crafting a hero rooted in tradition yet harmonized with modern ideals.

Conclusion
Hedayat’s Dāsh Ākol is not merely a literary adaptation of Shirazi folklore but a project to redefine Iranian cultural identity on modernity’s threshold. By erasing physical flaws, reconfiguring romance, and reconstructing heroic death, Hedayat creates a character that bridges Iran’s mystical heritage and the needs of a transitioning society. These changes highlight the power of canonical narratives in shaping collective memory while underscoring the necessity of alternative narratives to uncover historical complexities.
This study demonstrates that literature not only reflects reality but actively reconstructs it. Hedayat skillfully reframed folklore into a modern mold to bolster national identity and advance intellectual discourse. However, reviving alternative narratives allows us to critique this process and unearth hidden historical layers. Ultimately, the article emphasizes preserving narrative diversity and resisting cultural homogenization.
 

Seyyed Mehdi Dadras,
Volume 14, Issue 55 (10-2021)
Abstract

Abstract
Sufi narratives are ever susceptive to psychoanalytic studies per the extent of their detailed experiences and also their main function, which is to incite a kind of “mystical experience” in the reader. Accordingly, the present study attempts to introduce a novel classification of these narratives in line with the psychoanalytic concept of “transference”. In this classification, the selection of Sufi narratives and the anecdotes of Asrār-al-Tawḥid in particular, are regarded as a macro-narrative that depicts the process of psychotherapy with a focus on the concept of transference. Each micro-narrative could be categorized under one of the stages involved within the process. In this point of view, the function of most of the anecdotal narratives (Taḍkiras) is apt to be seen as corresponding to one or a number of these stages. In effect, the reader of a single text encounters all these stages in different ways, albeit in a non-linear process, by the end of the reading. These stages, defined by reference to Freudʼs views and his structuralist follower, Lacan's, are listed as: 1) establishing the subject supposed to know, 2) resistance/denial, 3) the random object of the sign, and 4) mission. Yet, the choice of Asrār al-Tawḥid in this case study has been due to several reasons, including the inclusion of morer diverse narratives than other anecdotal narratives as well as the profound impact of this text on the later Sufi narratives.
Extended Abstract
Introduction: Farzi and Pourkhaleghi Chatroudi (2009) have studied “the imaginaryˮ and “the realˮ in the personality of “Harun al-Rashid”, which is relevant to some remarks of this study. Paul (2014, translated by Ghafoori, 2016, p. 28) has implicitly highlighted the status similarity between the psychoanalyst and “walī” i.e. Sufi master. Dehghani Yazdeli and Edraki (2019, p. 149) have adopted the term “impulse” to refer to the stimulus for the evolution of narrative characters, which is corresponding to the interpretation of “the random object of the sign” in this study. Barati Khansari and Ebnali Charmhini (2020, p. 287) have referred to the “occult knowledge of the helping person” in Proppʼs views, which is linked to the concept of the “subject supposed to know,” in the present study.
Goals, Questions, Assumptions: The present discussion is subject to the reader-response psychological critique. In terms of psychoanalytic critique, the anecdote genre occupies a unique status within the Sufi texts. In the present article, the collection of Sufi narratives is regarded as a macro-narrative that depicts the process of psychotherapy with a focus on the concept of “transference,” and each micro-narrative is categorized as one of the stages involved in this process.
 
Discussion: Classification of Narratives
1. Establishing the Subject Supposed to Know
The subject supposed to know (cf. Evans, 2006, p. 214) is, in fact, the psychoanalyst himself/herself, to whom the patient attributes such authority. The main function of many Sufi narratives is to establish the very subject. These narratives are divided into two groups: (1) Narratives in which the mystic conceals his identity from a common persona, and the person never recognizes the identity and name of the mystic. (2) Narrations in which the common persona recognizes the identity of the mystic by the denouement of the narrative. In the first category’s narratives, the mystical enjoyment and experience pertain solely to the “mystic” and the “reader.” In such narratives, the mystic/reader perceives the happenings from the level of the “absolute conscious,” i.e. God. In the second category’s narratives, the common persona also partakes in this mystical enjoyment and experience.
2. Resistance/Denial
For Lacan, resistance pertains to the “the imaginary.” The Sufiʼs aim in provoking denial in the disciple is to solidify the subject supposed to know. The author distinguishes two distinct patterns in resistance-oriented narratives: (1) “I know it is legitimate, but I do not do it.” In this model, the Sufi acts or speaks against common sense or custom or the authority of Sharia. (2) “I know it is illegitimate, but I do it.” Such narratives often include Malamati themes.
3. Random Object of the Sign
At this point, the resistance is broken and the object enters the signifying chain. The Aristotelian interpretation of this incident is “anagnorisis,” which implies the “transition from ignorance to knowledge” (Payendeh, 2018, p. 72). Lacan upholds two types of knowledge, namely the imaginary knowledge and symbolic knowledge (Evans, 2006, p. 96), the former of which pertains to the ego and the latter to the subject (ibid.); and achieving the latter is deemed as the aim of psychoanalysis. The only means of achieving this knowledge is through a particular form of speech designated as “free association” (ibid.). From a mystical point of view, the individual is pre-guided too, and the mystic presents the individual simply with random objects that act as the signifier of “that sign.” In many Sufi narratives, a particular theme is portrayed: the object sent by the mystic is regarded as a sign from God, leading to the transformation of the individual.
4. Mission
At this stage, the therapy/transformation process concludes and the individual’s pursuit/mission begins. The hero of such narratives is not a commoner on the verge of a spiritual revolution, but a mystic who has risen as the Caliph of God and bestows meaning upon creation and people’s deeds with his presence and effort, as the master signifier. According to Lacan, the mystic has evolved into a subject who fills the void of “the big Other”.
Conclusion: In classification and adaptation of the narratives to the psychoanalytic stages (both Freudian and Lacanian), the author highlights the association of each stage with the concept of “transference” - either as its preparation or consequence. Altogether, the study examines the entirety of the Asrār al-Tawḥidʼs narratives from the perspective of a single process (psychoanalysis), in which each narrative represents a fragment of the macro-narrative. The main function of the text in such a view is evoking the mystical experience in the reader, rediscovering symbolic knowledge, guiding, and ultimately, reminding one of one’s mission.

میلاد جعفرپور, Abbas Mohammadian,
Volume 16, Issue 61 (7-2023)
Abstract

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.
 

Volume 16, Issue 64 (9-2019)
Abstract

Allusion is one of the oldest and most used rhetorical figures that enriches the semantic and linguistic beauty of poetry. However, in contemporary literature and poetry, the growth of literary knowledge and the development of literary criticism studies has led to variety and complexity of the use of this literary figure in poetry whose examination and analysis of structural delicacies and their mechanisms require more accurate studies with new approaches. Therefore, the present study seeks to investigate structure of Qur’anic-narrative allusions in poems collection of Shafiee Kadkani in a new approach through descriptive-analytical methods in order to find out based on which form techniques, Shafiee Kadkani has used Qur’an narrations in his poetic allusions and therefore, what types of allusion can be seen in his poems?
According to the results, Shafiee Kadkani is a poet who in his narrative- Qur’nic allusions has used different parts of famous and well-known Qur'anic stories innovatively with varied and complicated structural and artistic transgressions which has created different kinds of simile, structural, ironic, multi aspects, combinational, echoic, and Proper naming allusion in his poems
Saeede Mazloumian, Bahareh Jalali Farahani,
Volume 17, Issue 68 (2-2025)
Abstract

In the play Death of Yazdgerd, Bahram Beyzai challenges the conventional historical narratives surrounding the death of Yazdgerd. The characters improvise both plausible and implausible micronarratives about the king’s murder. The play investigates, on one hand, the grand narrative in which divine power grants the king the authority to govern the populace, and on the other hand, the micronarratives that challenge the logic of this absolutist monarchy. The research also demonstrates Beyzai’s techniques to deconstruct the grand narrative and recontextualizing it within the level of micronarratives.


Volume 20, Issue 1 (1-2013)
Abstract

Today, there is a plethora of literature on the process of accelerating growth of science and technology in Iran. Assuming technology as a social construct of modern society, and in the light of Ricoeurian hermeneutic approach, this paper aims, first, to show the resemblance of the current discursive relationship between the Iranian society and technology to a "discourse of faith" and, second to explain how this discourse has roots in the preceding one which can be considered as a "discourse of suspicion". To do so, the paper first, builds a conceptual model based on the Ricoeurian theory of interpretation, where, by analogy, modern technology is compared to the text and the user of the technology as its reader. Then, it introduces two episodes of relationship between technology and its Iranian users in the public policy of the post-revolutionary era: distanciation and appropriation. It concludes that the current growth of scientific endeavors serves as the material base for an Iranian discourse of techno-nationalism; a new self-identification which motivates the elites to develop new bases for national self-esteem.

Page 1 from 1