Bipolar Readings concerning Shahnameh in expressing two entities of woman and peace
Subject Areas : Tectonostratigraphy
1 - Assistant Professor, Persian Literature, Pishva Islamic Azad University, Varamin branch, Pishva, Iran
Keywords: Woman, Peace, Bipolar reading,
Abstract :
In the last decades we are faced with the paradoxical readings of Shahnameh in particular concernig two aspects of woman and peace. Regardless of the spirit of the time of composition of the work, and the exigency of the literary genre, one takes Shahnameh to the extreme of the feministic approach while the other regards it as a totally anti feministic work. Merely based on the narrator’s contemplations one regards Shahnameh as a work in protest of war whereas another relying on the fabricated evidence regards it not only in praise of warship but also regards it in favor of massacre. The research introduces this type of criticism by giving its definition, revealing its methods, approaches and its special style, and also provides analysis from different perspectives referring to the reason behind its appearance. The conclusion is that although at first glance bipolar readings seem unrelated and contradictory, yet in fact they emerge from one unique circumstance, have considerable resemblances with one another, one is the consequence of the other. By nature they are not able to converse with one another nor with the text under criticism and merely are bound within a vicious circle. This research shows that in fact bipolar readings regarding Shahnameh run a proxy war and instead of revealing a truth from the text, implicitly represent a modern experience and a special circumstance from the contemporary Iran. Belief in truth and functionality of tradition and its denial, wishing for Iran’s unity and its reverse, belief in the historical truth of Iran’s Unity and its opposite are some examples of the bipolar readings which has its roots in the emotional and mental behavior of a bipolar society whose history on one hand and its experience in facing the new era on the other hand has turned it into a pessopotimist or rather its pessooptimism prepared the ground for its confrontation with the world and the text. Finally the research explains why Shahnameh lends itself to this type of criticism and points to the meaning inherent in Shahnameh they all acknowledge, and hereby gives a new understanding of the cultural nature and the unique standpoint of Shahnameh in the Persian culture.
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