Document Type : Research article
Authors
1 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran
Abstract
Highlights
Genre of Utopia in Persian Novel: Characteristics andFields ofOrigin
Alirezaasadi Associate Professorof university of Ilam
Mohammad taghijahani Assistant Professor of university of Ilam
SolaimanhashembaigiPh.D. student
Introduction
In the history of literature, various literary genres or types have gradually emerged and declined after a short or long period of time; Utopia is one of these types.In the philosophical concept, utopia is the idea of an ideal land in which man achieves all his wishes and desires, and utopian literature is a type of literature that depicts the values and desires of a society, which is the society of the author's era. So utopia is nothing but the depiction of a limited society, in which the human being achieves all his dreams, and outside of that society, poverty, corruption, and destruction prevail.Utopias are in the same genre in terms of overall structure (= based on imagination) and ultimate goal (= human happiness), but apart from this common structure, there are also differences in them. In a general classification and based on time, utopia is divided into two parts, past-oriented and future-oriented, and based on the ultimate goal, it can be classified into types such as immortal utopia, world peace utopia, abundant utopia, superior race utopia, etc.If we call utopia a concept, it has a long and deep historical background in human civilization and thought, but as a literary genre, its origin goes back to the beginning of the 16th century and the publication of the book Utopia (1516 AD) by Thomas More. And for the first time, it was Thomas More who used the word utopia for a fictional work, that is, his own book, and since then, utopia, apart from the title of Thomas More's book, has become a common name for all works that fall within the framework of this type of literature. In Persian language, utopia is also used with meanings such as: nowhere; Utopia; MadinahFadelah. These words are mentioned, but none of these words and combinations necessarily contains the entire meaning of the word utopia and represent each utopian idea in a specific area of Iranian history, culture and civilization.The container for expressing the idea of utopia is narratives, and the best format for its design is the novel. Due to the special features of the novel in terms of expression, characterization and being experimental, famous utopias such as Moore's UtopiaandThe voyage of Icaria have been designed in the form of a novel. In Persian literature, utopian literature has been depicted in the form of novels.Utopia, which presents an imaginary picture of a perfect society, is a genre born out of historical turning points. Iranian utopia is also the result of the special events of the era of constitutionalism and awakening. In contemporary fiction, works that can be considered related to the genre of utopia were mainly created in the years between 1303 and 1332.Because the first utopian novel means "Assembly of Madmen", in 1303 and the last utopian novel "The fountain of life" was written in 1332, this era can be called the era of utopianism.Abdul HosseinSanetizadehKermani,by writing works such as Assembly of Madmen, Rostam in the 22nd Century, Eternal World and Angel of Peace, played the greatest role in the creation and development of the Utopia genre, and this utopian thinking can be seen in all his works. Kermani is not alone in the creation and creation of works of this type, and people like Zain al-AbidinMaraghei, TalebofTabrizi, Mohammad Ali Foroughi, Sheikh Musa NasriKabudarahangi, SadeghHedayat and HamzehSardavar have created novels in the genre of utopia.
Literature Review and Methodology
This research falls within the typology of literature and its necessity lies in the fact that typology researches in Persian literature, especially in the field of how the genre of utopia was born and defined, as well as the introduction of prominent works of this literary genre, do not have a significant background and in any research in Persian language, utopia as a literary genre has not been studied and has been only presented as an idea in literary or philosophical texts.This research is fundamental in terms of its purpose and it is descriptive and analytical in terms of method, and it is trying to introduce utopian novels in contemporary Persian literature and explain their common characteristics, and the general contexts of the creation of these works, to solve part of the lack of theoretical studies on utopia. In the collection of research data, library documents have been used, and in the analysis of the subject, an attempt has been made to avoid confusion between utopia as a philosophical thought and utopia as a literary genre.The main question of the research is: What are the origins of the utopia genre and its characteristics in the Persian novel?
Conclusion
The results of the research show that the utopiancharacteristics and literary value of Iranian novels are very similar to their western examples, except for a few features such as: the dynamics of the Iranian utopian society, religion, perfect human or ideal hero in Iranian works. Western works andIranian utopias are compatible in other features, and this quality shows that the main origin of the Persian novel is western utopias although utopianism in Persian novels, was also influenced by the historical events, the translated and authored literary works of that era and the role of Santizadeh in creating all kinds of utopia.By carefully examining the characteristics and contexts of the emergence of Iranian utopia, it is possible to assign important functions to this genre. Apart from the function of literary pleasure and development of scientific imagination, which is the general contribution of the readers, criticism of the existing situation, development of moral virtues, strengthening of patriotic feelings and modernism are among the important functions of Persian utopian works. But since this type of literature appeared in a short period of time and was forgotten, it did not leave a lasting impression on Persian literature, and science-based imagination did not spread much in the Persian novel.
Keywords: utopia, genre, Persian novel, constitutionalism.
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