History-Based Imagination Replacing Geography-Based Imagination: A Hallmark of Persian Adja'ib-al Maxlooqat Writing Periods

Document Type : Research article

Author

Alzahra University

10.22034/perlit.2025.64069.3731

Abstract

It seems that early Adjayib al-makhlooghat writing served as a platform for a kind of "resistance" against the mainstream scientific discourse. Employing Foucault's genealogical method, this study aims to identify the points of rupture in the imagination of Adjayib al-makhlooghat writers. In the first period, "geography" served as the vehicle of imagination and the connecting link to reality. In the second period, recourse to "narrative" replaces geography. The third period, in which imagination is based on "historical" events, we witness the proliferation of mythical creatures and their significant growth. Even historical figures have not been spared from the imagination of Adjayib al-makhlooghat authors. Based on this, three distinct periods of Adjayib al-makhlooghat writing are identified.
It seems that early Adjayib al-makhlooghat writing served as a platform for a kind of "resistance" against the mainstream scientific discourse. Employing Foucault's genealogical method, this study aims to identify the points of rupture in the imagination of Adjayib al-makhlooghat writers. In the first period, "geography" served as the vehicle of imagination and the connecting link to reality. In the second period, recourse to "narrative" replaces geography. The third period, in which imagination is based on "historical" events, we witness the proliferation of mythical creatures and their significant growth. Even historical figures have not been spared from the imagination of Adjayib al-makhlooghat authors. Based on this, three distinct periods of Adjayib al-makhlooghat writing are identified.

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 10 July 2025
  • Receive Date: 19 October 2024
  • Revise Date: 23 May 2025
  • Accept Date: 10 July 2025